POLICE COMMISSION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10919, 19 May 1898, Page 4

POLICE COMMISSION.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY IN. SPEC TOR TUNBMDGK. SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS OP LICENSING ACT. METHODS OF SUPPRESSING r GAMBLING. (BY TELEGRAPH.) ! Wellington, Wednesday. At the Police Commission lospeo'.or Tuabrldge was examined, Bo deolarcd that «lnoa oomlog here be had endeavored to make himself acqioluted with tbe working of the police. As tb; rcsulti cf observations ho made the follonlq; recommendations :— That as the present syatem of enrolment) appears oapable of vmy oonliderable Improvement, hit opinion was that all candidates for enrolment should be brought to Welliopt-m ar.d examined, first by the modioal rffioer, who atonld be Appointed by the Government, and not at the expeme oi the men tbemielve* ; they ihonld then be called upon to pbsb an ednaMlonal examination In reading and writing from dlotfttlon, Bid arlthtoeilo, say the four Best rnlei, If tb«7 passed theie examinations BatlaUotoilly they Bhoald ba taken Into the Department ai probationers only, and kept there under a specially qualified sergeant, who would instruct them Id the polloa regalatlona and itatatea specially tfffOtlDt; polloa work, and alto give last»no'i)nsln drill, While In the depot tne men ahould be examined from time to tlmo, and the services of those men who did not thow the necetsaty Intelligence and sptl-nde to develop into Intelligent palloe officers should be dispensed with. It found aatlifaetoiy at the end of three monthi they ihonld ba dratted to fill any vaoanoles. Daring the three months they ihonld have praotloal experience with a constable on duty. The oge nt enrolment) tbonld be — mlDlmnm 21, maximum 30 At the present time the maximum waa 40. He thought tbla too old Reornltlng ahonlcl not ba cOLfioel to any putlcular olasg, bat sbonld be spread to all olnosei of the oommnolty. tll« ixptrlenoa told him that men from the rural dlstilot." d Tilopedlnto better polloe officers thin, thuse brought np In town?, Appointments to the force of constables and servants eboald test with the Commissioner i f Polloa, ai was the general custom aim hi to everywhere, Eh favored a lodglni allowncoo oi 1) per day. Regarding pay and classes, Inspector Tanbrldge said he woald abollih olasjea altogether In all rusks, The olass tyatem In the vailous forces he wbb acquainted with had beet almoit nnlveraal, bnt la many It had now been superseded by a system of move tnents, Wben a oonstahle was tft ken on he won a probationer to all Intents and purposes, and he i&w no nccssßlty for dlstltcblon. Ihe same npplied to sergeants' pay. In hla opinion It should bs for probationer 6i per day, bo long ac he la a probationer) Immediately he le advanoed to the rank of constable he ihonld get 7» per day. After serving four yeara he should be advanoed to 7« 6d, aßiumlDg he has not ia the meantime mieoonduoted himself, and been retarded When a man mlsoonduoted himself, In ■tead of fialog him, retard him for a time getting bis riie, After eight years' ■ervioe, a man should receive 8i per day, 12 yeara 8i 6J, and a long service men ' of 20 yeara service should get an additional 6d, making the maximum pay ol constables 9) a dsy. Sergeants should get 9« 61 a day, rising in three yeara to 10i, and la three yeara more to lOi 6i Regarding inspectors, tbey now start) at £300 a year, and rise la olaesea to £400 Classea ahould be abolished, and start: Ing at £300 p:r annum, they should In two years get £325, in fonr years £350, in six years £375, and In eight yeara the maximum £400. The present bouse allowance should oontlnno. Witness oonildered that before a oonitable 'Was promoted aergeant he should paes an advanced fximlnatlon, but not a oompetltlve examination, on polloe work ami education, Qieations on police work should be prepared by a atlpendiary maglatrate, bat educational examinations should be of a fixed standard. The pro* motions of constables to sergeants should be left to the Commlailoner, and the main point to be observed should be efliolenoy. Seniority should, t f course, reoeiva attention, bnt iffinlenoy should be the great point. Promotion from tbe rank of •ergeant upwards should be made by the Minister or Governor. So far aa detective* were concerned their classes should be abolished, and they should continue at the pieient minimum and maximum, but sbonld ilte by Increments in perioda similar to those ia the case of oeigeanti. Hen employed on plain clothes duly should reoelve an allowance of U per day, There were a number In the force unable to do their duty owing to Infirmity. Hia opinion waa that constables and sergeant! sbonld eompnlaotlly retire at the age of 60. Whh referenoe to Inspectors he was not prepared to reoommend any retiring age, Regardlog sergeants, at the present time there were 220 of all rank* upwards of 30 years in tbe aervloe. Ho wonld like to recommend a ayatem of pensions and gratuities. He was bating bit recommendation on what might ba teimed tbe minlmnm, Any