SCOTLAND YARD’S OWN B.B.C.

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 6 November 1935, Page 6

SCOTLAND YARD’S OWN 8.8. C.

GREAT NEW RADIO PLANS CRIME NOTIFIED TO ALL ENGLAND (From Our Own Correspondent —3y Air Mail.) LONDON, Oct. 12, A national police broadcasting station is to be built immediately in the London district. Regional stations aro to be erected at once an Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and Wakefield. Every police station in England and Wales and every police car on • patrol are immediately to be fitted with apparatus which will receive every message sent out in code on the secret short-wave to be used by the new broadcasting stations. It is to supplant Die earlier “wireless net” scheme intended “practically to stamp out crime,” which was abandoned by the Home Office after the complete failure of tests made in several parts of the country. The inventor of the new plan is Lieutenant-Commander Best, wireless chief of Scotland Yard. He has now been, made a superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Force. Commander Best has demonstrated his new plan to a number of police chiefs of the United States. Several of them are now conferring as to a method whereby they may imitate it. The National jiolice transmitting station is to be established at West Wickham, Kent. 14 miles from Scotland Yard. The receiving station will be .at Denmark-liill, four miles from Scotland Yard. All possibility oi “jamming” on the sliort-wave will be eliminated. All messages will be sent out in the Morse code. Every police station in the Metropolitan district is to be equipped at once with apparatus which will record automatically every message sent out on the police shortwave. A, policeman in charge will decode the message as it is being recorded, and at the same time the regional stations will receive the message and relay it by means of their transmitters. It is estimated that when the new scheme is in full operation 75 per cent, of the policemen on duty in all parts of England and Wales will know the essential details of a. crime committed within two minutes of its being announced by Scotland Yard. The remaining 25 per cent, will learn of it a very few minutes later. All the regional broadcasting stations will send out messages in their own districts immediately a crime is discovered there.

In addition, the regional stations will be in permanent communication with Scotland Yard. The messages they send, out will immediately be sent out also by the National station. a

Delays of hours in spreading news through the country’s police forces will in future he reduced to a few minutes.