NEW CRIMINAL TYPE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18446, 6 January 1922, Page 7

NEW CRIMINAL TYPE

A now typo of criminal has been evolved during th© 1 laat few year* (remarks a London paper). This type, according to reports made by governors of prisons, is th© product of high wage* in tho post, combined with tho inability to get Item now. The old spirit of extravagance and love of pleasure remains, and to gratify that spirit audacious forms of theft are resorted to by once respectable persons of both sexes. Their particular bent is in th© direction of house breaking, fraud, and false pretences, motor stealing, and railway pilfering. Th© unemployment dole is reported to have prevented a great increase in crime which ha© marked other periods of out-of-work distress. , • Several prison governors give some illuminating particulars concerning tho new typo of offender. Their views are embodied in the report of th© Comrmaaioncra of Prisons for 1920-21. The 'governor of Durham prison says:—“Men. and women of respectable antecedents and parentage, in regular employment, and in no respect* associated with the criminal does, aro taking to serious crime (embezzlement, fraud, false pretences, housebreaking, and robbery) with astounding facility. •' It bae been suggested that the spirit of lawlessness acquired by men whilst serving with the force* is to blame for this outbreak of dishonesty. I do not think that the theory is sound. “ Tho fact that women equally (in proportion) with men ar© the .offenders discounts Do value of the above explanation, wljich, I think, is rather to bo found in th© fact that high wages,- onco easily earned, more easily spent, ar© not now obtainable. “ The slow -but sure economic readjustment of tho past year has created a number of discontented, feckless people, who do not realm© that they have been living in an artificial wage market, and unconsciously resent the changed conditions of supply and demand, work and pay." Tho governor of Shrewsbury prison writes: “ Many men are now received into prison, whom, in year© before tho war, it would be quite the exception to receive— ojg., railway guards and engine-drivers—men with excellent records of long service, and in receipt of a high rat© of pay. “ Unfortunately, pilfering on th© railway and elsewhere is very prevalent, and, further, it is done by_ men who receive good wages, and who ordinarily would bo classed as very respectable.” The governor of Wandsworth prison says: “ Tho experience and knowledge gained in Do army of motor mechanics has led to a large increase in gatago-brcoking and motorthieving, and this crime now appears to have become on© of tho more usual forms of lawbreaking. "A* the typo of man affected in usually intelligent, and of fairly good education, and the crime itself is adventurous and exciting, I fear that many of tho delinquents will revert. to it on release from prison. “-There seems to have sprung up a sort of esprit do corps or camaraderie among these men. It is a form of thieving that ho* an element of aport and pleasure, wiD good returns when successful, and it seems to have attracted many who would not otherwise have taken to crime as a profession.”