Suburban Police Patrols

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31921, 24 February 1969, Page 12

Suburban Police Patrols

The Heathcote County Council should obtain more convincing evidence to support its objection to the closing of the Cashmere police station: after more than four months without a resident policeman the area does not seem to have suffered any increase in crime. It has probably been patrolled by the police more effectively than ever before. Court bailiffs have taken over the delivery of civil summonses, which was once a duty of local constables—not that this work is necessarily onerous in the Cashmere district. Police practices are changing, in Christchurch as elsewhere: and under what seems to be a well-considered plan for patrolling the city the Cashmere station is one of seven or eight stations in or near Christchurch that have been closed. The system of continuous car patrols should certainly make good use of manpower resources which must often be overtaxed. *

Much has been said in favour of the local policeman: and it is still police practice to acquire the sort of local knowledge that is most useful in helping to prevent and to detect crime. The visible presence of a policeman on foot m-y be a useful psychological deterrent to crime and disorder; but policemen in patrol cars are likely to be more useful in emergencies, especially when they are on duty at all hours of the day and night, shifting their attention wherever it is needed.

Until the police are adequately supplied with vehicles and two-way radio gear for men on the beat they may not be able to demonstrate the full advantages of the new system. Nevertheless, in days when emergency calls are all directed to the central station, when policemen cannot be expected to work unlimited hours, and when staff available must be used to the best advantage, there is little point in demanding the retention of one-man police stations in the suburbs.