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The Atlanta Constitution,

Thursday, 28th May 1914,

PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.

Detectives Charged with Operating in Atlanta Without Permission

Detectives from the Burns Detective Agency, including W. W. ("Boots") Rogers, have been charged with operating in Atlanta without the permission of the Police Board and the Chief of Police. Rogers, who has been assisting Dan S. Lehon, the southern manager of the Burns International Detective Agency, in investigating alleged illegal and "frame-up" methods used by the Atlanta Police to secure evidence against Leo M. Frank, convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan, was fined $100.75 by Recorder Nash Broyles in Police Court and bound over under a bond of $200 for violating a state statute. The state case against him was based on a violation of an act of the General Assembly of 1892, which makes it a misdemeanor for persons to operate as detectives in the state without first securing permission from lawfully constituted authorities.

Two Others Fined

Following Rogers' trial, C. C. Tedder faced similar charges and received the same penalty. L. P. Whitfield, another Burns operator, was also fined $100.75 and bound under similar charges. Each of the three detectives, in lieu of paying their fines, was given the alternative of serving thirty days in the city stockade. All three gave certiorari bonds and will appeal their cases to a higher tribunal than the city court, along with Dan S. Lehon, who was fined on Tuesday for a similar infraction of the city's ordinances and state laws.

City's Law Attacked by Prisoner's Attorney

Judge Arthur G. Powell, who has served as chief counsel for the detectives, has been paving the way to test the constitutionality of the city ordinances that prohibit persons from operating as detectives in Atlanta except under the supervision of the chief of police and the city's detectives. Judge Powell claims that the city ordinances are unconstitutional and further unreasonable, especially when the Burns Agency was working for the defense of Leo M. Frank, as it would have been impossible to work under the supervision of the police and in cooperation with them.

Two Cases Dropped

City Attorney James L. Mayson requested the dismissal of cases against W. D. Mc Worth and C. E. Sears, the manager of the local Burns Agency. Mc Worth, who had previously worked for the Pinkertons, had received permission from the police authorities to operate in the city as a detective, and this permission had never been revoked. Sears' case was dismissed on the grounds that he had applied for a license from the city council and had not operated a detective agency without first securing permission from the police authorities. The city ordinance imposes the penalty of revocation of license for managers of detective agencies who employ operators not approved by the police authorities, and as the city council had already withdrawn Sears' license, he was allowed to go without trial.

Rogers Attacks Police

In an interview with a Constitution Reporter, "Boots" Rogers bitterly attacked the methods of city detectives Starnes and Campbell in securing a statement from him in Solicitor Dorsey's office. Rogers stated that this statement was secured under the pretense of lifelong friendship and that he was inveigled into the solicitor's office under the pretense of friendly interest. He branded their action in using his statement, which he had given under the sacred ties of friendship, in the prosecution against him in police court as outrageous and unbecoming of a detective.

Rogers also branded the prosecution of the Burns detectives by the police authorities as persecution and a play for political favor. He declared that if William J. Burns had made a statement that Leo M. Frank was guilty, the cases in police court against the Burns operators would never have been made for operating without permission of the police authorities. Rogers stated that it was because the Burns operators sought to disclose the facts about the alleged "frame-up methods" used by the city detectives and police in securing evidence against Leo M. Frank to convict him for the murder of Mary Phagan that the police cases had been made. He added that it is a well-known fact that every private detective agency works men in the city of Atlanta secretly, and these men have never been approved by the police authorities. Rogers stated that he had been employed by the Burns Agency to assist in the investigation of the alleged "crooked methods" used by the city detectives and police in securing evidence for the prosecution of Frank.

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