constable oi five, or not more than 15 yean' tervioe should reoelve a gratuity at the rate of one month's pay for each year'a service. If be bad completed 15 years' aeivlce he sbonld receive a pension at tbe rate ol 15 50;hs of hit pay. This pension should tnoreate at tbe rate of 1 50 th per annum for eaoh year of serrloe above 15 yearß np to 30 years' aeivloe. Thle, after 30 years'neivloe, wonld give him 3 stht of his pay et the time of bis retirement, This should be the maximum. If he had completed 25 yeara' service, and was not under 55 ' yeara of age, he ahould he allowed to retire if he wished, with the pension due at his retirement. - Bat if be wbs nnder 25 years' tervice he crnld not retire unless medically unfit. To provide, for this pension fund a redno tlon should be made from pay at the rate 'of i per oent. If a man died in the servlse tb.9 whole amount of the dedno tIODB made from bis pay during his ceivlce, would be paid over to his next oi kin. If, however, he died from Injuries sustained In the cxecatlon of hit duty, hla widow ahould reoelve a small pension so long as the remained a widow, and each of any oblldren sbonld receive a O3m« passionate allowance, until they should teach the age of 16, Bhould a constable receive Injuries ncoenitating ble retirement) the clronmitanoea ibonld ba to ken Into consideration in allotting his pension, lien who voluntarily resigned, or were dismissed, thould not reoalve baok tbelr contributions to the pension fund. No man ought to go on the tick list', unless on the certificate of a turgeon appointed by the Government, He considered tbe ioroe undermanned, There should be one offioer between the rank of Inspector cud Sargeant at each of the f Jur oentres Tbe duty of this officer would be to have general control nnder the loipeotor of the city where he wai stationed, to attend the Magistrate's Court, and in the abienoe of the Inspector to have control of the district. He did not agree with having Hergeant-M» jor». They should die out. The tub' inspectors proposed would bB in training for the position of lnspeotor Tho step from sergeant to lnspeotor was too great, The appointment of sabInspectora would alto give inspector more time to vltlt out- stations in their ' diatrioti. At the preaent time some of the stations were only visited onoe a year, and nnder existing conditions it could cot be otherwise. All station! should be visited at least once a quarter. Leave , should bs allowed to sooumalate up to S8 •days for men who did not desire to letv<> the colony. In the ease of men who bad relatives residing in Other colonies, or bnsinets there, leave should be allowed to aocu mutate up to clx weeki. Honey rewards ■hould be abolished. If a man ipeolally ! distinguished himself, in saving lite, or In the dateotion of dime, there sbonld be a reoord on his sheet, whlob would be taken into consideration when the question of promotion" was nnder oonildero tlon. He said he would like to oall attention to the licensing laws. At present to be upon licensed premises daring prohibited hoars was no offenoe regarding particular persons. This made It very difficult for the polloe to hasp a check upon breaches of the law. He suggested that oertaln olanses of the English Act, or something equivalent thould be made tbe law of the colony. These olanses made it Illegal tor persons, other than travellers or lodgers, to be on premises during prohibited hours. If the law wai bo amended, a good deal of tbe preient outcry ogainst breaohes of tbe law would be done sway witb. Seotlon 22 of the Aloohollo Liquors Sale Control Act of 1895 should be amended by Insert' log tbe words "or lodger," with tbe objiot of preventing lodgers from "snouting" drinks for othen. Very frequently It was convenient for an uneornpulona ' landlord to keep a lodger on the premiios, who would say he had paid for drinks in the case of a raid by the police. The amendment be suggested would prevent a lodger obtaining drink for anyone bnt himself. The law relating to gambling also needed amendment. Street gambling waa prao tlcally Impossible to atop, bsosme the polloe could only interfere la tbe case of batting at "iote" odds or in the oate of bettors causing an obtttao : tlon. He would suggest that a new ■ub section sbonld be added to the existing law providlcg tbnt any two or more persons assembling In the street for the purpose of gambling ahonldmake them ■elves liable to Immediate arrest and a fine oi £10 Aa an alternative suggestion, ha wonld pat forward a enb-aeotlon to the effeot that any person frequenting • pnbllo place for the purpose of betting oi wageiing was liable to arrest, pad « praiity itated, Bo as.de tbwp

recommendations to the Minister of Jus> tloe last session, Other mggeatloni were in oonneotlon with illegal tota'ilsatori and gaming houses. He next referred to the force and the inortnao of strength, arguing Ihsblf the onpgcnitona ho hud proponed wore adopted tho cost of tho New Zealand forae.woald bo innnh cheaper tbnn that of tho slater oolanleo, and the proportion of police to tbe population lear.