and turned over to the Juvenile Court. On April 25,
1947, he was indicted for murder and on December 3rd,
1947, was sentenced to life at San Quentin.
Jose Roberto Trujillo, now 29 years old, was born in
Durango, Colorado, and served eight months in Golden,
Colorado, on a grand larceny charge, in 1934. In 1936 he
was paroled on a grand larceny charge in Buena Vista,
Colorado. In 1937, in Carson City, Colorado, he was
sentenced to six years for grand larceny and burglary;
and in 1941, in Canon City, was sentenced to one year
for grand larceny. On vagrancy charges he was arrested
in San Francisco in 1945 and 1946. In San Bruno, in
1947, he was arrested on a charge of burglary. In San
FrancisccS, in 1947, he was arrested on charges of robbery,
violation of Section 503, California Vehicle Code and the
Gun Law, and sent to San Quentin. While in San Quen-
tin he was indicted on a murder charge, found guilty of
murder, first degree, and on October 10th, 1947, sentenced
to death in San Quentin.
Well, that is the team, at least the seniors who gradu-
ated with honors. As a team ''hey had everything in
their favor. They did not look like the tough, reckless
lawbreakers they were. They had good cooperation as a
gang — their look-outs being perfect, as to age and ap-
pearance, and being entirely unsuspected by inspectors on
the prowl for experienced burglars and holdup operators.
They knew their San Francisco thoroughly, while the
average high class thug and his partners or his lookouts
are virtual strangers here. Such high class lawbreakers, too,
can pull off only one or two jobs here before moving to
new and greener fields of action because they know their
pictures are on file — and do violently hate to risk another
penitentiary term for even being found in the possession
of a murderous weapon, or caught unarmed in the act of
committing crime.
In addition to youth, a knowledge of San Francisco
and moronic daring, our local bad gangs, when individually
quizzed on suspicious charges are able, through their under-
ground, and through extra curricula training in our reform
schools, to appear blameless.
A juvenile bad gang gets a genuine pleasure from
reading of their exploits of holdups of grocery stores, gas
f Continued on Page 40}
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Page 16
POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS' JOURNAL
January. 1948
The Story, In Part, of a 'Bad Boy'
Who In Later Years As Chief of Police of Berkeley, Professor of Criminology and Police
Administration, Gained World-Wide Fame — August Vollmer, 'Still a Copper'
By B. S. (Sandy) Sanders WideJNi Known Police Reporter, Editor, Writer
In those far-ofF days they were considered "had boys.""
Sure, they were kids and mischievous.
They were the bane of Patrolman Jack Welsh who
patrolled that unpredictable Western Addition in the
seething, beligerent part of San Francisco, rising from the
Embarcadero to the heights of Pine, California, Clay,
Jackson streets.
They were the "really bad boys" of the Western
Addition.
Officer Jack Welsh passed out of the picture and a new
copper, Billy Woods appeared on the beat.
Beginning of a Police Life
Officer Woods said:
"Listen, kids. You're not really bad. You want some-
MEET THE "DADDY" OF MODERN POLICE METHODS IN BATTLING CRIME
August Vollmer, retired Professor of Criminology and Police Admini.'itration. Univcrpity of California, former Chief of the Berkeley
Police Department, 71 year.'; young but still a copper in hh own words, who follows every newest development in police administra-
tion, in identification methods, in identification, detection and conviction of criminals. The cameraman caught him in this study flanked
by tomes of books dealing with wayward youth and adults and learned treatises dealing with every type of crime, its cause', its cure.
They'd dump over apple carts, kick over fruit, vege-
table and knicknack sidewalk stands, pester the peanut
and popcorn vender, manage to snitch a small article
now and then "just for the fun of it."
And they would sing an Irish ditty (not a lullaby)
which made Officer Jack Welsh see "red" where the
sheen of the grass of his native Emerald Isle should have
gleamed. It ended with a "bow. wow, wow for you
Welsh."
Five of those kids made Jack Welsh's life more or less
a "hell on earth" as he often said in after years.
But the kids? Listen, brothers!
They were: August (Gus) Vollmer. perhaps the
world's outstanding authority in police administration,
retired professor of criminology. University of California,
and former Chief of Police in Berkeley, the university city.
The late D. A. White, long Chief of San Francisco's
far-flung police department and the later-day veterans of
the force: Captain John Cronin, Inspector Charlie Gal-
hvan and Officer Tom Larkin.
thing more to do than twist that wire around the apple
cart, spill the load, nip a fruit or two and scoot down
the street. You'd like to play baseball. You'd like a little
exercise on a football field. I know kids, I've got a
couple of my own."
