Police Department Begins New Policy

Steve Barnett
Jan 1, 2019
1 min read

From The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, January 1, 1919: Mayor Charles Jewett talked straight from the shoulder to the Indianapolis Police Department last night. While commending police work in certain areas, he declared the department’s record regarding the enforcement of the laws against “blind tigers,” gambling, and prostitution was far from satisfactory. Jewett asserted, “I have been informed that gambling has been going on in the very shadow of the city hall. Why is it that none of you patrolmen knew that this was going on? It is your business to know what is going on in your districts. If there is any reason why any of you cannot arrest any law violator then the thing for you to do is to turn in your badge because it is your business to enforce the law regardless of whose toes you step on.”

“Police Department Begins New Policy,” The Indianapolis News, 1 January 1918, p. 18:2