HORRORS OF THE THIRD DEGREE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 263, 5 November 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

HORRORS OF THE THIRD DEGREE.

REVOLTING POLICE CRUELTIES,

BACK TO MEDIEVAL METHODS OF TORTURE—AMERICAN POLICE PRACTICES IN GRAPHIC DETAIL—REMORSELESS BRUTALITY TO PXACT CONFESSIONS—PART OF DAILY ROUTINE OF POLICE PROCEDURE.

Two deaths recently of victims of prison torture in the United States, have been followed by a wave of indignation in the press of that country, and a demand for the'abolition of barbarous punishments, an d particularly of that form of torture by the police, known as the third degree. The torture of prisoners in order to make tliera confess is part of the ordinary daily routine of police procedure throughout the United States. This has long been known to people familiar with what takes place in the cells at police stations, and it' was ma(l ° known to the public at large last year by a report of a special committee of the Wickersliam commission, appointed by President Hoover. Professor Alfred Bushnell Hart, of Harvard University, commenting in "Current History" on this report, said:—"The report has disclosed the habitual, cruel and barbarous „se of tortures of various kinds by officers of justice in city and local prisons throughout the United States and some State penitentiaries. The most widely distributed form of torture is the third degree—the merciless interrogation of persons accused 0 j cr j me _in order to secure confessions. The tlirid degree is applied to men and women, to old and young, to hardened criminals and to first offenders; in thousands of cases it is used against innocent persons unreasonably accused of crime. The foundation stone of the third degree is that presumably the person is guilty, and must be brow-beaten and threatened and worn out by torture if necessary to the point of admitting guilt. Such a result is considered a triumph for the interlocutor, and an avoidance of complicated and expensive court proceedings.'

\ Disclosures by an Eye Witness. Startling examples of the methods of the police of New York in dealing with suspected criminals are given by Mr. Emanuel H. Lavine in liis book, The Third Degree," which, was published two years ago. For 25 years he has been a police reporter, and he is thoroughly familiar with his He is not a reformer, andi he writes in 110 spirit of indignation: On the contrary, his sympathies are to some extent with the police. ''Solutions of about 70 per cent of all cases where solutions are finally obtained come as the result of using forceful or persuasive methods in some form," -writes Mr. Lavine. "The so-called rough-neck is hit with everything but the foundation of the building, and there have doubtless been times when such a man has suspected that even this has bounced «up and struck him. I have seen a man beaten on the Adam's apple so that blood spurted from bis mouth; I have seen - another put in a dentist's chair and held there while the dentist, who seemed to enjoy his job, ground down a molar with a rough burr. I cannot possibly describe every 'massaging' by the police I have witnessed, any more than the reader can recall every time he has seen a street car pass."

Motto of the Underworld. Mr. Lavine explains that force and brutality are applied by the police to counteract that motto of the underworld, "Don't talk." Not only do criminals adhere to this motto for fear of what will happen to them afterwards if they betray their pals to the. police, but the same fear ties the tongues of the law-abiding occupants of tenements infested by criminals and potential criminals. When a case of violence or murder occurs in these quarters, the police are unable to obtain any information from eye witnesses. Everyone denies having heard any screams or any shots. The criminal, whose torture included being beaten on the Adam's apple with a blackjack, was a powerfully built youth of eighteen years, named Joseph Rumore. With two companions he had_ stuck up thevmanager of a grocery store in Harlem, New York, and while _ they "were so engaged two police officials appeared on the scene and attempted to arrest them. Shots were exchanged, and both the police were severely wounded. The three robbers ran away, but Rumore was overtaken. Mr. Lavine lays emphasis on the fact that the third-degree methods applied ■when police officials have been the victims of the criminals partake of the nature of savage .revenge. Rumore was taken to the police headquarters to be questioned. "They took him into one of the squad looms on the first floor, and tried to convince him quickly that it would be to his physical advantage to tell who his two companions were, and where they lived, states Mr. Lavine. "He remained silent while the detectives beat and kicked him. They pounded his head on the floor and ajainst the wall. He was grabbed by a sensitive portion of the lower groin, and also kicked in the abdomen, but still remained silent. For almost two hours relays of detectives would go into the room, armed with blackjacks and pieces of rubber hose, only to emerge covered with perspiration, and giving the same reply, 'He won't come through.'

