SCOTLAND YARD

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 85, 7 October 1936, Page 4

SCOTLAND YARD

LEGEND AND THE FACTS

LITTLE MYSTERY, MUCH WORK

THE FLYING SQUAD

Detectives, from Scotland Yard figure so frequently in modern mystery novels about.crime that many people are under the impression that Scotland Yard is synonymous with the Criminal Investigation Department of the English police, says a writer In the "Melbourne Age." It is both more and less than that It is the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, which number:, about 20,000 men, and therefore the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Branch of the London police. But there are hundreds' of police detectives in England who have no connection with Scotland Yard. Almost every city, borough, and county in England; and Wales has its own separate police force, maintained out of the municipal rates, and detectives are attached to most of these forces. NO "HOMICIDE BUREAU." There is a widespread impression, gained from reading murder mystery novels, that the detectives of Scotland Yard spend most of their time investigating cases c£ murder. But in actual fact most of the detectives attached to Scotland Yard are never called upon in the whole course :of their official careers to participate in the investigation of a murder case. This is because murders are few in comparison with the other crimes that the Criminal Investigation Department is called upon to investigate, and because most real murders are sordid crimes in which there ;is not the: slightest element of doubt or mystery concerning the identity of the murderer. In a comparatively large proportion.of actual.murders the murderer renders investigation almost unnecessary by committing suicide as soon as he, has killed his victim. Sir John Moylan,' who occupied a prominent position at Scotland Yard for many years, writes in his book, "Scotland Yard." "In London, with a population, approaching 8,000,000, there were in 1926 only .16 murders, the work of 14 persons, of which eight committed suicide, and in only one case was' the murderer undiscovered. In 1927 there were 27, murder cases, all of which were.solved. "They were the work of 23 persons, of whom ten committed suicide, one died in an asylum, and three- were declared, insane. In 1928 there were 21' murders, two of which were by the same hand; seven of the murderers . committed suicide, and 11 were arrested. These figures explain'why Scotland Yard has no 'homicide bureau.'" SCIENCE XO THE SCIENTISTS. ' "People have sometimes wondered why Scotland Yard is not equipped, like soma of the Continental police forces, with scientific laboratories for providing it with expert evidence on handwriting, ballistics, poisons, and a number of other subjects where expert evidence is writes Sir Basil Thomson ■>(wha.was-Assistant Coiwiissioner, ofc ..the ; London, Metropolitan Police'feoitt-1913't0 1921),' in Ms book, "the;; Stdri ■;«.; Scotland Yard," /Tuts answer is .simple. ; British -juries are prone to be; suspicious of the evidence of an official expert, as. being biased in favour of the • prosecution, whereas there are.unofficial experts in all these sciences who are ready to uudortake research work for a fee. 'If i^eir con-, elusions are assailed in cross--sarnina-tion, that is their affair; public confidence in : the Criminal • Investigation Department"' isi~not 'affected."" On the same subject Sir John Moylan writes:—-"On they whol<>, Scotland Yard has followed the policy of leav-: irig science to the .scientists and calt ing them in when need arises. This may be partly due to.what has been described as the 'conservatism' of Scotland Yard, but it is also accounted for by other governing facts. The stringent financial control which has always characterised metropolitan police administration has tended to rule out scientific appliance as over-expensive luxuries. Apart from this, there are few cases which afford scope for an expert. acquaintance with physiology, analytical chemistry, or toxicology, or for such recondite knowledge as can readily distinguish the 114 varieties of tobacco ash or different kinds of dust or hair. Even in such cases English criminal procedure and rules of evidence are not favourable to the use of some of the scientific proofs which Continental experts can produce, and English' Courts and juries are distrustful of them. .If science is of great and increasing importance in the investigation of crime, 'information' will continue to be the predominating factor in the great majorty of cases. Ana next to information comes the work of those two officers who have been recognised as indispensable to every detective branch, Inspector Luck and Sergeant Chance." • MOTOK-CAR AND CRIME. Sir Basil Thomson considers that the motor-car has served the criminal better than it has served the police, and in this connection he writes:—"A great deal of nonsense has been writr ten about the flying squad. ,It has performed a great public service, but it is a mistaken notion that fast cars, wireless, police boxes, and any other mechanical device can ever supersede a single detective. It is true that quick information and instant action are invaluable, as, for example, when a policeman on his beat is able to tell Scotland Yard that he has seen five suspects in a car, which he is able to describe, heading in a certain direction, and thus flying squads can be warned by wireless to look oiij§|sor it. In fact, the only point in favour of the flying squad is its mobility, and, perhaps, also it salutary menace to the professional criminal, now that its cars are indistinguishable from other private cars. It cannot take the place of a trained detective who knows every en* minal in his division by sight. The flying squad, like the individual detective can act only upon information. It can get to any part of London quickly, especially at night, but to be effective it must have some definite objective True, its cars patrol the streets night and day, but the number of criminals caught red-handed without previous information is absurdly small." Sir Basil Thomson approves of the simple expedient for stopping criminals using motor-cars, which was'first put forward by ex-Chief Constable Frederick Wensley, of Scotland Yard. This is to give all Judges and Magistrates power,"when sentencing those who have -used motor-cars in their crimes, to- prohibit them 'from holding a driver's licence after their release, except by the permission of the police. The breaking of this condition would, in itself, be made a punishable offence. LONDON'S POLICE. As already stated, ■ the numerical strength of the London metropolitan police, of which Scotland Yard is the headquarters, is about 20,000. This £oes m>fc include the city, aolice— a

separate body of about 1200 men, under the control of the Corporation of the City of London, to preserve law and order within "the square mile," which is the city proper. The Metropolitan Police District covers an area a little less than 700 square miles—the whole of Great London, with the exception of the central "square mile" of the city.

"The key to the success of the metropolitan police is to be found in the divisional system," writes Sir Basil Thomson. "It would be impossible efficiently to control 20,000 men spread over 700 square miles of streets'from the central office at Scotland Yard. The huge area is split up into four districts, comprising 23 divisions, 90 subdivisions,' and 180 police stations." The total strength of the Criminal Investigation Department is about 900, but only about 200 of these detectives are attached to Scotland Yard. Some of the others are attached to each of the twenty-three divisions of the Metropolitan Police District, and others belong to what is known as the special branch, whose main duty is to provide protection to Royalty, to Cabinet Ministers, and ex-Ministers, and to distinguished visitors, who may be exposed to risk of attack. Previous training in ordinary police work is regarded as an indispensable qualification in a detective. <"Only once in the history of the Criminal Investigation Depart> ment was the experiment tried of appointing men of superior education without previous police experience," writes Sir Basil Thomson. "They were not a success." .