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to Chief of Police, 0.B. Do_un. Dun~has been given the choice
<br />of accepting the permanent position of Chief of Police or of
<br />reverting to the rar~k of Captain. Dur~u, who has been in poor
<br />h~alth far more than a year,-has indicated that he may chuck
<br />up thc Whole deal and retire. Ancel! said today that the d ecl-
<br />sion rests entirely with tkaun~. He pointed'out that the Police
<br />D~partment is~authorized three CaptaincLes. One is held by
<br />Har~y A. Eden, another by Albert Lassiter, while the third is
<br />kept open for Chief ~an. To protect his Captaincy, Chief Dunn
<br />reverts to that rank for one day o f each yea~. This situation
<br />the City Man~ger pointed out has been going~ on f or five years.
<br />It is only fair he declared, to give some other member of the
<br />force a chance at that Captaincy. Accordingly, he said, he has
<br />notified Du~an that he must give up the Captaincy and remain in
<br />office as ~nief of Police or else revert to t hat rank permanently.
<br />A Police Captain was protected by Civil Service system against de-
<br />motion, a Chief of Police had no such security, a new Manager fre-
<br />quently meant a new Chief of Police; the old Chief might find him-
<br />self pounding a beat. as a Patrolman.
<br /> When offered'the position~ Duma told Arthur $. Owens, ~no was
<br />then City l~anager, ~hat he would accept only if scme arrangements
<br />were worked out whereby he could be sure ~ becoming a Captain
<br />again when and if his termas Chief ended. Owens a~eed and the
<br />system under which Du~ reverts to Captain one day each year, was
<br />put into effect. Ancell said today th~ he understands
<br />concern about his future status at the time of his appointment, and
<br />that he believes D~anwas justified in holding to the Captaincy
<br />for a year or two, but five years, he said, is too lor~ to hold a
<br />Captaincy open.
<br /> Dunn is expected to ha~e his answer to the ultimatum in the
<br />Manager's office'in time fo~ the next Tuesday's meeting of the 0ity
<br />Council. Ancelt, who is scheduled to-resign himself on September
<br />l~th, to become ~anager of Alexandria, said that in the event D~an
<br />ele6ts to r~tir~, he ,robably will not choose his perr~uemt succes-
<br />sor. The Cmty Manager declared that he would not like to saddle
<br />his successor with a ready-made appointment to such an important
<br />city office.'
<br />
<br /> in order that you might fully ~derstand my answer, I beg lea~e to re-
<br /> view my status and service record. I accepted the position of Chief of Police, effective
<br /> September l, l~*~, while ~r. Arthur S. Owens was City Nanager. I acceoted this appointment
<br /> conditionally. It was with the thorough understanding that i would re~ert back to Captaincy
<br /> on t he Jlst day of each August and he would reappoint me a s Chief of Police on the ls tday of
<br /> each ~ear thereaxter. This agreement was ~fuily complied w~th by hmm au~ me. ~en h e res~ne~
<br /> Cm~y an~ershzp of ~hms Cm~y to accept the posmtmon of Cmty Manager of Roauoke. Virginia. on
<br /> January 1st, 19~8, I talked with yo~ in regard to this agreement. You agreed t~at ~e arrange
<br /> merit should continue and so reported to the City Oouncil~ as will appear on its minutes. You~
<br /> recommendation was incorporated in the minutes. This a~Pangement was entered into so that I
<br /> could retain my Civil Service status in the Police Department. I realized from the beginning
<br /> that the moment I accepted the permanent position of Chief, I would be subject to dismissal
<br /> without cause and would be without right of appeal to the Civil ~ervice Commission. if ~is
<br /> agreement had'not been rearmed, I would never have in the first instance accepted the posi-
<br /> tion of Chief.
<br /> After having been appointed Chief, Mr. Owens made two Captain Inspec-
<br /> tors, L.C. ~arren, Inspector of the unifo~m ranks, and L. H. Cherry, Inspector of ~e Detec-
<br /> tive Department. They are still Captains in the Department~ a s is also H. A. Eden and A. Las-
<br /> ~iter. The ~olice DeDartment has four Captains instead of the three that existed at the time
<br /> of my appointment to Chief. it was thoroughly understood that at all times there wouldr emain
<br /> a vacancy in the position of Captain so that I could revert back for one day each year to this
<br /> position which remained open for 88~ days in each year. As you probably wsl! k~_ow, i draw the
<br /> pay of a Captain for one day and for ~8~ days I draw the salary o f a Chief.
<br /> I was selected as Chie~ because it was the opinionc~ these in authori-
<br /> ty that I could eliminate the friction a nd dissention that had existed in the Police Departmeal
<br /> fo~ many years. I realized the terrific task before me to try to establish harmony and desist.
<br /> ed, which was due to complaints of the various men occupying various positions. I believed
<br /> then that With t he aid of the members of the City CouncmI that a good bit of this could be
<br /> eliminated. I spent ma~y hours, days, weeks and months, trying to bring about the desired re-
<br /> sult. In this, I believe I have .succeeded, but only with the aid of the men who are members of
<br /> the C o~ucil.
<br /> During my tenure in office, ~ae City Council raised the Police officer:
<br /> salaries, agreed to fuz~nish uniforms for them, made adjustment in salaries that were inequi -
<br /> table, as well as in equipment, increased the vacation period f.rom ten days to fo~teen days,
<br /> and reduced the working week to six days instead of seven. It was these little things, with
<br /> my effort, that brought about the conditions which, prevail today and which is satisfactory to
<br /> those in authority as well a s to me. 'I feel gratmfied a~ ~he thought that I have helped in
<br /> b~inging about this desirable result.
<br /> Portsmouth has increased tremendously in population and in size. I
<br /> served as Chief when this City had a large floating population which was during the war years.
<br /> The~Government brought to our City vs~ious and sur_d~y types of people i~om all over the coun-
<br /> try. They were poorly housed because of t~e lack of housing facilities. They had little or
<br />~no recreation? They were away fr~ the~wi~es and families, a~d in roaming the streets, the~
<br /> 6f nec&ssity would get into mischief. I realized that and I trzed to impres~ upon t he float-
<br /> ing population the necessity o f respecting our laws by personally and with fellow officers go-
<br /> lng to various~secti0ns of~ our City making arrests so that it might be _known to those in t hat
<br /> part of tbs City where the man was arrested that they could not violate our laws without be-
<br /> ing brought before the bar of justice. Very few cities, as 'shown by statistics, can boast of
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