This is a very interesting film (or series of films) because of the prominence it gives - unusual this early - to the police operational aspects that would become hugely important in crime films of the forties and fifties. It even begins, unusually for a silent, with a first-person titlecard (I was......) and, although the first-person narrative is not exactly continued - it is presumably the detective Bob Moore who i supposed to be speaking - the narrative remains snappy in the fashion of the hard-nosed crime novel. Towards the end the story becomes a bit "Fu Manchu" but in the early episodes it maintains a relatively realistic style.
And there is a very good reason for all this. The writer of the original story, sometimes given as Inside the Net but this may be an error, was Richard E. Enright who, at the time of writing and at the time when the film came out, both seemingly in 1924, was Commissioner of the New York Police, a post he had held (a record period at the time) since 1918. He was rather an admirable policeman, the first Commissioner to have risen up through the ranks - he joined the force in 1896 - an erudite man, a supporter of unions (a fact which delayed his promotion) who was popular with his men and a stalwart opponent of police corruption.
Enright advocated a scientific approach to police-work, writing an article on the subject for Popular Science Monthly in 1923. He was also an advocate of universal fingerprinting (article in Scientific American 1925), so it is no surprise that fingerprinting plays a important part in the film and that the process associated with it is shown with great care. He was also strongly supportive of the detective component of the police-force and was the founder of the YPD's detective training school.
He served as Commissioner during the time of Prohibition and was known for his crack-down on illegal gambling (also featured in the film as part of the white slave trade/blackmail racket run by the gang. He resigned in 1925 over the support from politicians for the corrupt policeman who would not enforce the Volstead Act. He wrote at least one other detective story after his department but otherwise lived a quite life until his decease in 1953.
And there is a very good reason for all this. The writer of the original story, sometimes given as Inside the Net but this may be an error, was Richard E. Enright who, at the time of writing and at the time when the film came out, both seemingly in 1924, was Commissioner of the New York Police, a post he had held (a record period at the time) since 1918. He was rather an admirable policeman, the first Commissioner to have risen up through the ranks - he joined the force in 1896 - an erudite man, a supporter of unions (a fact which delayed his promotion) who was popular with his men and a stalwart opponent of police corruption.
Enright advocated a scientific approach to police-work, writing an article on the subject for Popular Science Monthly in 1923. He was also an advocate of universal fingerprinting (article in Scientific American 1925), so it is no surprise that fingerprinting plays a important part in the film and that the process associated with it is shown with great care. He was also strongly supportive of the detective component of the police-force and was the founder of the YPD's detective training school.
He served as Commissioner during the time of Prohibition and was known for his crack-down on illegal gambling (also featured in the film as part of the white slave trade/blackmail racket run by the gang. He resigned in 1925 over the support from politicians for the corrupt policeman who would not enforce the Volstead Act. He wrote at least one other detective story after his department but otherwise lived a quite life until his decease in 1953.