Walter Arm, Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of community relations, announced today that the New York Police Department has reaffirmed orders not to state a suspect’s presumed religion or ethnic identity in “wanted” circulars. He said this type of description “has no value in a search.”
Commissioner Arm made this statement following several inquiries into a recent circular in which one suspect was described as “apparently Jewish,” and another as “German” or “Irish.” He admitted that this was a mistake, and asserted that supposed religious and ethnic origins have been eliminated from “wanted” circulars for several years. A recent check revealed that, of the 225 “wanted” circulars issued since the beginning of 1963, ethnic descriptions were given in four cases.
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