AUCKLAND POLICE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22532, 24 September 1936, Page 13

AUCKLAND POLICE

INADEQUATE FOECE PROBLEM OF EMERGENCIES HOLIDAY LEAVE IN ARREAR Ten days have passed since the matron of St. Cuthbert's College at Epsom was brutally assaulted by an unknown man, and in spite of concentrated efforts by the police no trace of the assailant has been found. Every shred of evidence has been investigated, but the position appears scarcely more hopeful than it did a week ago. Linked with this attack is the recent agitation for closer police surveillance in the suburbs, but so under-staffed are police divisions in.Auckland that any further duties would be impossible. Some officers are two years in arrear with their holidays. There is great need of a larger police in Auckland, so that the suburbs may have fuller protection. A report laid before the House of Representatives some weeks ago suggested that the city needed police reinforcements, but, apart from the obvious need for more men to cope with emergency situations, the pressure of police work in the district is such that a number of men are in arrear with their leave. In Auckland there are constables with 24, and some with 48 and even more, days of leave due to thera. Added weight is given to the argument for extra men here when it h remembered that 48 days' leave in arrear represents two years without a holiday. It is understood that a similar condition exists in police stations in other parts of the country. A sergeant and a constable have received notice of their transfer to Rotorua, causing a further depletion of the staff. Even if the training depot in Wellington shortly produces a number of constables, the percentage sent to Auckland will be small.