The Cop and the Stag Saloon
A police officer is suspended for entering a saloon while on duty, triggering a debate about the force's code of conduct and 'trapping crooks.'
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Charges were preferred against Officer L. J. Birdsall on account of his having gone into a saloon on South Second street while on duty. Capt. Sims testified that he saw Birdsall in the Stag saloon on Sunday night. The bartender, Crowley, testified that Birdsall was in the saloon but denied supplying him with liquor, stating the officer requested a cigar instead. Officer Birdsall testified that he was trying to trap a man he suspected was a crook who had been watching him. Mayor Sweeney argued against suspension, stating it stained the officer's character, while Commissioner Holmes insisted the police were not a reform institution and must follow the rules. The board ordered a ten-day suspension for being in the saloon, though the officer was cleared of the drinking charge.
“Commissioner Holmes said they were not running a reform institution, but a police force.”
The tension between 'trapping crooks' in illicit spaces and the strict professionalization of police conduct remains a perennial issue in local oversight. The debate reflects an era when the police board functioned as both management and a disciplinary tribunal for officers moving through the city's vice districts.
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