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    "label": "Police School Graduating Class, Grand Rapids, MI, January 21, 1966",
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    "title": "Police School Graduating Class, Grand Rapids, MI, January 21, 1966",
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        "Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D19, folder \"Police School Graduating Class,\nGrand Rapids, MI, January 21, 1966\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary\nand Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D19 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nJanuary 17, 1966\nREMARKS ON CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT\nTO BE INCORPORATED INTO A SPEECH BY\nCONGRESSMAN GERALD R. FORD\nBEFORE GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN,\nPOLICE SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS,\nJANUARY 21, 1966\nThis is an important day for you as you graduate\nfrom police school and begin your careers as law enforcement\nofficers. It is also an important day for your our city, which is\nproud of you for having completed the rigorous training and\nexpectant of the talent, strength and resolve which you bring to\nyour important duties.\nThe hard, exacting and sometimes dangerous\ncareer you have chosen places on each of you a tremendous\nresponsibility. The citizens of Grand Rapids have hired you to\nprotect them. They have placed you in the forefront of the battle\nfor an orderly and decent society with the expectation that you\nwill meet the challenge of modern crime and that your every\naction will reflect the highest ideals of respect for and dedication\nto the law.\nRespect for the law is basic to a police officer,\nas it should be to all good citizens. Unhappily, however, this\nvital trait is on the ebb in many segments of our population today,\nand it is this fact which is at the heart of many of the gravest\nproblems facing law enforcement. It is clear to me that the\napathy of many Americans to the preservation of law and order\nis a key factor in this Nation's soaring crime rate.\nCollective indifference is breeding disrespect for the law, and\nthis can only result in the continuing acceleration of our crime\nproblem.\nLet us consider for a moment statistics relating\nto the rise of serious crime in this country, as compiled in the\nFBI's Uniform Crime Reports.\nIn 1964, there were over 2, 600, 000 serious crimes\nreported in the United States, a 13 percent increase over 1963.\nOf all the persons arrested for these crimes in 1964, 62 percent\nwere under the age of 21. Our juveniles alone, who comprise\nless than 20 percent of our national population, account for almost\n50 percent of all arrests for serious crimes.\n- 2 -\nThese crimes are outpacing our population growth\nby 6 to 1 with new records being set almost yearly. And it should\nbe kept in mind that serious crime is not measured in terms of\ntraffic violations or other minor incidents but rather in the major\noffenses of murder, robbery, forcible rape, burglary, aggravated\nassault, larceny over $50 and auto theft.\nThese chilling statistics serve as a barometer of\nthe Nation's moral climate. The message they contain is explicit:\nindifference to the safety of one's fellow citizens and the general\nThis\ncommunity aids and supports the underworld and encourages more\ncrime and violence. It is a grim merry-go-round in which the\ncriminal always catches the brass ring and the honest citizen pays\nthe bill.\nAnd for you police officers, these crime figures\nhave a very special meaning. They translate into the basics of\nyour profession, the contact you have with the public in your day-\nto-day operations.\nYou see these statistics in the making. For you,\nthey are translated into the sullen witnesses who refuse to furnish\ninformation; the citizens who turn away because they do not want\nto become involved; the young punks who hurl taunts or worse.\n- 3 - -\nAnd they also are translated into the crowds in any of a hundred\ncities who ignore police officers in distress while the officers\nattempt to forestall the commission of crimes.\n\"I don't want to get involved.\" This statement\nhas become the byword of far too many Americans with regard\nto matters relating to law enforcement. They will go out of their\nway to avoid observing any incident which might involve them as\na witness to a crime. Some, when there is no other way out, will\neven resort to outright lying to escape involvement, claiming they\nsaw nothing or giving a false name and address so they cannot be\nlocated when their testimony is needed.\nA classic example of this cruel non-involvement\ncreed occurred in New York City on March 13, 1964. On that\nbleak morning, Kitty Genovese was fatally assaulted while 37 of\nher neighbors watched from their windows. Miss Genovese fought\nfor survival. She was twice freed by her assailant, then attacked\nagain over a period of some few minutes. Yet not only did the\nwitnesses make no effort to assist her, they did not even take the\nsimple action of phoning the police.\nOne man did go to his telephone. He called a\nfriend miles across town to ask what he should do. He was advised\n- 4 -\nto call the police, but instead he called a neighbor and this man\nfinally notified the authorities. Officers were on the scene\nwithin five minutes but it was then too late.\nI fear this widely publicized tragedy did not teach\na lasting lesson, however, for exactly one year later a woman\nreporter re-enacted Miss Genovese's slow and agonizing death.\nAnd what happened? As you may have surmised, the same thing\nhappened--no one made any move to help.\nGreater need for upgrading citizen moral and\ncivic standards is interwoven in the crime statistics I have cited.\nThis is a tremendously complex problem but it must be solved if\nour Nation is to continue to flourish. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover\nhas stated, \"This breakdown in our national moral standards can\nonly render us impotent as a people and as a Nation. Law and\norder are the foundations upon which successful government must\nstand. Without law and order, society will destroy itself.