INSPECTOR J. CUMMINGS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21530, 30 December 1931, Page 8

INSPECTOR J. CUMMINGS

A HIGHLY-ESTEEMED OFFICER FUNCTION AT POLICE STATION TRIBUTES TO ABILITY AND EFFICIENCY. Glowing tributes to the worth of Inspector Cummings as a police oflicer and a comrade were pajd by speakers repre; sentative of every branch and rank of the central and suburban districts of the Police Force in Dunedin at a gathering in the Central Police Station last evening. The occasion was a farewell function to Inspector J. Cummings, whose appointment as inspector in the Dunedin police district will terminate to-morrow to enable him to assume special duties as an officer attached to the office of the Commissioner of Police in Wellington. SUPERINTENDENT’S REMARKS. Superintendent Ecclcs, who presided, said it was not a pleasant duty to say farewell to an officer of the standing and ability of Inspector Cummings, but they were all glad to know that the advancement for which he had worked so hard during his whole career in the force had come his way. The speaker traversed the details of Mr Cummings’s almost meteoric rise in the service from the day, 23 years ago, when he joined the force until his appointment last year to the position of inspector at Dunedin. He had , had a swift passage through the ranks, and his success was specially gratifying in that it was unquestionably due to ability, energy and rigid attention to duty. The most wonderful thing in the Police Force was service, and every member should bear that always in mind as Mr Cummings had done throughout his career. His position to-day could be regarded merely as the just and due reward <or devotion to duty, sober habits and enthusiasm for his job, and for that reason Mr Cummings was to_ his mind a model for every young man in the force. Mr Cummings had exhibited great ability in both branches of the service, plain clothes and uniformed, but he would like to stress the importance of the work he had done in the special sphere crime detection, a field in which his efficiency and ability were widely known and appreciated. The authorities in Wellington had recently recognised the need for a specialist in crime investigation at the office of the commissioner, and had decided that Mr Cummings would best fill the position. The speaker said he regarded the appointment that had now been made as a very necessary one in view of the occurrence recently of serious crime, and he, personally, could think of no one better fitted to undertake the special duties attached to the post. He would say without fear of contradiction that Mr Cummings had very few equals in New Zealand in the sphere of crime detection. His departure to Wellington would be generally regretted throughout the force in Dunedin. He, himself, was very sorry indeed to lose the assistance of so valuable and efficient an officer. Still, he hoped that Mr Cummings would continue to make his way upward in the service, and felt sure that he would. He did not know whether Mr Cummings would like Wellington, but he could assure him before he left that wherever he went he would not find a cleaner city in New Zealand from the point of view of crime than the Dunedin he was now leaving. In conclusion, he wished Mr Cummings and his family health, wealth and happiness in their new sphere.— (Applause.) EX-SUPERINTENDENT’S TRIBUTE. Mr J. C. Willis, wh6 lately retired from the position of superintendent at Dunedin, said that although they all regretted parting with Mr Cummings their regret was tempered by the knowledge that he had been called to a high and important office in Wellington. It must be very gratifying to Mr Cummings to know that out of the 1100 men in the force in New Zealand he had been chosen as the most suitable officer to -old that position. From what he knew of Mr Cummings he felt sure that he would do the office credit. • He was a worker all the time, and that, combined with his exceptional ability, had won him his present promotion. Mr Willis said that he had heard it said that Mr Cummings was a hard man. Perhaps he was in the view of slackers, but no man who was keen on his job and anxious to do his best ever found him hard. He himself during his connection with Mr Cummings had known of several cases in which Mr Cummings had put his hand in his pocket to assist some man whom, in the course of his duty, he had had to prosecute. He was certainly a disciplinarian, but that was essential. They all knew how necessary discipline was in the service. Without it they would merely be a rabble. His personal experience of Mr Cummings had shown him that he was a man of high ideals, who placed the welfare of the community before his own. He was a policeman for the whole 24 hours, and that was what every member of the force who wished to get on should be. In conclusion, he