Benson States Coordination Bill Proposal for Police Board Could Lead to Greater Inefficiency

"I believe the proposal in the Coordination Bill, to place the control of the Massachusetts police under a police board, will lead to corrupt politics and will hinder the efficiency of the whole organization," said George C. Benson, Instructor of government, when interviewed yesterday. "Any student of police methods knows that the trend is away from board control toward that of a single executive. Moreover, the bill states that the board shall have a majority of police chiefs, who will raise the standard of the force by granting subsidies to forces who have faithfully carried out their duties. These are, of course, honest police chiefs, but I believe some will never vote down a subsidy for their own home forces if the opportunity is ever presented whether the men have performed their duties well or not."

Mr. Benson, however, believes the bill does present some good points. He especially favors the proposals to set up a police training school run by the state. "Such a school could give special training which a local school could never offer. I favor the state inspection of local forces and believe the expansion of the state detective bureau that has been suggested would prove very satisfactory.

"One of the other unsatisfactory points of the new system is that the mayor and governor will find it almost impossible to remove a poor police chief from office. Since a single executive has not been given power to control the police force, the mayor and governor should at least be able to remove a man from office who is burdening the efficiency of the organization.

"The bill is an effort to bring the best features of the English Police practice to America, but like all experiments in comparative government, it should be analyzed with great care. Therefore, I suggest the bill be studied critically before action takes place, and I am convinced the bill would prove more satisfactory if the subsidy provision and the provision for a commission were abandoned."