POLICE STRATEGY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 110, 11 May 1932, Page 8

POLICE STRATEGY

BipiouLT' Urgency

'An ... exceedingly 'difficult., position •faced i Inspector Lander, who 'was in charge of all police arrangements, when a portion of the crowd 'commenced to leave the vicinity of Parliament Buildings. Although there had been a call to f'Come 'up the stroet" a short time before, little notice had been 'taken ,of it, and, when some of vthe crowd started up Lambton quay> it Tiad much of the appearance of many of,the curious onlookers going homo. Inspector Lander sent six constables under Senior-Sergeant Dempsey to keep pace with this,crowd while he remained'in charge of the rest of tho police dotachment of sixty men at the Parliament Buildings gates, where there were still some thousands of- closely-packed people, and where there was still a possibility of a raid being made on the House itself.

By .the ..time word, reached the inspector that . damage, was • being done the rioters wore welt up Lambton quay past the Central Police Station;;, where a ,very large number of" special coristables\were waiting. Inspector Lander; then decided, instead .of .calling out; the'specials and probably adding confusion, to the very; excited crowd,, to deal with the/situation with his own experienced men. Onco they understood the position, the regular uniform men took little time to quell thb disturbance. -The greater part of the crowd was subdued in the baton charge at the comer f o£ Grey, street and the Quay, in which,-although they had occasion to hit several men, the police did much more flourishing of batons than hitting, realising that many in the crowd were doing no damage whatever, "but merely watching the fun." Ten minutes after the charge the police had the'streets'cleared,-and the work of the specials in helping to patrol them, was then of the greatest assistance.