The Press FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1953, The Police Force

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27011, 10 April 1953, Page 8

The Press FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1953, The Police Force

Members of the general public, as well as policemen and politicians, might have been pardoned for raising their eyebrows in some surprise when they read the news reported a few days ago from Auckland that a forthcoming conference in Wellington may seek the setting-up of a Royal Commission to inquire into the New Zealand Police Force, especially into such matters as promotion and conditions of work. For so many years now the Police Force has kept any internal divisions so strictly within the family that the public may have taken it for granted that the smoothness and efficiency with which its mechanism worked reflected general internal ■ satisfaction within the force itself. I Now that there is some reason to doubt the truth of this comforting assumption, a public discussion, perhaps in Parliament, might clear the air both for the police and the public. Certainly the published exchanges of comments and countercomments between the Minister of Police (Mr W. H. Fortune) and the Auckland branch of the Police Association have left the present issues something less than crystal clear. New Zealand expects, and gets, a tremendous return in service for the not over-generous amount it allots each year for the running of the Police Force. Over the years successive governments have been able to claim that they have had their money’s worth from an efficient department. The comparative freedom from crime, the success achieved in arresting criminals and preventing their plans, are attested by statistics, and although most New Zealanders take it for granted, the long record of honesty and freedom from graft and corruption in the Police Force has been a bright spot in the country’s administration from the earliest days. For that very reason the rumbles of discontent heard from Auckland should be dealt with promptly and efficiently. A discussion in Parliament, in which any grievances might be ventilated in full, might well save the expense and possible embarrassment of a full-scale Royal Commission, which, in all probability, is as

unnecessary as it is undesirable. Of all government departments, the Police Force would probably be the last to desire to wash its dirty linen in the publicity of evidence before a Royal Commission. As taxpayers, however, the public have a right to know if the department is being run as efficiently as possible. The system of promotion now in force could well be a powerful factor in efficiency. It is partly based on examination successes. A

useful line of discussion might be on the value, the scope and the standard of the internal police examinations. It is common knowledge that some members of the force do not sit all of them, and thus forgo some of their chances of promotion. It is also common knowledge that some of the most highly-esteemed policemen in the force choose of their own volition to apply for country stations, and make rural police work their career. Their efficiency and their ability in these positions are beyond question or dispute, in most cases;-but a point which might interest the public is whether the examination system does deter some policemen from going on to other positions for which they are amply qualified; and whether the examinations themselves are of such a value as to make worth while the loss of such men to higher positions. Any study of the present examination system leads to a further evaluation of the standard of education in the force. The armed services, as well as most other branches of the civil service proper, have made full use of the opportunities of the university system for senior executives. The Army, for instance, commissions scientists. There is little evidence that the Police Force is flexible enough to arrange for the smooth entry of graduates into its ranks in appreciable numbers; and yet there is a strong case for the use of university men in the fight against modern criminals. The days of the policeman of “ Punch ” cartoons, heavy-footed and slow-think-ing, have gone for ever. These two aspects of educational qualifications—the police examinations as at present constituted, and the possibility of attracting men with higher outside educational qualifications than at present—are not conflicting. It should be possible to combine the fruits of long police experience with the theoretical knowledge which is picked up with university degrees, without prejudicing the prospects of promotion of either type of policeman. One other aspect of the present administration of the Police Force might well be debated in Parliament. That concerns the proper duties of a Minister of Police towards both the public and the members of the force. In the past it was the usual practice to give the Police portfolio to a senior Minister, often the Prime Minister; and the Minister of Police as such was seldom called on to make public statements. The theory was that the force runs itself, and that the only time' the Minister need step into the picture was when some public conflict arose between police action and public opinion. Such conflicts were very seldom, and the Minister usually acted as a referee, as much concerned to safeguard the rights of the public as to watch the interests of his department. In actual practice, the Minister of Police was seldom heard of. The present Minister, a junior member of the Cabinet has made some changes in this procedure, and has certain’y been much in the public eye in his administration of what used to be a silent portfolio. One comment of his, concerning the arrest of a man charged with totalisator offences, was criticised in Court by the accused’s counsel on

the ground that it might affect the trial. The man was subsequently acquitted by a jury. In the bigger cities, Christchurch not excepted, on several occasions in recent months, senior police officers and magistrates have expressed concern at demonstrations against the police carrying out arrests in the city. Policemen necessarily have often to carry out unpopular jobs. Their path would be made smoother if the grievances apparently now felt by some of the force were openly discussed in the one place where they can be talked out without fear or favour—in Parliament.