THE POLICE FORCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 561, 16 July 1909, Page 6

THE POLICE FORCE.

DETECTIVE < HERBERTS EVIDENCE.

admnisebahon severely CRIs ,

— (By TeleimpU.—Preit : ißßoclitlon.> 1 ' Dunodlh, July 15. Inspector O'Brieoi, before the Police Commission this morning, .said 'an inspector should havo power to obang© a man from one station to, another) If tho Commissioner thought the maa should bo sent to another district, ho 'cquld 'do so. . Be favoured sergeants making, inquiries, instead of inexperienced constables doing so, as to applicants for admission to the force. No inspector should be compelled to take a constablo into his district oifice until',ho had at least ' two years' service. Ho'advocated tho light of selecting his,clerks among his own men. If clerks wore put back on tho street to do police duty, they would declino regard it as a grievance. Chief Detective Herbert said he thought the Victorian system might bo adopted providing for detective, constable detective, sergeant, and so on, Mr. M'Gowan refused to recognise the' right of a detective to higher promotion, unless ho reverted to a lower grade with lqwer pay. The present Minister departed from that rule, and promoted Chief Detective M'Grath to sub-inspector., A' junior man to M'Grath and himself was appointed sub-jnspector over both their heads, and was now senior to M'Grath He now suffered rajuatico by bqing' junior to a man ■who-should be junior to him' Witness referred to the DI C rohberie,s here in 1905 in, order to draw a comparison o'f the Commissioner's treatment of those concern*!) , 1 wiih, bringing, the case 'to a conclusion, and | thQfie concerned in tho Papakaio case after, its conclusion If they were entitled | to be comphmonted, -ho was entitled to receive tho samo treatment in connection , ■ ' with "the polico scandal, When Cominis- j sionor Dinnie arrived ho said the arrest of I the tlurd man, who was convicted' and punished subsequently, was a blunder, and < that ho should not havo been arrested The i Commissioner's intention was the reverse,'* of witness's and tho inspector's intention as to how the men should bo dealt with. Witness and tho 'inspector felt the cniy safe course for themselves particularly was to lay tho cases iin tho fullest seriousness before 1 the public. On tho other hand, the Commissioner's intention—perhaps tho Conimissioner L did not understand the gravity of tho > position—was to minimise tho cases rs much , as possible for tho general credit. In tho Papakaio caso tho detectivo in charge of it Was called on to givo a history or summary of the case, and the Commissioner noted tho 1 work of two detectives in flattering terms ' After tho man was acquitted on tho murder charge, Detective Hunt had to make inquiries hero about a revolver which the man was supposed to have purchased .The Commissioner was not satisfied that the inquiries were properly made, because "he promised ho would deal with us for neglect in the way we business down here," but he had, not dealt with them. The fact that tho/Papakaio case was not entrusted to the Dunedin detectives showed that in the Com-

i missioner's opinion-Dunedin* was under a ban. Witness criticised the action of the ' Commissioner in regard to the transfer of detectives, contondmg that frequent changes impaired' efficiency and cost an enormous amount of money. Witness described the finger-print; department as one of the Commissioner's hobbies, and said that the swicess of that department was more important to the Commissioner than the success of the,detective' department as far as Dunedin was concerned at anyrate Witness went on to say a successful commissioner must have influence over his men, must JFavo their respect, and'must be, incapable of dealing unfairly with any man, however little that man might deserve sympathy, and he knew of no man in New Zealand who possessed those qualifications in a'higher degree than Mr. Bishop. , i Mr. Bishop: Do you knowitho emoluments of mv office and the emoluments of thb Commissioner's office? Would it bo promotion for me? s- -Witness: I i think the country "mil discover'before the Commission is over that it wonld be worth i while to give no consideration to and that the running of tho police, force, by. someone who understood it as you' do 1 would be a great saving He trusted Mr. Bishop would see his way to review past promotions to the extent of placing men,who. without sufficient ground, had been promoted over seniors in , their proper position. {When the promotion of the men passed over' 'came along they should be promoted ovor tho heads of tho men ,who should never have' passed over them.' > v '--• Several sergeants gave evidence, tho mam contention boing that an increase in pay would induce a good class of men to join I' the force. , '