It was not long after that Billy Woods had found a
vacant lot, large enough for catchball, an undersized
diamond which could also be used as a f(xitball field. He
found goal posts for the latter and sandbags for the
b:iseball field and he found a shack for gymnasium work-
outs, some boxing gloves and other essentials.
At 71, Chief Gus Vollmer, retired to his home, high
on Euclid avenue, Berkeley, covered with honors, a retired
professor of criminology and police administration of the
University of California, though he "never finished high
school," holding honorary degrees from other great uni-
versities, surrounded by a mighty library of books on
crime, it's cause, it's cure, looks back over the years
and says:
(Contimied on Page 68)
January, 1 948
POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS" JOURNAL
Page 17
THE PRESENT TASK OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Address by Assistant Special Agent H. C. Van Pelt, San Francisco, to the Northern
California Peace Officers Association at Chico
It is a distinct pleasure to be with you, gentlemen,
and I am particularly gratified for the opportunity to
talk to you regarding the present task of law enforcement.
Causes of Post-War Crime
Our rising wave of post-war crime is not imaginary or
hypothetical, but instead it is startlingly realistic and
tragic. Like a tidal wave, crime is sweeping the countr>'
today, gathering momentum throughout the entire nation.
It is mounting in intensity. It is growing in severity. It
is not isolated nor confined to any particular community
or locality, but it is nationwide. Like a pestilence, law-
lessness stalks the land today, more deadly than the bubonic
plagues of old.
The emotional shock of four years of war has left its
tragic aspects mirrored on the police blotters of the entire
nation. The tremendous concentration of war-time effort,
the disruption of entire communities, the congested hous-
ing situation, rising prices, and the loss of some of those
normal restraints which ordinarily result in conformance
with the rules of organized society, have all played their
parts in bringing about a general moral letdown. Our
weakened social structure, and the softening of the atti-
tude and behavior of so many of our people, are clearly
manifested today in the rising post-war crime wave.
Since V-J Day, over eleven and one-half million serv-
icemen, trained for total warfare, have been demobilized
to return to normal peacetime pursuits. Women who
have been in the armed forces as Waves, Wacs, Spars
and Marines have been discharged to return to a more
tranquil life. Hundreds of thousands of so-called "souvenir
weapons" have been brought into the country', and,
because of lack of effective control of these weapons,
many have found their way into the wrong hands and
are being used in crimes against society.
Many communities, particularly here in California,
swollen with wartime populations, have been flooded with
even more people despite inadequate housing facilities.
This has caused congestion, irritation, restlessness, and
bad living conditions. These things result in poor social
standards, which spawn delinquency and crime.
Skyrocketing prices have also provided a stimulus to
weak wills to violate the law. In many places, the ac-
cumulation of loose money in corner grocery stores and
filling stations has added temptations, and has made burg-
lary and robbery' profitable enough to warrant the risk
of being caught.
In some instances, men and women have been un-
willing to relinquish their jobs to returning veterans. Un-
employment has resulted in the reconversion from wartime
to peacetime economy. Labor disputes and strikes in key
industries throughout the entire nation have retarded
progress. Treacherous subverters and ruthless propagan-
dists have intensified their efforts to incite class against
class, race against race, and creed against creed. Disre-
spect for law enforcement has been manifested by the
youngsters accustomed to high wartime wages. The nation
is burdened with paralyzing debts, and legislative bodies
are endeavoring to reduce the expense of government.
Our people cry for relief from tax burdens, and law
enforcement today finds itself just another agency of
government striving to improve its own condition.
Extent of Post-War Crime
Although V-J Day climaxed the defeat of our fighting
foes abroad, the vast army of crime has gone steadily
marching on. The cunning minds of America's criminals
have not been idle. They have been devising new methods
of victimizing the public and escaping punishment. Some
are fiendishly clever, and many are embittered and
treacherous.
Into our pnsons, penitentiaries and other penal insti-
tutions today, there flows a constant and ever-increasing
stream of humanity, while out of the pockets of America's
taxpayers there flows a constant and ever-increasing stream
of dollars in payment of the nation's crime bill, which
has already reached the staggering sum of 17 billion
dollars annually. To this appalling cost must be added
the tragedy, the misery and unhappiness, and the shat-
tered ambitions, careers and lives as a more important
result of crime.
