1941: Crime

Incidence of Crime.

During the first nine months of 1941, 651,271 crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft came to the attention of the police authorities in 2,109 cities of 64,267,531 population. This would mean a total of approximately 814,000 crimes known to the police during the year in these 2,109 cities, which contain about one-half of the population of this country. These figures indicate that crime is still one of our major industries, particularly since the eight crimes above named represent only a small part of the criminal law. Most of the crimes which came to the attention of the police during 1941 were crimes against property. This is evident from the fact that larceny, burglary and auto theft had rates of 681.8, 245.0 and 135.6 per 100,000 population during the first nine months of 1941, as compared to rates of 36.9, 7.2 and 4.2 for aggravated assault, rape and intentional homicide (murder and non-negligent manslaughter).

There were slight increases in the number of crimes against the person which came to the attention of the police in 1941, as against 1940. Crimes against property, however, with the exception of auto theft, showed a decrease. The most marked increase was in the crime of negligent manslaughter, which rose 15 per cent in 1941.

Of the 651,271 crimes coming to the attention of the police authorities during the first nine months of 1941, 374,157 or approximately 60 per cent were larcenies. Most of these larcenies, however, were not very serious in character. An analysis of 114,240 such larcenies committed in 58 cities indicated that in only 12,583 or 11 per cent was the value of the property stolen over $50. In 74,471 or in 65 per cent of the cases the value of the property stolen was between $5 and $50. In 27,186 or 24 per cent of the cases, the value of the property stolen was less than $5. In view of the current fear that with the advent of tire rationing there will be an epidemic of tire thefts, it is interesting to note that one-third of the larcenies involved either thefts of automobile accessories or thefts of personal property from automobiles.

During the first nine months of 1941, 479,701 fingerprint cards of persons arrested and charged with various crimes were forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of these cards, 44,347 or 9.2 per cent were those of women offenders. This indicates that the proportion of men to women arrested is nine to one.

As in prior years the 19-year age group predominated among persons arrested. This has been true for five of the nine years from 1932-40. Another indication of the extent of youth's participation in crime is had from the fact that 55.6 per cent of those charged with robbery, 63.1 per cent of those charged with burglary, 49.2 per cent of those charged with larceny, and 74.8 per cent of those charged with auto theft were under 25 years of age. More than half of all the crimes against property during the first nine months of 1941 were committed by persons under 25.

While most of the offenders whose fingerprints were received by the F.B.I. were white, negroes had a much higher arrest rate in proportion to population than whites. Of each 100,000 negroes in the general population, 1,410 were arrested and fingerprinted as against 485 native born whites and 159 foreign born whites.

Methods of Apprehension and Prosecution.

During the year 1941 some notable progress was made in the development of better methods of apprehension and prosecution of crime and in the treatment of convicted offenders. The Supreme Court of the United States, pursuant to a statute passed in 1940 giving it 'the duty to prescribe from time to time rules of pleading, practice and procedure ... in criminal cases,' appointed a distinguished advisory committee of lawyers and professors to assist the Court in this undertaking. The task of the committee will be to formulate a draft of the proposed rules for the consideration of the Court. On the civil side of the law a similar plan had been used and notable results achieved in improving the processes of civil justice. The prospective Federal rules of criminal procedure will have two primary benefits: (1) They will unify the fundamentals of the criminal process of the Federal courts of the Union and make for greater efficiency in their operation; (2) they will probably be more progressive in spirit than state rules on criminal procedure and hence will serve as an invitation and challenge to the various states to revise their procedural methods in criminal cases.

The State of Louisiana has gone even further than the Federal Government to revitalize its criminal legislation. Its attempt to work out new methods, techniques and concepts covers the whole of the criminal law and is not confined to mere questions of criminal procedure. A committee worked actively during 1941 to formulate a criminal code for Louisiana based on a careful analysis of existing statutes and legal materials as well as a thoroughgoing revision and revaluation of existing penal concepts.

In one troublesome field of criminal law administration, that concerning the arrest of offenders, a model act has been formulated which goes a long way toward providing a practical standard of police conduct without unduly sacrificing personal liberty. The act provides the police with a weapon which they have long needed, namely, a legal right to detain suspects for questioning without going through the formalities of arrest. It also gives the police officer a reasonable right to question and detain witnesses of crimes and automobile accidents. The model act would also modify the existing law and make an arrest lawful if a lawful cause of arrest existed at the time it was made even though the officer charged the wrong offense or gave a reason that did not justify the arrest.

Some progress was made during 1941 in the provision of individualized methods of treating offenders. An indeterminate sentence law for Federal offenders in which all sentences will be for the maximum terms fixed by law and definite terms of imprisonment will be fixed by an administrative board after suitable study, was advocated by the Attorney General and legislation is in prospect to carry out this recommendation.

State supervised probation and parole systems were provided by the legislatures of three states, Florida, South Carolina and Wyoming. In Florida, for example, a parole commission of three will hereafter have the duty to investigate and supervise probation cases referred to it by the courts. Probation will be granted for all offenses except those punishable by death or life imprisonment. Where convicted offenders have been sent to institutions, it will be the duty of the parole commission to fix the time and the conditions of sentence and to supervise parolees.

Youth Correction Authority Act.

Our statistics indicated the importance of the youthful offender in the commission of crime. One of the most far-reaching proposals for dealing with youthful and adolescent offenders advanced in recent years is the Youth Correction Authority Act sponsored by the American Law Institute. Under this plan the judge in a criminal court will be stripped of most of his authority over the sentencing of youthful offenders. This will be placed in the hands of an expert board which is directed to determine the appropriate treatment of the offender after careful investigation. This board also determines the time when an offender will be released from any institution to which he may be sent. California was the first state to adopt the Youth Correction Authority plan. However the California statute departs from the model act in that it keeps in the Judge's hands the right to place defendants upon probation. Bills providing for the Youth Correction Authority came before the legislatures of other states besides California. This method of dealing with youthful offenders is expected to receive widespread attention in 1942.

Centennial of the Probation Movement.

In the development of progressive methods of dealing with criminals, the year 1941 was notable because it marked the centennial of the birth of the probation movement. This is generally credited to the work of John Augustus, a shoemaker of Boston who, on an August day in 1841, appeared in a Boston police court and had a drunk bailed into his custody who would otherwise have been sent to the House of Correction. Having achieved success with his first case. John Augustus came back for more alcoholics and later extended his informal rehabilitative work to other types of offenders. In ten years, 1,102 persons were released into the custody of Augustus, who attempted to reclaim them. While the probation idea did not originate with Augustus and probation had been used in Massachusetts courts before 1841, the extensive work of Augustus was a practical demonstration of the value of probation as a method for the rehabilitation of offenders outside of prison walls. The work begun by Augustus culminated in the first Massachusetts probation law of 1878. From Massachusetts the probation idea has spread throughout the country. See also JUVENILE DELINQUENCY; LYNCHINGS.