GUNMEN IN ENGLAND

Evening Star, Issue 20983, 23 December 1931, Page 6

GUNMEN IN ENGLAND

WANTED-AN IRON HAND ON CRIME Lord Trenchard, the new Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, is faced with some of the gravest problems in the annals of crime. Gunmen of a type known only in the United States have recently put in an appearance. Bank hold-ups are becoming more common. There is a widespread public demand for the abolition of gunmen before they become a really serious menace to the community. Thefts of motor cars—the most valuable ally of tho modern highwaymen—are rapidly increasing. Nearly 5,000 motor cars were stolen last year, a jump of 50 per cent, over all previous figures. Burglary and housebreaking cases are rising, too, and one million pounds’ worth of jewellery has been stolen in the last twelve months. Smash-and-grab raiders are using automatic traffic to their advantage, timing their escapades to the precise moment of the release of the traffic. t •‘CHICAGO METHODS.’’ Prominent citizens of London are disturbed at the trend of events. Here are two opinions expressed to a ‘ Sunclay Express’ representative:— Sir Robert Wallace, the former chairman of the London Sessions: “ Everything possible must be done to put an end to the Chicago methods of criminals in Britain. Unfortunately, this is one of tho few countries in the world where the police are not armed. A truncheon is of no use against a revolver. I am not going to suggest to tlie authorities that our policemen should be armed, but I will say ‘that the time is not far distant when all policemen will have to bo better armed for the protection of citizens, property, and themselves. “A combination of circumstances is responsible for this great new wave of crime—unemployment, lack of parental control, a lower moral standard, the effect of gangster films, and tho great freedom which boys arc rfllowed even before they leave school. Crime usually accompanies social unrest.” Sir Montague Sharpe, chairman of the Middlesex Sessions: “I had to deal with seventy-eight cases _ at tho - last sessions. This is a great increase. The figure for the previous quarter was onlv thirty-eight. “ The activities of the gunmen and smash-and-grab raiders must bo seri-

ously considered. Unemployment is the root cause of the increase in crime. The majority of criminals who appear before me are young men._ I have never known an armed criminal under twenty-one years of age. In the old days highwaymen used to steal horses to use on their raids; now they steal motor cars, with a better chance of escaping.” VIOLET RAYS v. FORGERY. The ‘Sunday 'Express’ understands that when it was discovered that crime was on the increase. Lord Byng, the late Commissioner, evolved several new schemes and plans, and that these are now waiting at New Scotland Yard for the attention of Lord Trenchard. One problem at present baffling Scotland Yard is tbdt of forged bank notes, so cleverly made that only by the nse of ultra-violet rays have they been detected. It is believed that the forgeries originate from Germany, Holland, and other Continental countries, hut the method of importation is unknown. Officers of,tho Special Branch of Scotland Yard and the port authorities are now endeavouring to trace how the notes are brought into Britain., ' ,