Mayor Richard H. Sylvester, Washington, DC Chief of Police

Mayor Richard H. Sylvester, Washington, DC Chief of Police

Richard Sylvester implemented many police procedures that we still use today. He was the one to coin the ‘third degree’ phrase we commonly use today, as he divided police procedures as the arrest as the first degree, transportation to jail as the second degree and interrogation as the third degree. In 1914, he established the Du Point division to protect the plants that were manufacturing materials for World War I. During an inspection into a fire at one of these plants, he discovered a plot in which criminals planned to destroy buildings by replacing the inside fire extinguishers with gasoline. He swiftly turned the plot over and caught the masterminds. In addition, he came up with the idea to have employees paid by check instead of cash as to reduce payroll robberies, and developed the law that stated concealing or transporting stolen goods used in interstate commerce a crime punishable by a fine of $5,000 or up to two years in prison.

Bain News Service

between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915

https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/12900/12922r.jpg

Link: Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2005012958/

A black and white photograph of Richard H. Sylvester, the Chief of Police for Washington, District of Colombia.

Source: Richard H. Sylvester. (2012, May 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:52, October 5, 2012, from http://bit.ly/QPv2E1

Library of Congress

Bain News Service

Medium: Photograph.

English

Figures

Law Enforcement, Police, Richard Sylvester, Third Degree, Washington D.C.

Washington D.C.