Each day's register of offenses, the bulletins from our
teletype machines, our correspondence, telephone calls,
interviews, and investigations develop new tragedies —
not imaginary, but startlingly realistic and shocking. The
steady increases in bank robberies, highjackings, murders,
kidnapings, and thefts are indicative of the return of a
major wave of criminality. Such cases as the ruthless
kidnap-slaying of fourteen-year-old Thora Chamberlain
of San Jose by Tom McMonigle, who is now fighting a
last-minute appeal at San Quentin to escape execution
in the gas chamber, the murder of an Oakland police
inspector by an East Bay burglar, the assaulting and
killing of Alcatraz guards by hardened, life-term convicts
in an attempted escape, the shooting of the Acting Chief
of Police at San Bruno by two stick-up men fleeing from
a San Francisco murder, the coldblooded slaying of two
persons at Chico by a young boy, the murder of two
persons at Live Oak by two more boys who fled with a
twelve-year-old girl, the 14-year-old honor student at Elk
Grove — a girl receiving all A's in the Sacramento County
scholastic examinations — one of but five persons obtaining
such high grades in the last ?6 years — strangling her best
girl friend and beating her to death with a sledge hammer,
the brutal kidnap-murder of six-year-old Suzanne Degnan
of Chicago, the fiendish "Black Dahlia" killing, and the
"Bugsy" Siegel and "Nick" de John slayings are but
(Continued on page ^2)
Page 18 POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS" JOURNAL
Sheriff Long Has Best of Radio
By George Archinal, Richmond Independent
January, 1948
Martinez. — Probably no Sheriff's radio station in the
state can match the phenomenal, 10-year growth of Contra
Costa County's KQEC, rated as one of the most modern
and efficient in California and holder of some enviable
"firsts" in police radio.
Matching the strides of a county that has leaped into
fifth place in population in California, KQEC takes no
back seat to the police and Sheriff's systems of the metro-
In addition, the station is serving eight fire depart-
ments which cover the major portion of the county.
KQCE as it functions today it the handiwork of Radio
Engineer George K. Burton, who established W6XOR
in 1937.
Burton has been in radio since the "good old" battery
set days. Operator and announcer on Richmond's first
radio station, KFCM, established in 1922, the owner of
Sheriff James N", Long (ritjht), and Radio Engineer George K. Burton with Contra Costa Sheriff's mobile two-way unit of modern
police radio system.
politan counties of San Francisco and Alameda, nor
any other.
KQCE squeaked onto the air as Station W6XOR in
1937, a "powerful" 25-watter that had to strain to reach
a range of 10 miles to serve all of six sheriff's cars.
Today this station punches out with 500 watts, has a
workable range of 225 miles, a consistent range of 75
miles and serves 75 sheriff's highway patrol, police and
constable's cars, along with ambulance and vehicles main-
tained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
office of the District Attorney.
his own "ham" station, W6AJX, he joined the sheriff's
office in 1935.
He served two years as superintendent of the bureau
of identification and then set up W6XOR. Sheriff's
radio was then a one-man job, but it since has developed
into a communications division with a total personnel of
Op;n I I to 2 A.M. Weekdays I I to 4 A.M. Saturdays
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January, 1 948
POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS" JOURNAL
Page 19
nine, including Burton.
Power of W6XOR was stepped up to 'iO watts in the
following year, 1938, and in 19J9 the sheriff's office re-
ceived its present call letters of KQCE. At the same time,
power was increased to 500 watts.
The modernization and expansion of KQCE is largely
due to the foresight of Sheriff James N. Long, who took
office in 1942, and who has yet to turn down a progressive
idea for the improvement of police communications and
other enforcement work.
Sheriff Long, onetime county supervisor, took hold
during the critical war years in a county jammed with
choice military targets. Six months after they pinned on
his badge the Port Chicago naval ammunition explosion,
which claimed several hundred lives, took place.
The value of police communications was highlighted
with stark clarity.
A population that had mushroomed more than 100
per cent and the ever-present possibility of major disaster
took Contra Costa out of the "cow countr)'" class
overnight.
The sheriff's office expanded without delay, and com-
munications occupied a top spot.
Under Burton's direction KQCE in 19.39 developed
and installed the first automatic repeater station in the
world, and the first ever licensed by the Federal Com-
munications Commission.
While the idea was new at the time it was developed
by the engineering personnel of the sheriff's office, it was
soon widely adopted and is now used around the world.
The repeater idea was particularly helpful during the
war, and served with outstanding success at the time of
the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
The repeater system was born as the result of Contra
Costa's mountainous terrain, which blocked communica-
tions from one section of the county to the other.
The home station in Martinez, because of its power,
could reach mobile units, but they could not reach the
home station. To overcome this, an automatic repeater
was set up on Mt. Diablo, which picked up messages
from the mobile units and automatically "repeated" or
relayed them to the home station.
Three frequencies are involved in the contact, with the
car-to-repeater and repeater-to-home station channels being
of high frequency.
