Chicago's Crime Problem*
| Published date | 01 July 1945 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4501800312 |
| Author | V. W. Peterson |
| Date | 01 July 1945 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
226
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
printed at
the
end of a volume.
This
contains books, official papers
and other publications consulted by the author, and is invaluable when
further information is required about
the
subject-matter of the book.
Most
modern scientific, travel, historical
and
biographical works
contain an extensive bibliography and the practice, happily, is
extending.
From
this it should be clear
that
aproper valuation of
the
index
and
bibliography is
not
just
aconcession to pedantry,
but
sound
commonsense which will be well repaid in pleasure and knowledge.
Chicago's Crime Problem"
By v. W.
PETERSON
(From time to time one sees in the popular Press our laws relating to bet-
ting and other formsof gamblingdescribed
as"
out of
date,""
anachronisms,"
and so on. The following article, which we print by courtesy of the Editor
of The Journal
of
Criminal Law and Criminology, Chicago, shows how, in a
large city, uncontrolled gambling can enable the least desirable elements of a
democracyto gain the upper hand over the local government, the judiciary,
and the Police.-En.)
Any alliance among city fathers, police, and the lowest dregs of society
constitutes a grave menace to democracy.
If
there was ever a doubt that
such a blot upon our social system exists, this report by the Operating
Director of the Chicago Crime Commission should dispel it. The facts
compiled by Mr. Peterson are worthy of study by anyone interested in the
problem of making democracywork in his community.-Editor J.C. L. &C.
AFORM ER assistant to the attorney general of the
United
States,
Joseph B. Keenan, once made the cogent observation
that"
so long
as the problems of crime and its repression are left to those small
groups
that
come most closely in touch with
it-the
social workers,
policemen, prosecutors, judges,
and
prison
wardens-and
so long
as the great body of citizens remains indifferent, hostile, or ignorant,
we can look for little improvement."
Much
of
our
indifference, hostility, and ignorance are traceable
to confused thinking, or to the absence of thinking at all, about problems
that vitally affect our welfare as citizens of this city or of this nation.
No small part of
our
apathy toward matters affecting,
not
only
our
crime problem,
but
decent government itself, is due to misdirected
leadership. When, for example, public officials
brush
aside conditions
that
breed
the
crime
and
corruption
that
have written
such
black pages
of Chicago's history with statements completely avoiding real issues,
..
This
paper, in essentially the same form, constituted
the
Annual
Report
of
the
Operating Director of
the
Chicago
Crime
Commission, delivered
February
17th, 1944·
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