NO. WAVE OF CRIME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 10

NO. WAVE OF CRIME.

On the authority of Mr. Justice Herdman, backed by a criminal calendar which, however deplorable, is not of abnormal proportions, there is no wave of crime passing over the Auckland district. There never was credible evidence of one. A little while back a series of burglaries, showing signs of organisation and planning, justified asking the question whether the police force of Auckland was numerically strong enough to safeguard its wide area and the complexities its growing size have introduced into its life. The men responsible for the more flagrant of those burglaries were caught, their crimes sheeted home to them, and the position became again ordinary. It is true there have been cases since of breaking and entering, but such things have happened before, without anybody suggesting that Auckland was emulating Chicago. Talk about waves of crime is worse than absurd, it is mischievous because it threatens to obscure a point that should be kept in view, the question whether present organisation of staff allows for enough night patrol of city and suburbs, whether the police do not have their time and energy too much taken up with routine work, service of summonses, and duties passed on by other departments. The Auckland urban area is wide. The city is also a port of entry. These are conditions which should be remembered when crimes occur. From that point it is more useful to urge that the hands of the police should be continually strengthened against the growing complexity of life than to indulge in such talk of crime waves as has been disposed of by Mr. Justice Herdman.