The result of the Lexow investigation was that nearly fifty Police Inspectors, Captains and wardmen were indicted for bribery and other offences against the law, but only one man suffered imprisonment. All the others fought for vindication in the Courts and succeeded in having the indictments in every case dismissed. It is a foregone conclusion in the minds of those best able to judge that the man who is to rightly control the New York Police must be one of their own number, an experienced officer, paid a good salary so that he may be honest in his relations to the City Government, and just to the men under him. Indeed, the only way to keep the police situation within proper bounds is to put the entire force in the hands of a practical, level headed honest man. Give him a free hand and hold him responsible for keeping the city clear of crime. Then let this official put the crime of the city up to the Inspectors, holding each of them responsible for his own district. In turn let the Inspectors hold each Captain responsible for the condition of his own precinct. When the Captain of the Precinct finds that he cannot shift the responsibility on somebody else he will do his duty or get out. Only in this way shall we have real police efficiency. Since January 1900 the police of Greater New York have been in charge of single-headed Commissioners; each in turn ruled the department, viz: Ex-Senator Murphy, Col. Partridge, General Greene, ex-Congressman McAdoo, General Bingham and Commissioner Baker. They were all good men in private life but some were sadly deficient in the experience that pertained to police matters. Each Commissioner made serious mistakes from start to finish which would not have taken place had he been familiar with the routine of the department. And each Commissioner in his turn complained that he had been grossly deceived by the higher officials of the Department when he tried to bring about any lasting reforms. Had these men been practical policemen it would have been impossible to have deceived them. If you put an inexperienced man in charge of a railroad or a large factory in two years it is more than likely that one or both will be in the hands of a receiver. And every time you put an inexperienced outsider in charge of the Police Department he will fail utterly to do the best work. On the first of January, 1909, the Police force of Greater New York consisted of 1 Commissioner, 4 Deputy Commissioners, 17 Inspectors, 25 Surgeons, 91 Captains, 627 Lieutenants, 585 Sergeants, 8,239 Patrolmen, 70 Matrons, 194 Doormen, together with 10 others who are classed as telegraph men and boiler inspectors, making a grand total of over 10,000 in the Department.