THE NEW ZEALAND POLICE.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7382, 7 August 1889, Page 5

THE NEW ZEALAND POLICE.

[By Telegraph.] [from our special correspondent. 1 WELLINGTON, August 6. The annual report of the New Zealaud police force was laid on the table to-day. The strength o£ the force on 3ht March, 1889, was 434, inclusive of 11 Native constables. There had been a decrease of 10 in the Native constables, many of them being found useless. Two new stations had been opened during the year—one at the Mahikapawa goldfield an* oae at Middlemarch, on the Otago Cenaal line. The criminal statistica for thqytur ending December, 1888, show do- i crease in the gross total of offee l=, ttuv.-.v i being a 080 in p.\t iu«th 1 Island and 93 in the South. '■;,>■!■ ; has been an increase, hoVoi/vr. i.. , offences of breaking and enteiir.g eLv-p- j and houses, burglary, and horajstoahng-. i and a decrease in arson and various oi-har j offences. The increase in houstbre&king ! and burglary is supposed to be doe to the fact that we have now to deal with a wellorganised gang of expert thieves known as " spielers." These men are the result of the numerous small race meetings, where they congregate to swindle the unwary. The result of retrenchment and the amalgamation of police districts has been satisfactory, and has not impaired the efficiency, but the force is now reduced to the lowest limit consistent with efficiency. The police force is becoming increasingly popular with young coloniste, and during the last twelve months nearly half the reeruite were of colonial birth, and were superior to the ordinary class* of candidates in education, intelligence, and physique. The detective system is very unsatisfactory, for though there are many good officers there are also many useless men. Major Gudgeon, to remedy this, proposes that in future men should be simply employed aa plain clothe 3 constables, receiving detective allowance. The present system of appointing men to the permanent office of detective makes them careless and lazy. A plain clothes constable, on the other hand, is only employed so long as he is capable, and he is thua spurred to exertion. Arrangements have been made for a system of examination for the force, divided into two parts, junior and senior, a pass in the former making a man eligible to be a first-class constable, and a pass in the latter qualifying him for sergeant. The general conduct of the police force has been good.