GIRL CORPS OF DETECTIVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 213, 8 September 1923, Page 26

GIRL CORPS OF DETECTIVES.

THE HUSH ! HUSH! BRIGADE. PRETTY GIRL CHIEF. In the headquarters of the Lancashire County Constabulary, says " Lloyd's Sunday News" special correspondent, is a " bustx ■hush" department the like of which is not to be found In any other police authority in the kingdom. i Its existence Is almost unknown to the ' teeming thousands In the busy town of Preston, for seldom does co much as a hint of its activity rea<«h the public ear. I Its chief Is a young and pretty cirl who [holds the rank of detective-inspector, and its members are drawn entirely from tne j gentler sex. I It might t>o described as the secret service of the Lancashire police. J (SILENT OFFICIALS. ! Secret it certainly is, for 1 round that i even of the local journalists, there were i many who 'had heard not so much as a ! whisper of its wOTk. if you go—as I did — into the constabulary headquarters and ask about the girl detectives you will finrj there jis no undue haste to advertise the departj 'The officials have strict instructions to 1 say nothing without the authority of the I chief constable. But if you penetrate down certain lot'ty ■coVridors you may catch a 'glimpse through half-open doors of "fair young things"—several I saw were in pink i jumpers and fancy skirts —poring over the I records of many a 'hardened crook. i If you were to go to one of the big county lialls or some such other social function : you would see the same young women in I evening dress mingling inconspicuously with I the guests, just as at the Grand National you could find them strolling ataout tlie fashionable enclosures. I am told it is seldom that a ewell mobsinnn escapes their ; "ye. GUARD FOR THE PRINCE. I Aγ other times if you knew where to go you would find them following up delicate I clues In. murder mysteries, while DetectiveI Inspector Lilian Naylor. *"« chief of the girl sleuths, has tried her nnr .■»»i- ,, ;ul hand lat nearly every class of investigation and police work. j On the occasion of the last visit of the Prince of "WaJes to Lancashire this slim fair-haireil was one of ehp <<«stectives deI tailed for special work tn connection Tvith the ilioyal tour. Lancashire is not the only place where women have been employed for detectire work, but nowhere else are they used so systematically and In such a variety of ways. The reason is that Mr. H. P. >P. Lene, the chief const<nWe of the connty, has an un- | hounded faith In the ability of -women as ! detectives. His argument is that the smart, well-educated tyipe of girl that he employs can pass unnoticed in places where a male police officer could not escape attention, and that they are much better «Ne to obtain Information from those of their own ccx. WHERE MEN FAILED. Experience has proved that his faith is justified, for on more than one occasion the girls have succeeded where men have failed. They have no power of arrest, and it Is not desired that they should have. They are neeful mainly In connection with tie preliminary stages of an inquiry. When the evidence Is complete the cue t> Handed over to-a male officer, who makes the arrest, and tn this way there is no need foT the girl detectives to enter the witnese box and so disclose the carefully guarded secret of their occupation. Not only does Mr. Lane believe In women detectives but he refards girls as most suitaWe for police clerical dirties. In feet, the " buriy man in blue" is conspicuous by hie absence at the ooonty police headquarters. MORE GIRL 6 THAN MEN. For every man I caw there there seemed to be four or flve girls. Some of them nre employed in a highly confidential capacity, it being another of Mr. Lane's beliefs that girls can keep a secret just as well or better than men. A little experience of mine lea«le tne to 'believe that the chief constable has good reason for saying this. I obtained an introduction to Mr. Andrew Parker, a Preston printer, who Is th* father of one of the girls employed at the police headquarters, and asked Mtw on what class of work his daughter was engaged. " I really don'.t know," he replied, easnrIng mc that what he said wag literally tfn* " She won't say a word to mc β-boat her work." "And," the fother added, as an afte^ thought, •' she won't tell her mother, either."