\"\nDisrespect for the law and law enforcement is a\nbitter pill for the police officer. Often underpaid and overworked, he\nis maligned for doing his duty as well as for not doing it. And, of\ncourse, he is working under rigid legal restrictions that have\nsteadily encroached on his power to operate quickly and decisively.\n- 5 -\nLet us examine this matter of restrictions. The\nchief judge of a Federal Court of Appeals recently asserted\nthat there have been two distinct trends in the criminal law\nduring the last 40 years--\"to strengthen the rights of the\nindividual and to restrict the powers of the police.\"\nThe demands on law enforcement personnel today\nare complex and exacting. Society expects its police officers to\nbe far more than investigators or enforcers of the law. It\nexpects them to handle questions of constitutional law, on a\nmoments notice, that would baffle law scholars paring over their\nbooks at their leisure.\nRecent court decisions have shackled our Nation's\npolice with the impossible task of deciding constitutional law\ninstantly, often in the face of danger. And, as you graduates\nknow, if you err, and your actions are judged in retrospect, society\npenalizes you and itself by freeing the criminal even if he is known\nto be guilty of some serious crime. The U. S. Supreme Court, in\na 1961 decision, held that a police officer who is determined to\nhave erred and made an unreasonable search or an arrest without\nprobable cause is subject to being sued in Federal Court.\n- 6 -\nLIBRARY\nIn 1964, the Supreme Court ruled that a person\nhas a right to demand an attorney at the time he is arrested for\ncommitting a crime. Frequently the arresting officer has no\none to turn to for prompt legal guidance, but one mistake on his\npart, intentional or not, can totally negate all the efforts expended\nto capture a criminal.\nThe irony of this is that while society requires\nthat every accused criminal be provided trained legal counsel, it\nhas in many areas of our country refrained from providing the\nfunds needed to properly man law enforcement agencies with\nadequately trained personnel.\nIn recent years, our courts have been severely\ncriticized for some of their rulings which seemed to elevate the\nrights of the individual above the rights of society.\nA classic case\nin Chicago illustrates this point vividly.\nTwo plainclothes Chicago police officers were\nnot\nen route home after completing a tour of duty. They heard a man\nshout that a \"crazy guy is trying to cut people with a bottle.\"\nStopping to investigate, the officers came upon two men, one holding\na broken beer bottle. The officers identified themselves, drew\ntheir guns and instructed the man to drop the bottle. The man\n- 7 -\nresponded with a vile oath and shoved the jagged bottle into the\nface of one of the officers, inflicting wounds requiring 27 stitches\nto close. The officer was hospitalized for 23 days and will bear\npermanent scars on his face.\nThe two men were subdued and five months later,\nin March, 1965, they were brought to trial on charges of\naggravated assault upon law enforcement officers. The judge\nacquitted both defendants, contending that they were merely\nprotecting themselves from an attempt by the officers to illegally\narrest them. The judge also assailed the officers for having\nused \"excessive force\" by drawing their weapons. He asked,\n\"What is a citizen to do when he is approached by two officers\nwith a gun?\"\nIt is certainly hoped that other judges take a dim\nview of this judicial decision. There are more than enough\nattacks on police officers already.\nSome criminals have used the right to counsel to\nmake a mockery of our system of justice. A popular scheme\nthese days is for an accused person to request a trial delay on\nthe claim that he does not have an attorney.\n- 8 -\nA school teacher in an eastern city who was charged\nwith a morals offense against two young girls sought and was\ngranted five postponements of his trial on the claim that he had\nno lawyer. He remained free on bail until a disgusted judge finally\nordered him to jail until he secured an attorney.\nIn another case, a man charged with a sex crime\nmanaged to avoid trial for almost three years. After obtaining\nthree continuances of his case because he had no lawyer, he hired\none on the fourth date set for the trial. But this lawyer needed\ntime to prepare his case, so trial was put off again. The defendant\nthen disappeared and was not apprehended for 13 months. On the\nnew trial date he fired his attorney and was granted a delay to hire\na new one. This he did on the day the trial was to start and again\na postponement was granted for the lawyer to prepare the case.\nA judge finally halted this farce when he refused to allow the de-\nfendant to again fire his attorney on the next date of trial.\nLaw enforcement has been hindered by some of\nthese decisions, of that there can be no doubt. They must be obeyed,\nhowever, and law enforcement must do everything possible to\nminimize their impact.\n- 9 -\nIt is, therefore, incumbent on you in this graduating\nclass to direct your best efforts toward gaining the full support of\nthe public. The citizen good will which provides increased appro-\npriations for better salaries, training and equipment is not easily\ncome by. It must be earned through your actions and words.\nEach of you is responsible for building the image of\nlaw enforcement. It must be an image based on integrity that can\ndemand respect and confidence.\nThis is a 24-hour-a-day job because your every act\nwill be under constant scrutiny. Let your future performances\nreflect the training you have received in this class, and never forget\nthe trust which has been placed in you by your department and your\ncommunity.\nI wish you Godspeed and good fortune in your new\ncareers.\nTwanklin\n- 10 -\nLIBRARA"
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