The sheriff's office started with amplitude modulation,
or AM, but made some changes when the FCC changed
the station's frequency. As a result, KQCE installed the
first permanent frequency modulation radio station on the
Pacific Coast, on Mt. Diablo.
The repeater technique has ironed out so many kinks
in communications that two additional repeaters are to be
installed for use by fire apparatus and for point to point
communications. These will supplement repeaters already
operating for KQCE and for highway patrol cars.
The tie-in with fire departments has been in operation
for more than a year, but the eventual duplication of
repeater facilities will give the various fire departments
a frequency of their own.
The new frequency has already been approved by the
FCC. This development will permit two-way communi-
cation between fire houses and fire engines. Now in the
process of installation in the various fire departments
served are five-watt portable transmitters and receivers.
This service has been extended to the Martinez, Con-
cord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, San Pablo, El
Sobrante, Mt. View and East Bay Municipal Utility Dis-
trict fire departments and to the county prison farm
in Clayton Valley.
All are in current operation, with the exception of the
El Sobrante department. In addition, the San Pablo, Mt.
Diablo and the Central Contra Costa County Fire Dis-
trict are equipping their fire chief's cars with duplicate
receivers which will permit, not only car-to-station com-
munication, but car-to-car communication.
KQCE will soon come up with another "first," with the
establishment of a carrier current multiple channel trans-
mission system on Mt. Diablo which will allow trans-
f Continued on page 661
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Page 20
POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS' JOURNAL
January, 1948
(Copyrifht, 1931. 2-0 PublUhini Co.)
Founded 1922
Business Office: 465 Tenth Street
San Francisco, California
Phone MArket 7110
An Official Police News and Educational Magazine Devoted
to the Interests of
SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT
WIDOWS' AND ORPHANS' AID ASSOCIATION
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PENINSULA POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA POLICE COMMUNICA-
TION OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION
Published Monthly by
San Francisco Police and Peace Officers' Journal
S. F. Police Short Wave Radio Call KGPD
OUR FOREIGN EXCHANGES
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ADVERTISING RATES on application. )
THE CANDID FRIEND
By Opie L. W\rner
Some recent recruits to our police department are very
personal friends of mine and are young men of whom
I expect fine reports as members of our San Francisco
Police Department.
They know how very closely I have been connected
with the San Francisco Police Department for over 35
years and more than once have asked for an appoint'
ment with me to get personal hints for success in their
chosen profession.
Well, a week ago I met a high ranking police member,
and, as we both had a half hour or more leisure, I asked
him, as a friend, to give me some pointers to relay to my
new police recruits. He agreed.
With note book ready, I waited while, in accordance
with his kindly promise of instant assistance and the re-
quest that I should not quote him. he sat back, and with
closed eyes, dictated what he called "random shots," as
follows:
1. Don"t advertise yourself as to your family or edu-
cation or politicial or lodge connections, or as to the good
jobs you have had. Remember, to your audiences, you
are just a rookie cop who was not drafted.
2. As to questions of your nationality, your one and
only correct answer is: "I am an American." This answer
is final — and very convincing, too.
3. To kidding and even annoying tricks played by
older members, a good natural grin is the best offset.
4. They will know you are Iving, but, when quizzed
about religion or politics, your one and only safe answer
IS you practice neither and thu« have no opinions of
either.
5. Your fellow officers argue, from time to time, on
any and all subjects and, when asked your decision, your
100 per cent answer is: "Search me fellows." You could
add strength to this assertion by turning up the palms
of your hands, wrinkling your forehead and looking at
the ceiling. This acting dumb stuff is a sure friend maker.
6. Keep your eyes open, but, if you value your popu-
larity with your fellow workers and your superiors, defi-
nitely do not be a cement maker: the windbags do that
to their detriment.
7. You hurt your department standing when you
either praise or censure superiors for the reason that
your audience may not see eye to eye with you. As to
superiors your iron rule should be : Don't talk about them.
8. Be a good listener to men of all ranks, and, as
.superiors are human, remember it costs nothing to make
an effort to show them respect.
9. Be hasty to get to the scene of police trouble, and,
no matter how trivial the problem is, pitch in and give
your best.
10. Sometimes you may sneak a few minutes to your-
self, but remember this little respite must be possible of
terminating by more than one exit.
11. Be absolute boss on your beat for in this way the
good citizens and the good bosses are on your side while
the other kind will give you a wide berth which, in itself,
will tend much to your peace of mind.
12. Free drinks have strings attached to them — some-
times these strings are very strong indeed, and, in any
case our innate pride is blunted by making a practice of
taking something for nothing.
13. No matter how much you like your assigned part-
ner it is your duty to yourself and your family to secure
a transfer the moment you find he is a liquor addict. Such