SEARCH OF SHIPS

Grey River Argus, 17 January 1941, Page 7

SEARCH OF SHIPS

N.Z. Police Powers CHRISTCHURCH, January 16. Whether New Zealand police are empowered to search ships in port, except on specific grounds, is a question which has been raised by a correspondent to “The Press.” the correspondent has suggested that, as leakages of shipping information to the enemy has been alleged, unannounced police visits to ships might result in a valuable lead.

From inquiries made by a reporter, it is apparent that in normal times the police will visit a ship to conduct a search or make an arrest if they have reasonable ground—such as for the arrest of a person for the commission of an indictable offence, or. for instance, to search for a person who, they have reasonable ground to believe, is on the ship. Fairly wide powers of search are given customs officers, for customs purposes. A customs oflicer, or a constable to whom authority is delegated, may stop any ship if he has reasonable cause to suspect the carriage unlawfully of dutiable goods. A wider power for the police, however, is apparently the aim of regulation 8 of the Shipping Safety Emergency Regulations, 1940. This regulation states: —

“(1 An.y constable or officer of customs, or the master or any officer of any ship, may arrest without warrant any person who commits, or is reasonably suspected of having committed or of being about to commit, an offence against these regulations.

“(2) Any constable or officer of customs may search, and detain for the purpose of search, any person, conveyance, package, or receptacle of any description found on or about any wharf or ship, and may for this purpose enter upon any wharf or ship.” Standing by itself, the second of these clauses, it is considered, would allow the police unlimited latitude, and, presuming, on the other hand, that it was correlated to the first clause, and that it applied only to offences under the regulation-, it would still furnish a wide power because of the definition of offences. According to one definition, an offence is committed by any person who hy “ act or default, wilful or negligent, endangers the safety of -Oiy ship or of any cargo, passengers, or members of the crew of anv ship.” The scope for search on ‘reasonable suspicion that an offence was to be committed, would, ii is believed, be commens uate willi the wide range of acts which might constitute endangering a ship or shipping.