NEGLECTED FORCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 3 September 1934, Page 7

NEGLECTED FORCE

POLICE IN DOMINION > INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT OFFICIAL “POOR SISTER” Disappointment is felt in Auckland that the provision for the Police Department in this year’s Estimates was not larger, especially m view of the recognised need for better equipment and facilities for the force. New Zealand is definitely backward m many respects as far as allowing an adequate amount for improvements i in police operations is concerned (says the “N.Z. Herald”). . Especially in the cities, the police, .are required to handle, various inquiries with equipment which cannot compare in standard with what _ is available in centres of similar size abroad. Australia’s advanced attitude j or. the question of equipping the police , properly has frequently been mention- 1 ed to show how New Zealand lags. The fault cannot he attributed to high police officials, who are the first to advocate better conditions for both the detective and uniformed branches, but •it lies witfi. those authorities who still .do not appreciate the truism that the police force must advance with the times to meet new conditions. “The absence of any change in the police force vote was a striking feature of the Estimates/’ stated one man who is acquainted with the operation of the Police Department. “In the past year there have been disquieting evidences of the prevalence of crime, and the large numbers of burglaries which have been reported lately, particularly in Auckland and Wellington elisould point to the need to cope with the outbreak. The police force is still the ‘poor sister’ of the Government departments.” NEED FOR BETTER FACILITIES It was comuiented that no appreciable variation from the allowance made in the previous year was apparent, and the assumption was that staffing and equipment would not be altered to - any considerable degree during 1934-35. This was contrary to well-informed opinions which had been heard for several years past. There was a very general recognition of the need for greater provision for officers who have still to serve under unwieldly and out-of-date circumstances. . While such units as flying squads are commonly provided abroad, and are regarded as essential to the satisfactory operation of police departments, the police authorities in the Dominion have not been able to intro-

duce any comparable system because adequate finances are not made available. In Auckland, where motor-car thefts and the use of cars by criminals liaye definitely increased in tlie past few years) the police have at their disposal only a few vehicles, and they , can ’ scatqely be given the deserpition of a : mobile squad as it is known over; seas. Within the past year there have been several desperate criminals who have used cars within the city area, but detection of their crimes or the apprenhension of the offenders has been hampered by the.poor transport facilities available to investigators. There has been some effort to improve the transport conditions, but it remains a fact that detectives who had to proceed on a hurried inquiry in connection with a'.recent major crime had to travel in a machine which had passed its stage of efficiency. During that particular investigation, vehicles borrowed from other Government departments had to be pressed into service, while those departments also lent to the police a variety of equipment, none of. which was in the possession of the police authorities. ] SCIENCE AND DETECTION

Science lias lately entered prominently into the field of crime detection in tlie Dominion, and it is here that equipment is again sadly lacking. In such a branch as ballistics and rifle mechanics, where comparison. is the vital matter, there is not available in New Zealand such an instrument as a comparison microscope, which is recognised abroad as a valuable aid in this particular branch .of study. Again, it ■ lias been in comparatively recent times only that' the study and the recording of fingerprints have been undertaken with true precision by experts. Nowadavs', there are officers with the proper training, the necessity being recognised when an expert had to be brought from Australia to give evidence in one murder case, but it is realised that the equipment throughout New Zealand for police photography and fingerprinting can be improved considerably. The economy measures did not escape the police force, and one serious setback was the closing of the police training depot. It is universally agreed that the training of the modern police officer is a highly-specialised work, in which competent instructors on methods of detection are necessary. , Some measure to assist in overcoming ! this disadvantage is being introduced 1 in Auckland in the form of lectures on vital subjects to a number of officers, but the opinion which instantly arises is that such tuition should be a basic matter of training. V "'g