"GET IN FIRST!"

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 124, 27 May 1932, Page 8

"GET IN FIRST!"

TO DEAL WITH BURGLARS. POLICE OFFICER'S HINTS. WHAT HOUSEHOLDER MAY DO.

If an intruder should be found in a house, what is the best course for the startled occupant to pursue? The man who broke into the store at Alfriston recently was roughly handled, but only after he had struggled for a considerable time.

A Christchurch police officer gave some hints on the subject. As a beginning, he said, there was nothing more effective than to pull down a window through which a burglar was clambering. A. window across a man's back was a definite hindrance to his activities and he could then be tapped over the head with a piece of wood or a poker.

When an intruder has definitely entered a house the situation does become rather more complicated, and unless one is built on the lines of a wrestler or a policeman something in the nature of moral support is handy (says the "Christchurch Star.") A lump of wood, a poker, or, as tastes indicate, a cricket bat or a golf club may be used. Shooting Barred. There is sometimes a point to be noticed, in that the Crimes Act lays it down that force can be met with force, this clause definitely barring the shooting of a perfectly harmless burglar. A sympathy acquittal might follow with a jury, but, strictly speaking, the law would have been broken.

If, on the other hand, an intruder present with felonious intent shows fight, then he deserves what is coming to him. The motto then becomes "get in first." If the parties then come to grips the knowledge of a few small tricks, jiu jitsu or otherwise, are invaluable. Simple but Efficient. Demonstrated on a reporter by a police officer, a few tricks of extreme simplicity proved most efficient. When an assailant happens to show the back of

his neck a sharp downwards tap with the side of an open hand has beneficial results, while conversely a similar application on the windpipe in front apparently is equally satisfactory. The old friend, a hard left to the jaw, still does its work, while a crack on the muscles just behind the shoulder blades takes considerable steam out of the recipient. Police constables are experts in rough-and-tumbles, and while they certainly have plenty of strength it is backed up by scientific application of small tricks which almost literally tie in knots anyone with fierce intentions.

In the Auckland case the wife of the postmaster was hovering round for some time and eventually brought proceedings to a close by hitting the intruder on the head. In such instances the application of the jab on the back of the neck or on the windpipe by a third party would prove most practical as it is the work of a split second, and the danger of hitting the wrong person is reduced to a minimum.