CRIMES MADE EASY

Evening Star, Issue 19638, 18 August 1927, Page 8

CRIMES MADE EASY

PENALTIES OF SIMPLE NEGLECT HINT TO INSURANCE COMPANIES. Kan - crimes arc made easy by the neglect of simple precautions is disclosed in an interesting report issued by the Commissioner of Police of tlio Metropolis (says a Condon paper). r J his s' iiivs tbai the value ol property stolen in. I fil’d was £518,222, the lowest lig.i.o loi several years, and the value ot (■■i party recovered was 1:121,-191, an increase of £20,9(52 over the figure for 1025. Alluding to the theft of motor ears and motor cycles, (ho Commissioner observes that in a largo proportion of these eases (ho car or cycle was left unattended in the street, and the larceny might have been prevented had sumo precaution been taken by the owner. He adds; " If insurance companies would combine in measures to encourage persons who leave cars unattended in the streets to take reasonable precautions, such as securing some part which is vital to the movement of the ear, they would substantially reduce the opportunities for theft at present so frequently olfered hv motor car owners.” The Commissioner also points out that many eases of burglary and housebreaking arc made easy for criminals by the failure of owners to take reasonable steps to secure their doors and windows, and he recommends that these should ho lilted with locks or screws which cannot be forced without the use of a substantial tool and the exercise of considerable pressure. Good mortice 'locks and " acorn ” and ‘‘thumb” screws afford some protection. Safes stimuli bo placed where a thief operating on them was most likely to he disturbed. A passage was often a saler place than a room. The report mentioned Hint the total number of indictable offences recorded in 192(1 was I(S,KM, as against .15,295 in 1925, and tlu? persons proceeded against in respect of these numbered if ,089, as against 10.122 in 1925. Uurglary ami shop-breaking showed a decrease of twenty-two and L‘!l eases respectively, but simple larceny showed tlio rather considerable increase of .’1(57 eases. The results of *' round-about ” systems of .traffic- put into operation in London last year arc reported as everywhere satisfactory. The total number of persons killed in (raliic accidents was 1.1H1.'1. as compared with 8-10 in 1925. The main causes of the deaths, so far ns they admit of definition, still continue to be : “I. I’nlcH riaus hesitating, running hack, and fading to look tlio right way for oncoming traffic when crossing the road. “2. Cycling in busy thoroughfares. “ ,'J. Persons improperly hanging on to vehicles. “4. Children playing in the roadway.” The report mentions that the strcngt.li of the metropolitan police at the end of the year was 19,019 in the uniform branch and S-IG in the C.1.D., a grand total of 19,865, which was 192 below establishment. The establishment of women police consists of two inspectors, five sergeants, and fortythree constables.