DETECTIVES AND THEIR WORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 1762, 29 August 1885, Page 26

DETECTIVES AND THEIR WORK.

'A detective,' , to \e fairly efficient, must be acquainted with, the runs and "ropes" of the Shady quarters 'of the district ; must know their principal inhabitants, their lines of business, and, to a 'certain' extent,, their habits of life. He must know by sight, and beyond any reasonable, possibility of mistaking their identity, the more distinguished and dangerous "corner-men" of the, locality. The latter is sometimes a very important branch of knowledge. It may fall out that the " clue " to the detection of a crime lies in the absence from his usual haunt of some corner-man known or judged to be capable of sucti a'crime. It can be taken for granted that he has not " stepped it " save for' sufficient reasons,' and if no other reason is known, it is always'wbrth while to open' up' investigations on the supposition that he may have been associated with the particular crime in question. Such kind and degree of knowledge a detective could not obtain without becoming known. A pretence of "slumming" as an amusement could not be 'carried' to a sufficient extent for the purpose in view. The shady classes do not mind, a sightseer "coming , into their midst for the''onc&,'and the mere passer-by in their quarters'need, as^ a rule, have nothing to fear, if he only' has common-sense enough not to make a parade 'of any snatbhable property. But if any " foreigners 'were found m their quarter more than once, and having no known business there, they would at Once' be suspicious. The relieving Officer, the parish doctor; the School Board o'fficerj the vaccination officer,' the. accredited agents' of the religious rqissiphs, the sanitary inspector, all these' official foreigners are in shady quarters known to the ", natives," and are protected l byth'eir offices. ; As matters stand at present the detectives of a district are generally well knovn, and are also protected by their office— otherwise we should much more frequently hear of detectives being crippled or " corpsed." That they should move openly in criminal' haunts is probably the lesser of a choice of evils. To get through the details of his work a plain-clothes officer must show do pretty freely, and however much he might try to keep himself unknown, he would almost inevitably be found out. A " foreigner" other than such officials as those named above found " mouching about " in neighbourhoods in which, the criminal and no-visible-means-of-sup-port classes congregate would be set down as a detective, even if he were not one, and a detective who was' spotted while trying to keep himself dark, would run much greater risks of rough usage than one whose calling was pracically avowed.

The extreme critics of the detective force not only complain that the members of that force are known. to the criminal class, but add that anyone may recognise them at a glance by their policeman's walk. This latter statement, however, we venture to assert would, if put to the test, be found to be a mistaken one. Detectives are not branded by any distinctive walk or bearing. . iWhen off duty, or walking simply to get over the ground, the detective walks just as Other men. ' When on the watch with a definite object in view, he necessarily accommodates his pace to that of the person he . is watching. If generally on the look-out for anything that may turn up, he may walk slowly or loungingly, but even then bis walk is .no more a policeman's' march than it is the walk of — say — any working man who may be out shop-window gazing, or for a leisurely evening stroll. If a plainrclothes man is brought from one division to another on some special business, or when a new man is -first put on in adivision.it generally proves a surprise — a case of "Who'd have thought it ? " even to /the habituals.< They only come to know the strange or new men for what they are when some official act proclaims their office.. • And if it is thus with the professionals, those who see most of detectives, and who often haveireason to fear each bush an officer— if it is thus with them, it may be taken as certain that amateur criminals or honest outsiders cannot recognise . detectives off-hand.— -All the Year' Bound.