Fighting Corruption
The Tribune sent Jacob Riis to Mulberry Street, a street today in the heart of Little Italy and Chinatown. There he was assigned as a police reporter — someone who reports on all police business: fires, suicides, robberies, murders. It was here Riis first met Theodore Roosevelt, who was police commissioner at the time. [1]
"To-day No. 300 Mulberry street is the centre and dissemination of laziness, corruption, contempt for all right standards of police duty." [4] |
The police force was one of the most corrupt infrastructures at the time and was involved in various crimes: extortion, election fraud, counterfeiting, scams, and many more. The Lexow Committee was a 10,576 page report of an investigation conducted by the US Senate. Its goal was to probe and lead the fixing of corruption in the New York City Police Department. The probe revealed the crimes that were committed by the NYPD, mainly in favor of the Tammany Hall political machine. [2] Roosevelt was picked to clean it up. |
Roosevelt had already known Riis through his book How the Other Half Lives and had offered to help Riis “in any practical way to make things a little better.” [5] The police department on Mulberry was where Roosevelt was appointed to and was where Riis took him up on the offer. It was here the two grew to be close friends, a relationship continued later on when “Police Commissioner Roosevelt” became “President Roosevelt”. Riis had no respect for the upper echelon of the NYPD — for good reason — but with worked together with Roosevelt because he respected him as a man who didn’t back down from his duty to justice. [1]
Riis and Roosevelt went out together at night to observe police officers that were on duty, who weren’t expecting to be watched. On one of these trips, ten police officers were supposed to be on post, yet only one was on duty. Roosevelt was appalled by the short comings of the police force, and dedicated his years as commissioner to cleaning house. As much as possible, Roosevelt fixed corruption and taught discipline to the force. He established a system based on merit for promotions, actually trained officers on how to use their weapon, and created the first bicycle squad (which is still in place in some places today). [7]
"Just as my whole life was influenced by my long association with Jacob Riis, whom I am tempted to call the best American I ever knew, although he was already a young man when he came hither from Denmark"
-Theodore Roosevelt [5]