POLICE WORK IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 234, 1 July 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

POLICE WORK IN NEW ZEALAND

“Outside The Law lu New Zealand,” by Charles Belton (Gisbornd Publishing Co.). This book purports to be a collection of incidents in the life of a New Zealand detective. So far as one can gather, the purpose of the author is to inform us of the interesting and useful life a detective leads, and secondly, to reveal the comparative Inefficiency of a police force which the great majority of , New Zealanders believe to be highlyeflicient. The author spent about 12 years in the force, and claims that he is "an authority on police administration.” That is a bold claim, and one which tbe book hardly supports. The busy, restless life of a detective hardly affords much opportunity for such a high qualification. The book consists of a series of cases that the author has handled., None of tbe cases were of outstanding interest. Indeed, Mr. Belton seems to have goiie through his detective career without having had the responsibility of handling many, if any, serious or major .crimes. There is a good deal of petty crime cases recounted, and, apart from the style of the telling of them, they hardly warrant a render’s time. The last fifty pages are concerned with a subject which apparently the author feels very deeply. He' resigned from the foiTe as a sort of. protest, or, so that he could the better tell the public how much the force stood in need of reform, He was not allowed to stand for Parllameii,t as an Independent. That . hurt very inttcli. and he resigned soon after the-rebuff. How he could reasonably expect to be allowed to stand and take sides in party polities, and yet be a policeman, is difficult to understand. Mr. Belton hardly gives enough credit for the patient building-up of a very fine body of guardians-of-the-law. One believes that he was imbued with the sincere desire to Improve conditions, as he says. But, on the whole, the conditions are very good. For a junior policeman to earn £6 a week is a good start, and. thereafter, be seems to be contented and efficient enough. There is, in the author, too much searching for greater leisure, better conditions, more pay than for the encouragement to secure good work for good pay r and a desire in each man to hate a daily .determination to do his allotted tasks with the greatest degree of efficiency. One reform he would have Is, instead of the blue uniform and helmet, a red tunic and a stetson hat!