Evening Star Newspaper, April 19, 1931, Page 89

HINGTON, P, €, APRIL 19, 1931, g OVERNMENT'S SECRET SERVICE y, Department of Justice Men Carry on Their s a Graduate Lazcyer IWho Is Picked Through ion—>School Conducted Here in Washingion. Records. Federal fugitives from justice whose apprchen- sion has not been effccted within a reasonable time. It naturally follows that justice agents must be A-1 sleuths—but let Mr. Hoover himsclf tell what is required. POISBD. polished, Chief Hoover cam: up from the ranks and was appointed to his prcsent position in 1924. Since that time he has com- pletely reorganized the service. Accustomed to adventure, he regards his- activities as routine and unromantic and he thinks this sleuth busi- ness is greatly over-dramatized. “Four important qualifications which an agent must possess,” says Mr. Hoover, “are horse sense, imagination, honesty and an aptitude for hard work. The horse sense he will apply to his job of collecting evidence rather than wearing false whiskers or other fantastic disguises. “He must have imagination, and by that I mean that he must be able to visualize the case, yet at the same time maintain an open mind. He must be honest, above all, and will- ing to work hard. “There are no regular hours of service, be- ecause the criminal does not wait. Often an agent is called upon to undergo severe physical hardships, particularly when working in a ter- ritory or reservation. The pay, however, is good and, if a man is efficient, promotion is rapid because we have no seniority rules and are not under Civil Service ruling. “It is my belief that it is better to pay large salaries to a comparatively small group of efficient men than to have on the job a lot of poor men who are likely to blunder. It is the duty of these men to protect the interests of the Government and the investments of the American people. Clearly the issues at stake are too important to admit errors. “The service has the reputation of being one of the hardest to get into and easiest to leave. A man would be fired summarily for using liquor at any time, bccause, however we feel about prohibition, th: spectacle of a man em- ployed to enforce Federal laws breaking such a law would reflect upon the service of which he is a member. He would also be fired for using third degree methods or other illicit tactics, such as tapping telephone wires and opening a suspect’s mail.” 5 Since 1924 all members of the “national police” have had to be graduate lawyers, be- tween the ages of 25 and 35. They are required to take a written examination on problems of investigation and lJaw and must also be ex- smined by an inspector of the bureau for poise and personality. If these tests are passed satis- of Identification, Department of Jus- ¢’ to a point of efficiency comparable exceptional case. Typical of the method by which ecrimes are usually tied up with their perpetratcrs is the story of a mysterious murder. One November morning two years ago the dead body of William Earl was found in a stolen sedan parked in front of 5710 North Second street, Philadelphia. Two bullets had pierced the back cf his head. A heel from a woman’s shoe, a man’s cream-colored soft felt hat, and a pair of heavy horn-rimmed glasses were found in the car with the victim. At his feet was a .38 caliber pistol, loaded except for the two shots which had been fired. Why had this man been murdered in cold blood? What motive prompted the assassin? How could his identity be determined and his whereabouts disclosed? These questions con- fronted the Philadelphia police. Evidence was finally secured that was suffi- cient to take out a warrant for one man, but he could not be located, The Naticnal Division of Identification was notified that the suspect was wanted and with the notification went his fingerprints. . Six months passed. Then on June 7, 1929, the national divisicn received from the State police at Reading, Pa., the fingerprints of the man, who was under arrest in that city on a burglary charge. His fingerprints were imme- diately identified as thcse of the suspect who was wanted in Philadelphia as a suspect in connection with the murder of William Earl. This information was telegraphed to Phila- delphia s0 that all steps could be taken to secure the removal of the prisoner to that district in order to effect a solution of the killing. Aside from its co-operative work through the identification division and its own field of furisdiction, which includes the national motor 'vehicle theft act, national benzruptcy act, im- personation of Government officials, larceny of goods in interstate commerce and similar measures, locating fugitives is a specialty of Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Hoover’'s agents get some