said he was quite sure that the young men would all miss Mr Cummings’s kindly help and assistance, and for that reason he knew they would all join with him in wishing him mid his family advancement and happiness in tlie future. — (Applause.) CHIEF DETECTIVE QUARTERMAIN. Chief Detective Quartermain said that it was 21 years since Mr Cummings and he had been first associated in the force. That was at Auckland, and at that time he was Mr Cummings’s superior. Throughout a long connection with him he had always found Mr Cummings a zealous officer and always scrupulously fair to his comrades and subordinates. He was very sorry indeed to see him leave Dunedin, but at the same time he was glad to know that promotion was coining the way of a man so eminently deserving of it. He could only wish Mr Cummings the best of everything in the future.—(Applause.) SENIOR SERGEANT CAMERON. Senior Sergeant Cameron also added his tribute to the worth of the guest of the evening. He had first met Mr Cummings many, many years ago when they were comrades in the firing squad at the interment of Mr Richard J. Seddon. Since then they had been close friends. He had to thank Mr Cummings for his ready assistance at all times and for the- just and fair treatment he had always accorded to everyone under him. Even defaulters found him just and never harsh. He would like to assure Mr Cummings before he left that the good name he had built up for the police in Dunedin would not suffer as a result of the conduct of the officers he was leaving behind him. He had won the loyalty and confidence of his men during his term in Dunedin, and he left with their very best wishes. They were all looking forward to still further advancement for him in the near future.—(Applause.) OTHER SPEAKERS. Sergeants Boulton, M'Entec, and MUarthy, and Detective Sergeant Nuttall, and Constables Harvey, Palmer, and Hamilton also spoke, expressing the regret of the rank and file of the force in Dunedin at the departure of Mr Cummings. Representatives of the press present assured Mr Cummings that he carried with him from Dunedin the goodwill of all the newspaper men with whom he hud come in contact. He had always been ready to assist pressmen in the prosecution of their inquiries, and the happy relations which existed'between the press and the police were in large measure due to Mr Cummings. PRESENTATIONS. Superintendent Ecclcs then presented Mr Cummings with a large easy chair and a gold pencil on behalf of the officers and men of the Dunedin Police District. He also handed to Mr Cummings a handsome handbag as a present to Mrs Cummings, with the best wishes of the force in Dunedin. A similar gift was also provided for Miss Cummings, and a fountain pen was presented to Master Cummings. Superintendent Eccles then referred to Mr Cummings’s successor, Senior Sergeant Cameron, who, on January I, would take the rank of sub-inspector. He asked that the same loyalty and attention to duty which the men had shown in their service under Mr Cummings would bo accorded to, Mr Cameron. He was sure be was worth H ‘ MR CUMMINGS’S REPLY. Mr Cummings, in thanking the speakers for all that had been said in praise of him, said it might have been true that his energy had carried him a good way, but he could never forget the debt he

owed to superintendents, inspectors, subinspectors, and senior sergeants and sergeants in the various centres. They had all taught him something and assisted him. am] his advice to the young men that night was never to mias such opportunities of being helped. There were far greater opportunities for advancement for young men at the present time than at any stage of his career, and he urged all the young men to make the most of them. Their training depot, their weekly classes, the police coach, and the experience of their- superiors should all be used as means to promotion. He was glad to be able to say after long experience in both Wellington and Auckland that he had yet to find a more efficient body of police than those in Dunedin, but they should all remember that they must have loyalty, unity, and harmony in the force if it was to continue in its present state of efficiency— a state which had never been surpassed in the past. Before he concluded he would like to express his thanks to Superintendents Eecles and Willis for the assistance they had given him and for the manner in which they had helped him to carry out his duties. Ho was also indebted to the chief detective, the senior sergeants, the sergeants, and the constables for the manner in which they had backed him up. He hoped that their attitude would he the same to his successor, Mr Cameron, and lie felt sure that it they all worked under the new sub-inspector as they had worked under him the record of the force at the end of another year would be even better than it was to-day.— (Applause.)