CRIME IN VICTORIA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 October 1924, Page 7

CRIME IN VICTORIA.

SUGGESTED POLICE REFORMS GREATER EFFICIENCY REQUIRED. Melbourne'?£ crinie throil which has rai£?rf haS 156611 Posing recently, method! in nT 1 ' 6 cri^icisni Ji tnocis m.and around the citv tv, q aS?L the a<i£ armeTr h r b ““ “^rohtdhy r^S' not sufficient, for which reason crim in th 1 l v , ere becoming bold. ~ Although it is not expected tint there should be a comtabteo,, S to Cerent 161 "‘“J 13 ' remter assistance Sacfe s f^Ve iff ilf^£ b is tfon ai L g r ng home at ni - ht in a condition bordmg upon terror Thev are for^+Ti y S6archin f each "dark corner for the presence of a. possible footpad iv ho at the point of a revolver will demand and get their money. The trouble is accentuated by the fact that the Sir 6 - f °/i C6 ls ™der-manned- and not sufficiently mobile. interested in police * have watched the progress of the V ictonan police force are of the opinion that this immobility of the police is one of the safeguards of criminals. The constable on' the beat has no terrors of the law-breaker, who knows his movements and takes advantage of that knowledge. Even the plainclothes police get more-or less into a rut and stop there. Another factor in tie inefficiency of the police force is the obligation on the constable to do a lot of work which is not police work, instead of preserving the neace constables have numerous-duties, in’which are included such things as ’compiling electoral, rolls and jury lists, and serving summonses. Such work is obviously, not police work, and it should be given to someone else to do. There is more than enough crime in the city to occupy the attention of all the constables in the force. 'There appears also to be an insufficiency of plainclothes police fn the suburban areas. At stations like St. Kilda and Prahran thte plain-clothes men number about hair a dozen. The number is quite inadequate, because very ofteri plainclothes men are wanted at all periods d& y and night, and that means that at large suburban stations there are never more than two or three plainclothes men on duty at a time. These are the men who are engaged in tracking down criminals, and there should be sufficient of them to enable the fullest investigations to be 'made into all crime reported in the district. “It is considered that the police rorce, in addition to being more mobile, should also be more versatile. Uuiform men should lie capable of being turned into plain-clothes men, so that extra forces may be consentrated upon emergencies. The motor night control has proved to be- a useful adjunct to the service, but it wants extending, in the opinion of police experts. The Commissioner of Police pins his faith to dogs with some justification, but dogs are not as much use in the city as in the country, although on occasions they may be better than men. “It should be the aim of the new Chief Secretary to make the police force as efficient as possible. This can only be done by bringing it up tc an a tie quate strength, and manking it a living unit rather than the machine in groove? that it has been. Criminals must be made at least to respect the police When that happens, perhaps decent citizens may go abroad in the streets confident that tliev will not be held up by armed footpads and robbed of their monev.”