CHILDREN AND POLICE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27913, 9 March 1956, Page 9

CHILDREN AND POLICE

PROMOTION OF UNDERSTANDING MEETINGS AT SCHOOLS PROPOSED Promotion of understanding between children and the Police Force to improve knowledge of pupils’ obligations under the law as young citizens caused the most enthusiastic discussion at the conference of the Dominion School Committees’ Federation, which ended in Christchurch yesterday. The feder-j ation will ask the Education Department, in conjunction with the Con-troller-General of Police (Mr S. T.i Barnett) to institute a scheme of regu- ! lar visits to schools by qualified police officers in uniform on the same lines as the scheme now operated by the. Transport Department and local body traffic authorities. Children in New Zealand regarded the police with a degree of fear instead of as their protectors, said Mr K. J. Cohen (Auckland). He had noted this contrast on coming from London.; When the Auckland School Commit-; tees’ Association had criticised the sale of publications in hotel bars by chil-i dren, police officers had resented it, but from subsequent conversations it| was evident the police almost envied the opportunities of traffic inspectors to enter the schools, explain their work, and seek co-operation. The proposition was put to the Auckland Education Board, and from its inquiries it was learned that the ControllerGeneral of Police would consider such a scheme if the federation was favourable. “I have been horrified to hear mothers using the police as the stopgap for their own deficiencies,” said Mrs M. E. Holland (Canterbury). This did not help relations between children and the police. The result was a lot of petty trouble in public. Traffic officers were regarded by pupils with warm affection, said Mrs L. W. Tiller (Wellington). With the new police school just started, this was an opportune time to instruct officers in the proposed scheme.