POLICE FORCE TRAINEES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27098, 22 July 1953, Page 3

POLICE FORCE TRAINEES

MEN ATTRACTED FROM MANY TRADES

STUDIES AT LYTTELTON COLLEGE The story is told of an Irish policeman who, having been told by the Magistrate that he had the “cart before the horse,” replied: “That- may be, your Worship, but I have the right man in the cart.” It is to get the “right man in the cart” by the right method and to protect the public that 28 recruits to the New Zealand Police Force are now undergoing a two months’ course of training at the new police training school in Lyttelton. Men from almost every walk of life and from several different parts of the world are represented at the school. There are former bus and tram drivers, employees of the Railways Department, a former petty officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy, an Irish policeman, a constable from the aliens office of Scotland Yard, and a former officer of the Port of London Authority's police force. All have decided that the police force is their career in life. Most of the men, when asked their reason for joining the force, said they wanted a secure and steady job with good prospects. Others spoke of family traditions —police service in the family of one man at the school totalled almost 100 years—and all said they had had a keen interest in the type of work for many years.

Irishman’s Career Constable Timothy McQuaid came originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and after eight years’ service in the Royal Air Force as an armourer, and a further four years with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, decided to become a policeman. His father was an officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and his grandfather was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. During the Second World War, he served with the R.A.F. in the Middle East in a beaufighter fighter-bomber squadron, and was stationed for some time near Tobruk.

“I was a motor body builder with my own business,” said Constable T. W. Harvey. “I sold up to join the police force.” Constable A. E. Pontifex was a bus driver for the Christchurch Transport Board and Constable J. W. McCarrey, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was also a bus driver in his home town. He was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary until 1939, when he resigned to join the Army, with which he remained until 1943. He then joined the Palestine Police and served with them

until 1947, when he went home and became a bus driver. He came to New Zealand in 1950 and took a job as a mechanic until he joined the class at the school a week ago.

Petty Officer In Navy Constable D. J. Wilkins was a petty officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy and was on the Achilles at the battle of the River Plate. Born in Gisborne 31 years ago, he joined the Navy as a boy in 1937. He served in cruisers and destroyers attached to the Royal Navy all through the war, and then returned to the R.N.Z.N. to serve for a time with the Bellona. After a short tour of the .Mediterranean with the frigate Taupo, he was posted to the shore training establishment, H.M.N.Z.S. Tamaki. He is married with three children. A former Port of London Authority police officer, Constable C. J. Ribbens spent seven years on the Thames before joining the Army and serving with the Royal Artillery for six years in Burma, Ceylon, Africa, and Italy. He arrived in New Zealand four months ago, and worked for a textile firm while he waited to enter the police school. Another recruit who formerly worked in London is Constable M. G. Newberry, who was in the aliens office of Scotland Yard for two years before joining the R.A.F. as a radar operator. He also worked for a time with the Forestry Commission in the Kielder Forest in Northumberland. A family tradition of police work is in his family, too, for his father and brother both serve with English police forces.

“Giant’s” Weight Reduced The “giant” of the school is Constable A. G. Adams, who weighs 17st 41b (he weighed 17st 61b when he entered the school a week ago, but the hard exercises have reduced his waistline considerably) and is more than 6ft tall. From school in Essex, England, he joined the Merchant Navy as an A.B. and served on a number of freighters trading about the world. He came to New Zealand six years ago, and took a job as a seaman on the Lyttelton Harbour Board’s tug. Tallest man in the class is Constable J. E. Jones, an Aucklander, who is 6ft 6in high. He is not quite 19 years old, and before joining the force worked for the Railways Department and at the Westfield freezing works, Auckland.

“I have been in New Zealand 25 years, said Constable W. J. Smolensk!. “I was born 25 years ago.” He has worked as an electrician at the Waitaki hydro-electric ’ station and for various organisations throughout Otago and Southland. The Canadian of the class is Constable W. M. Legge. He went to England in 1940 to join the R.A.F., and served as an air-gunner in Boston bombers until 1945 with the rank of warrant officer. He also has had some previous experience of judicial matters. for he joined the prison service in 1947 and remained with it until December last year, when he came to New Zealand. He is married with two children, and expects to settle m the Dominion. New Zealand was similar to Canada in many respects, he said, and was a pleasant place in which to live. Before joining the R.A.F. he was a steward on luxury liners on the New York-Bermuda route. Yet another Englishman with Army experience is Constable P. V. Keown, from Yorkshire, England. He served with the Irish Guards and with the Royal Army Service Corps in the Middle East during World War 11. He came to New Zealand three months ago to become a Public Service chauffeur. He also can trace police service in his family back to his grandfather. His father was superintendent of police in Durham, and his grandfather was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. His sisters also served as policewomen. Daily Routine During the winter trainees rise at 7 a.m., do their “housework” until breakfast at 8 a.m., stand inspection at 8.45 a.m., and commence lectures at 9 o’clock. Statute law, practical work and court procedure are taught by the school’s instructor (Sergeant E. J. G. Hotham) until 10.5 a.m., when there is a break. j Instruction in report writing, that most important part of a policeman’s work, occupies part of the second morning period, and methods of taking statements and dealing with the multitudinous kinds of complaints likely to be made by the public are studied next. Lunch in the pleasant dining room is served from midday, and until 1 p.m. recruits relax. More lectures on police work are given in the afternoon until 3.20 p.m. Then comes a break of 10 minutes, and the recruits go to the gymnasium. Besides normal exercises designed to bring all recruits up to a high standard of physical fitness, a number of modified ju-jitsu holds, developed by Sergeant Hotham and another police officer in Auckland, are taught. No holds from which injury to the victim might result are taught, and the emphasis is laid on defence and restraint rather than attack.

Lectures are also given in ambulance work, and all recruits must pass a St. John Ambulance examination. Every one of the recruits is obvi-

ously enjoying his course of training. Some have gained weight and others have lost it, but all have gained in health and knowledge since they arrived. Sergeant Hotham’s brief , comment yesterday was: “I am very well pleased with their progress. They are a very enthusiastic lot, and should do well.”