of the knottiest problems along this line in America, since they e called upon by other agencies co nelp iocate Checking up on criminals. The traditional ruses of detectives of fiction have no place in the operations of the Department of Justice agents. facto:ily they are ordered fo: physical exami- nation. Their character is also invesiigated thoroughly: Those who get by this far are then ordered to secret service school in Washingion for one month. This institution was e:tablished about two and a half years ago. Here candidatc-s are initiated into the innermost ccerets and fune- tions of the service. They study the manual of rules and learn different pliases of the bureau’s work. Experts lecture them on bal- lictics, fingerprints, how to distinguish beiween difTerent typewriters, handwriting, etc. At the conclusion of the course they face an- other examination. And even then the success- ful ones are not full-fledged agents. For their first month in the field theirs is a p obationary status. Men who make the grade and are admitted to the service are checked up constantly. They are examined three times a year on their work and are rated twice a year for efliciency. This rating includes consideration of their knowledge of duties, judgment, initiative, fo:ce, industry, accuracy, personal appzarance, paper work and executive capacity. ONE of the most famous cases on record, which illustrates well the manner in which the bureau operates in effecting an important capture, is the story of Martin James Durkin, “high-class” automobile thief and desperate gunman. The account shows also the dangers run by agents and the way in which the Bureau of Investigation receives and lends co-op-ration. Despite the publicity the case got at the time, it is worth retelling here. 5 Durkin, wanted for violation of the nativnal motor vehicle theft act, already had against his record the shooting and wounding of three policemen at Chicago and the shooting and wounding of a fourth police officer in Cali- fornia. Then, on October 11, 1925, h2 shot and killed Special Agent Edward B. Shanahan of the Department of Justice. Having received confidential information that a man believed to be Durkin would arrive at a certain garage in Chicago with a stolen auto- mobile which he had brought out of New Mexico, Shanahan, assisted by police officers, had lain in wait all day for the car to arrive. When it failed to appear Shanahan came to the conclusion that his information had been inaccurate and allowed the officers to leave the garage to seek anothe: decwail that could relieve them. b In the brief intcrim Durkin drove up. Shan- ahan attempted, unaided, to take him into custody and the gunman, by a ruse, swept up an automatic f.om the front seat and shot him through the breast. Thcn Durkin drove off and his trail was lost frum view. All forces of the buireau throughout the country were conc:nirated in an effort to cap- ture Durkin. Several wecks afterward informa- tion was received that he would appear at a certain houre in Chicago to get some clothes and other effects bclonging to a woman, pre- paratory to a flight from the city. Chicago police officers, attempting to arrest him late at night when he came to the house, were embroiled immediatcly in a typical Durkin gun battle in which one cfficer was killed and another wounded. Again Durkin escaped. Until January 20, 1926, h: evaded capture, though agents and policc everywhere were after him. On that date he was a'rested near St. Louis as the result of a systematic alarm spread through the entire United States Rad a thrilling last-minute chase across the continent, conducted entirely by special agents of the Department of Justice. Durkin was particularly fond of expensive cars, such as Pierc2-Arrows, Cadillacs and Packards. To sales agencies he would preseng himself as a prospective buyer and, after agree- ing to purchase a certain car, would arrange to have it serviced and filled with gasoline and oil ready for delivery the next day. Then, during the night, he would burglarize the garage and drive the car off. The meotor number would be changed, likewise the gerial number and all other assembly numbers that would serve to identify the car. License plates would be secured under assumed names, giving fictitious addresses. He would then take the car to another State and scll it. In pursuing their chase after Durkin, agents of the bureau notified sales agencies for such cars throughout the United States, describing the method used by Durkin. As a result a Cadillac agency at San Diego, Calif., informed the Los Angeles office of the bureau January 10 that & new phacton with a green body and Continued on Seventeenth Page Fingerprint experts of the Department of Justice comparing prints.