For the protection of active members, who frequently encountered emergencies requiring authoritative action, and often were obliged to make immediate arrests to insure the detention of persons guilty of serious offenses, an arrangement was made whereby a large percentage of the operatives were formally deputized as special officers of the Minnesota Public Safety Commission. This gave them sufficient police authority to cope with any situation which arose. But for this, it would not have been possible for the organization to make its record of important arrests. This authority permitted the carrying of arms for protection, and although instances where “gun play” was required were few, the U. S. Department of Justice and the Minnesota Public Safety Commission had no occasion to regret the authority and responsibility conferred upon these men. They were enabled, by virtue of this authority, to enter many places, which otherwise might have been closed to them, in time to correct conditions which, if neglected, would have given rise to serious difficulties. The Minneapolis Division American Protective League was the first local division to attempt a large-scale slacker round-up. The results and experience of the Minneapolis raids were responsible for similar activities in other cities, which put into the Army hundreds of men who otherwise might have evaded military service. The first organized slacker “raid” in Minneapolis took place on March 26, 1917. One hundred and twenty operatives were employed in hauling the drag-net through the cheaper hotels in the Gateway lodging house district. Approximately one hundred men were taken to the temporary detention place, and twenty-one men—deserters, unregistered enemy aliens and men whose draft status could not be determined—were sent to the county jail. On April 6, two hundred and fifty operatives, with two hundred National Guard escorts, visited saloons, cafés, pool rooms and dance halls, starting at 8:00 p. m. and continuing until 10:00 p. m., and picked up 1,150 men in various places. The Chief and a corps of assistants conducted the questioning throughout the night. There were still two hundred men in custody when breakfast was served Sunday morning. Long distance telephone and the telegraph were employed to determine the status of the non-residents. Twenty-seven men were locked up. Other less extensive raids were conducted through the spring and summer of 1918 and at different periods, squads of operatives being stationed at the various railroad stations to search for draft evaders. As many as twenty prisoners were taken in these stations in a single day, and it was seldom that a day passed which did not yield two or more deserters or delinquents. One morning a dapper individual who arrived at one station was asked if he had his draft card.