FLYING SQUAD IN ACTION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22444, 13 June 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

FLYING SQUAD IN ACTION

WHEN they first commenced operations in London smash-and-grab raiders, desperate men and daring drivers, boasted that their cars were more than a match for the Flying Squad patrols. At the time this claim was literally true. It led to the Yard acquiring new track-tested 100 miles an hour mystery cars.

A sports car containing three men went by like a flash early one morning in Kennington. The driver pulled up on a corner and two of the men got out. They attempted to force the iron lattice gate of a shop and this was the Squad's cue for action. These men were wanted for other crimes.

A sudden shout from the driver, however, gave a warning and he got under way as his confederates dived into the back. The chase was on in earnest. JWe were right upon them when cunningly they stopped dead in the hope that we would overshoot, enabling them to reverse into a side street and elude the Squad car by turning about. The police racer, the illuminated sign down, was equal to the occasion and pulled up level. Leap on to Running Board The chase seemed finished when the inspector stood by the wanted car and gave the usual warning before an arrest. The click of engaging gears uttered defiance, however, as the

fugitive driver, letting in his clutch, drove swiftly away. The Squad patrol, picking up the inspector, drew level, and while travelling at a rapid pace the officer leapt on to the running board of the raiders' car.

A muttered warning came a split second before an upraised jemmy struck the inspector on the head. He tottered and fell, but catching the backstay of the hood with one hand hung on! 1 until a second blow from the jemmy on his knuckles forced him to release his grip and he was thrown in front of the Squad car. It was only a tricky swerve on to the pavement which saved the life of the helpless man. The fugitives gained about 100 yards and on this hot July morning their car was hidden in a cloud of dust. The Squad now settled down to a grim pursuit. Near to Disaster Full throttle up Buckingham Palace Road; 'away past Elizabeth and Eccleston Bridges at 80 miles an hour r—a bumpy road, when disaster almost overtook the Squad as an officer, clambering over the inspector's now empty front seat, was jostled against the man at the wheel, nearly causing him to lose control. A sharp right-hand turn at Ebury Bridge 'inspired the Squad driver to take the wrong side of the obelisk and there was a loud report as the rear tyres of the bandit car burst simultaneously with the terrific impact of the police car's bumper. This is no flight of imagination, but an actual chase where three dangerous criminals were taken a;nd the story as told to me by P.C. George Frost, the driver, whose skill and experience alone saved Inspector Ockey from death beneath one of the Sqifad's own f-ars. Many people may think that Squad work is all speed and reckless driving, but this is far from being the case. Speed is only employed as a means toward catching the criminal, and drivers abusing the capacity of i their car are liable to the severest penalties. It is this which accounts for the Squad hardly ever being in any serious accidents involving the public. In fact quite the reverse is the case, for it is the crews of police cars who daily face a risk, not only of death by an accident, but, may be, also " accidental death " deliberately planned ,with criminal intent. A hazard of this kind occurred in the early morning of June 28, 1929, when two cars were detailed to observe suspects believed to be warehouse and shopbreakers. Squad Oar " Crashed " The trail led to Southgate fload when detectives saw five well-known thieves attempting to force an entry into a shop; but the* men, abandoning their efforts, made their way to an adjoining coffee stall. Later a car of lieavy American pattern appeared and collected the, thieves, who, now aware that they were being trailed bv the police, drove away at well over 60 miles an hour. A rapid word arranged our plan of campaign and one Squad vehicle diverged to head the suspects off. The quarry going round a corner on two ' wheels sighted the second car ahead. A split second and the criminal at the wheel crashed into the oncoming Squad car. Our second vehicle, in seeking to checkmate the hostile motor's manoeuvres, was also put out of commission, but we were fortunate in arresting the whole gang. Their car, moreover, which incidentally had been stolen, was found to contain jemmies and other housebreaking implements The men were duly sentenced a few weeks later each to three years' penal servitude at the Central Criminal Courts After this smash it was immediately realised that these small cars would be of little use against; the battleships J oa< ?> our lighter fleet was replaced jvith heavier vehicles—similar

By EX-CHIEF-INSPECTOR D. GOOCH (Copyright Reserved)

Death Faced at High Speed DESPERATE TRICKS RESORTED TO BY BANDITS

In this instalment of his thrilling series of articles, Mr. Gooch, famous Scotland Yard officer, tells of the origin of the smash-and-grab raids in London and the manner in which the menace was combated by the " great detective force which never • sleeps."

to that used in tiie chase at Kennington. At the same time came improved tenders —equipped both with wireless transmitters and receivers—and these, capable of carrying some eight or ten officers, could be quickly rushed to the scene of any crime. Like the cars, these tenders are the "hush-hush" vehicles of the road. Camouflaged to resemble ordinary tradesmen's vans they have lulled many a criminal into a false sense of security which has led to his undoing. Once 1 was down at Eccleston Square in one of these modern tenders keeping observation on a gang of thieves. Some 30 yards behind us was parked a small' red Squad car which seemed to excite the thieves' suspicion. When, however, a wireless message had sent the red car away, the men we were watching came over toward us to reconnoitre. A brief inspection seemed to lead them to think that there was nothing to fear. This, however, was where they were mistaken, as their appearance in court the following morning testified. Wireless Messages Messages flashed by wireless from the information department at Scotland Yard reach not only cars in the Metropolitan area, but those in all parts of the ever-widening circle of greater London and even further afield. They are invisible waves which knit the police force and the Flying Squad into one mighty organisation to protect the whole of Britain. The Flying Squad's activities are not limited to London. At the request of the Chief Constable in any part of the country cars reinforced by tenders hasten to cope with all kinds of situations and it is this co-operation which is the keynote of the new system. Changed circumstances entail altered methods. Before the war it was impossible to follow a man from one police

district into another —impossible to keep an ever-watchful eye on the movements of criminals. Work in the old days was more a matter of detecting the crimes committed than preventing the attempted felony. Trip to the Country

11l the Old Kent Road one day I was in a Squad car parked in a side street from which a great deal of the main thoroughfare could be observed. Suddenly 1 caught sight of a man who I instantly recognised as Taylor, burglar, cracksman and handyman in crime. Ho was joined by two others whose faces were also familiar to me and the trio entered a small van standing by. the kerb. In following the "covered waggon" the pace was slow, but the chase took us far afield into the heart of Surrey to the house of the laje Sir Louis Baron, at Cranleigh. Taylor got out followed by his two associates. A side door was their objective, the leader producing his "stick" (jemmy) to prise open the door. I winked significantly at my men. "Well, it's a fair cop, Gov'nor," was Taylor's remark as the three came quietly. He is an intelligent man. Evidence of finding a complete range of housebreaking implements and such useful accessories as revolvers and plimsoll shoes in the van, probably influenced the heavy sentences which this gang received When tried at the Old Bailey in 1933.