AUCKLAND'S POLICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17963, 13 December 1921, Page 8

AUCKLAND'S POLICE.

MORE MEN REQUIRED,

POSITION,: , IN,, V THIS- OITY., ■.. FIFTEEN CONSTABLES SHORT [M TELEQRAIH.—SPECIAL KEPORIEB.] WELLINGTON. HWtar. 4 The need for more police for' Auckland City and suburbs is emphatically' expressed by Commissioner A. H. Wright in the last report he made as superintendent at" Auckland. The period reviewed is the year ending March 31,1921. Commenting on staff matters," the superintendent says :-?The-authorised strength on March 31 last was:,! superintendent, 1 inspector, 1 Bub-inspector,' 2 seniorsergeants,' 21 sergeants, 127 constables, 1 Semor-det'eotive, 4 detective-sergeants, 8 detectives, 1 acting-dettotive; total, 167. In addition there were 2 matrons, 1 police surgeon, and 3 district constables. Tho to tKe strength during the year, has been one sergeant (A Freeman s Bay, one detective-sergeant at Auckland, and one constablo at Queen Street Wharf. During the past five years the total increase to the strength of the district' as now constituted has been three sergeants, two detectives, and one constable, an absurdly inadequate number. This has' been due to the difficulty'of recruiting and not through any desire on the iiart of the department to limit the employment of a sufficient number to meet requirements. At Bame time, the inadequate staff has caused the responsible officers considerable anxiety, and thrown upon all a task which thev have had hard work to carry out satisfactorily. At the present time the following in'creases are urgently required: 15 constables for tho city, 1 constable for Mount Eden, 1 constable for Newmarket, 1 constable for Freeman's Bay, 2 constables for the wharf, and 1 constable for Onehunga, a total of 21. This will only satisfy the existing pressing demand. Satisfactory Conduct. The conduct of the police during the year has been highly satisfactory. No serious and very few complaints of any kind have been made against them by the public. Considering that the training depot has been closed for some years now, and that the men taken on have been put into uniform at once on joining without the usual two or three months' tuition that they would havo had in normal times. I thinlc they deserve great credit for performing their duty as well as they have done, I have had to inflict very few punishments for breaches of discipline. Tlie work thrown upon the police steadily increases. The Annß Act has entailed an enormous amount of work,* but I am pleased to say that the work has been willingly and efficiently done. I have no doubt that tho provisions of the Act will Srove of great value and will lessen the iniscriminate use of revolvers that has been far too prevalent in the past, not only by criminals, but by irresponsible persons and youths. To giv e some idea of the amount of work entailed by this Act, I need only mention that upwards of 17,000 arms have been registered, 600 automatic pistols handed in and compensation paid for, and over 300 applications received for licenses to retain automatic pistols, each of which has to 1 be carefully investigated and reported upon.

Requirements of Watkato. Hamilton experiences the tame trouble, for the "report of Inspector Bheehan states [-The strength of the district was increased during the year by the appoint.ment of a constable to the new station opened at Matamata. Waihi station is still two constables short, and its strength should, be brought up to normal. During y?e year, .headquarters station ,had great difficulty in carrying out. the duties required, the strength of.the station beinir mute inadequate for the amount of work to be.done.', Increases in .strength are required as follows, in. .keeping with the volume of work done and the rapid growth of population and the increasing progress of, the town ;OT d' district :-Hamilton statoon, one detective and three constables; Urankton Junction, one constable for M$ patrol work. As pointed out last year, this portion of the borough is becoming thickly populated. At the Rotoroa station an extra constable is urgently required charT" 8 * reqUirM * Mrgeant to ~**• Piopio requires the services of a perconstable, It i s anticipated that ments may be m pec ted in connection with the. hydro-electno power supply and the services of an extra, constable'or more r y »tev r t2 mr<i(,, ,^ eordin,? *>'«» wale on-which the wc-Tk is carried out.