A USELESS SECRECY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 196, 13 May 1908, Page 2

A USELESS SECRECY.

burglars not' such, fools as the •' : .. MINISTER THINKS. . _ :In writing on the subject /of police reticenco in connection with'' burglaries, - the ■■ Auckland 1 "Herald" says:—"The' secrccy • with which the Department of Justice treats ,» • such crimes as 'burglary ,• withholding from •; the public wherever; possible all information concerning the commission of these : offen<ssJ. : draws its inspiration from Mr. M'Gowan, • who has no sympathy whatever with English pplice methods, : but determinedly enforces .a, , system of his own. According to,the Minister, the publication of the: fact'of a burglary in the daily Press. enables the burglar to .. . know that jtho police are trying to'find him. Were it' not i for this publicationJlr.. . M'Gowan ovidently thinks ; that -evciii. a - liorse-thief would never know that the,.am-:. - mal lie stole from a'stable'had bcetr missnd, and would, therefore, ride it-'innocently .-into > the arms of the police., y; : . ."The strangeness'of this official attitude ■ towards crime is mado all the nioi'e: ituticcablc by' its notorious 1 failure.:- :M ; hen; burglaries commcnce in a centre, instead of-the entire community being on.«th'o watch to v"-co-operate with the guardians of the King's • peace, as thoy are in the United Kingdom, and in other civilised countries,' our'. New ■■■ Zoaland authorities are compelled to' pro- . servo an absurd silence, and to do what thoy can with the polico force alone.'' The result wo all know. 1 In the United:' Kingdom the police authorities officially inform the Press of burglaries,, and thus : raise a modem hue and cry against the' criminals arid their plunder 1 There is norcason whatever why the same method should - not be. followed in New Zealand, for it must bo patent to everybody that ' criminals • aire crafty enough to anticipate the discovery' of their crime and its report to the police', and. that these criminals are greatly .' assisted;:. .■ and not inconvenienced in, any way l by keep- !' ing the public" ignorant of what' .has occurred." ■ ' " ■; I: .'-V '•