SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1916. WOMEN AS POLICE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, 21 October 1916, Page 4

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1916. WOMEN AS POLICE.

Replying to a deputation at Wellington on Wednesday, Mr Herdman dealt quite | courteously but candidly and sensibly. * wish the subject of employing worn •«! as police. At a previous interview r* 1! had promised to make enquiry rr ing statements that in other co ■•/® E? - : particularly in Great Britain, ' >: and America, there is a tend' • V^ acla > -roy v.omen for ordinary p ■ - J - ' . -li , ->43tre work on an increasingly large ac On Wed . nesday ne was able to the statements ret erred, v , -, . ■ T ji T,iere made under a misconception, i . . ~ , a veiry tew instances indeed are wonv . f , , -, ja clothed with the power and rep- 7 . t- , , • A&oiSMnhty of the policeman ; but in •■- J ~■. 1,, ■ , jsas&v towns and cities they are appoin -. ■-, . - .- -11 j .edas aids, more particuiar-\-ff ' .jroas, to care for women and cinlarer fall into t]ie hands of tlle Cc » Bat already New Zealand has .<a a good deal in this way.. There /c nine- such appointments, and the .Department is, and always has been, ready to increase the number of women" i so employed whenever necessity is shown. That, however, is quite a different affair: to the appointment of women with the general powers of police. As spokeswoman for the deputation,. Lady Stout urged that women police might* be employed patrolling public paa'ks and gardens, where offences against women and children \vei\e most ofben perpetrated, and they should also be at hand in the police courts to look after women and children concerned in cases there, and especially when evidence was being taken from veay young children in certain cases. In the dance and music halls, and at the picture shows women might do^good work. They might be useful also for the inspection of common lodging-houses, and of disorderly ~ houses, for which work they would be more suitable than men . Women selected would require at least tw^o months' training. They would have to learn ambulance work,, they would have, to be drilled, they would have to learn jiu-jitsu, and they would have to be trained in shooting. Mr Herdman pertinently asked: "Did they wish him to incorporate in the Police Force of New Zealand a number of untested, unbrained, inexperienced women, to be armed with all the great powers of /the police—powers of arrest and of search? Did they wish him to appoint women who should have the right to catechise any girl walking alone, or to follow any young man and young woman who' „ 'might be walking together in a public park, probably on no evil purpose? If this was the proposal "he could not for a moment entertain it. That would be the height of folly.. If they wished him to increase the sphere of usefulness of women already employed in the police service as matrons,' then he was prepared to (recommend the Government t% increase the number of matrons. It was absolutely necessary that persons entrusted with police duties should be men and women of tact, trained, and thoroughly tested before being allowed to pel-form this duty. It must be reoognised that the'liberty of'tlie subject Was 9, very important matter, and if there were untrained men or women clotheo! with police powers there would be trouble. He was informed by a police officer of high rank that it took two years to train a policeman, and that the most difficult thing to teach him was to hold his tongue. (Laughter.) How long would it take to -train women? Voices: 'Half that time.' 'Three months.' Mr Herdman said he thought it would take longer than three months." One lady said they did not want women to h=!ve niching to do with the criminal cl&&se«, 'but," replied Mr H.erdman, m ot quite accurately, perhaps, but sufficiently so for practical purposes, "they are the only classes with whom the police have to deal." On.c lady had a hazy idea that wrong would be prevented by the mere fact that women police would b e seen moving about. A woman could prevent a young girl from getting into mischief by speaking to her and telling W to "get away home." But the Minister was very firm in declining to be a party to give an untrained person a right to interfere with people in that fashion. After hearing the ladies at length, Mr Herdman intimated that the extent to which he would be prepared to go would '• be to ask the Government to' empower him to appoint more matrons in the I 'Force. These matrons would take up their situations in the big police stations and would thare learn their duties. He thought that after they had become familiar with police work it might be possible to extend their sphere of usefulness, and he agreed that one respect in which they could be useful wordd be that of taking statements from women and children witnesses who w.ere ernbarrassW. when dealing with men only. The whole trend of the Minister's remarks showed that he is impressed with the need of improving the training cf the police force, and that he would not be a party to adding to the force undisciplined elements, "though he was quite willing to increase the number of "discreet women" (as an old law put it) who can do useful work as helps without being clothed with the gr.eat powers that are invested in police officers