v Suspect Kicked Unconscious. "A few volunteers from other squads came along, and tried every means they either possessed or had heard of to make obstinate people talk. The steady thud, thud, thud, of the increasing pounding continued. They thought he would surely give way. But the only sound from the prisoner was a stifled groan. I never thought a human body could stand -such abuse. At one period he became unconscious, and I walked in. The looked like a slaughterhouse on a busy jjay. Everything was covered with blood. ■Wie yoi|th was a horrible-looking mess, but remained steadfast not to betray his Pals. One of the detectives, a singularly cool type, slowly walked over to him and said, 'Wop, go over to that basin and wash up a bit.' The youth smiled a little through swollen lips, for he thought, or, rather, hoped, that they had given up as a futile effort their resolution to make him unseal his lips. Knowing the detective as a rather sharp citizen, I decided he some stunt he was going to try out. He beckoned the prisoner to sit in an 'v 6 , w ' chair,, with arm supports. ■Now, he said, 'you're sitting in the boss' eaair. Slowly, but deliberately, he tied Doth of Rumore's forearms to the chair's sule supports, and motioned to one of the other men to hold back his head by pull- !?" 'he youth's large shock of red hair. In tie meantime he removed the man's bloodsoaked necktie and opened his shirt front, exposing the neck and chest. Next the detective pulled out his blackjack, and Humore across the Adam's apple u his strength. I thought the lad would have an apopletic fit. He shuddered ana shook, and his body strained against . j 1- opes that bound him, not in an naeavour to escape, but in an attempt 0 Ret his breath. Blood spurted half 'ay across the room. What seemed like ''mutes elapsed before he was able to some air flowing down his mouth and liHl Vi. he seemed to ease up a J.! 4' detective motioned to have the ead pulled back again. It was done, ct i lso '. y ery gently. The blow was J u <*, with the same results. It was WaW a third time. When the lad breath back the detective andished the blackjack in front of his ponping eyes, and slowly shouted, 'You "Kht as -well admit you're licked. That if 11 1 you ' hut I'm going to keep it up if takes all night.' The youth motioned / rcta ove the bands from his arms and sMh' j ? an . a b"°st inaudible whisper he ated who his companions were, and gave 'heir addressee _ Within half an hour ;J° ~s high-powered police care eported that they men."

Appalling Brutality. A still more brutal case of ill-treatment was that of a young criminal named Heslin, who, on April 4, 1926, fatally shot a policeman named Charles Reilly. Heslin, armed with two revolvers, had stuck up in -the darkness five Italians, who had just left a> political club. Reilly saw the holdVP from a distance, and crept up behind Heslin, with the object of felling him with his baton. Heslin turned and shot him dead, and in his nervousness in replacing the revolver in a holster, strapped across his stomach, he accidentally shot himself. The bullet ploughed its way down the upper part of the thigh near the groin, came out just above the knee, and passed through the calf of his leg. Police in th« vicinity heard the shots, and were quickly on the scene. They were able to trace Heslin by the trail of blood from his wound, and they found him in bed in a neighbouring tenement building, and his wife endeavourin; f,o stop the How of blood. When th police burst into the room Heslin triea to reach the two revolvers he had placed under his pillow, but the police .were too quick for him. They dragged him out of bed, kicked him into the hallway, and .pushed him down the staircase. One of the police picked him up like a sack of potatoes and threw him half-way down a flight of stairs. He was dragged into the street by his heels, and left on the sidewalk, clad only in an undershirt, to await the arrival of the policej patrol wagon. He was dumped into the wagon on a stretcher, and on arrival at the police station was earned into the room in which lay the body of Reilly, and he was tipped out of the stretcher on to the floor. He asked for a drink of water, and a policeman picked up a spittoon, filled with expectorations, cigarash and cigarette butts, and emptied it over his face. A detective struck with a baton with all hie force on the part where the wretched man had shot, himself just below the groin, and blood spurted up from the wound like a miniature fountain. Another gathered dirt from the floor and rubbed it into the wounds. A third placed

the burning end of a cigar on his stomach, and twisted it about until it was extinguished. Others walked over to him and struck him, or placed lighted cigarettes on his naked body, to burn themselves Mr. Lavine described a form of brutal punishment' devised by one well-known commander of a detective division in New York. "He would wait until his subordinates became exhausted beating the prisoner with pieces of hose. He would then back the man against the wall and question him again. If the prisoner persisted in proclaiming his innocence, or refused to answer a few questions that would send him to gaol, the police official, who was a big powerful man, would place his fists against the rear of either jaw, and press in and down, until he succeeded in dislocating the jaw. In. a few instances he caused the jaw to snap. This dislocation of the jaw left no outward mark or bruise. It meant wiring of the jawbone and teeth, leaving hardly enough fpace to drawliquid refreshment through in a tube."