THE POLICE FORCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 13

THE POLICE FORCE.

KEPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION. THE RECOMMENDATIONS. WELLINGTON, September 22. The report of the Royal^ Commission on the Police Force of New Zealand was laid on the table of the House to-day. The commission inquired: — (1) As_ to the circumstances of the enrolment in the Police - Force of Thomaa ' Moses, and as to the failure of the Police Department to ascertain that nrior to such enrolment he had been convicted of an offence. (2) As to the causes which led to the offences committed by certain members of the Police Force in Dunedin remaining undetected, and whether - any laxity of administration contributed to 6uch non-detection. (3) Generally aa to the system of control and supervision exeroised by inspectors, subinspectors, and sergeants of the Police Force, and whether proper control and eupervision have been exercised in Dunedin. With regard to (1), the commission found as follows.— The failure of the Police Department to ascertain *that prior 'to his enrolment Moses had been convicted of offences was due to the perfunctory inquiries ■■"made by Constable .Christie. -His report was' apparently sufficient by the department : and no further investigations •were "made. ' The system of inquiries as to the character of candidates for enrolment should be 'more complete .than^at present. We understand that 'inquiries are' how more exhaustive than ; ,when Moses - applied for enrolment. _- Dates are ,now. required in testimonials,- cbvering practically the; life 'of, the candidate from', 1 the time'-of "his" leaving! 'school. - Even with such precautions there is no responsibility on the persons giving certificates and rio obligation on them to disclose anything" known by, them detrimental to the applicant. He "might also have been convicted - under a name other than his own in a district where he had lived a short time only. We suggest that every applicant be required to make a statutory declaration that he has not at any time been convicted of an . offence, or if convicted to supply particulars. Trivial matters such as breaches of by-la Ays should not bar a candidate otherwise qualified, but any conviction for fraud or dishonesty should exclude anyone for ever from the Police Force. An applicant would hesitate to make a declaration involving 'severe punishment to him if found to be false when he knew^permanenfc -records were in existence proving its falsity. While serving in Dunedin Moses was under Inspector O'Brien, who, as a detective, had' -arrested him for hi§ second offence. Detective Livingstone was also -stationed' in Dunedin while Moses was there. Neither of these officers recognised him as their former' prisoner, and so were not to blame for not reporting as to his previous character. "With regard -to (2), the commissioners state the causes which led to the offences committed" by certain members of the Police Force . in * Dunedin remaining undetected were:— (a) No- portion of the stolen property was sold or given away to any person except to those concerned in the thefts; (b) the goods -stolen were not reported as missing until shortly before the arrest of the thieves. It is improbable that -thefts will be promptly detected when the thief does not sell or part with the goods stolen and if the 'owners of the goods are not aware of or do not report the loss of them. (We -do not find that any laxity of administration of the Police Force contributed to such non-detection. The thieves "were arrested and evidence obtained by the detectives sufficient to convict them -within a few days of the goods being reported' as missing. The laxity of administration in •Lmnedm did; however, in our opinion, give opportunities for the committal of some of tne offenoes by the ex-constables. As to. control and supervision -sfenerallv the commissioners s make -the ""following recommendations :— * , 1. Looking to the fact that it is quite impossible to -avoid holding Inspector OBrieu responsible for the laxity that to a considerable extent, led to the occurrences m Dunedin, we recommend that he fee transferred from there without delay, and that an officer be appointed in his place who may be considered specially qualified to place police matter's there on a proper footing and carry out that control and supervision which is essential to the due efficiency of the- force. 2. As_ we consider that Sub-inspector Green is also responsible to some extent for the extreme laxity of control and supervision in Dunedin, we recommend that^ he also be transferred from there, and that an -officer be appointed in his place who will be likely to be a valuable coadjutor to the inspector in carrying out rigid reforms. 3. To secure proper police protection in the four centres of population, we recom-* mend that the following additional constables be appointed": — Dunedin, 6; Christchuroh. 67 Wellington, 6; Auckland, 6. 4. With a view to relieve the inspector and the >sub-inspector of a great deal of unimportant clerioal work, which at present occupies far too much of their time, and thereby prevents them from giving a due share of attention to the supervision of police duty proper, we recommend the appointment of an additional officer at each of \he four centres. This officer should have authority over all sergeants and tonstables, and should be specially and carefully selected for the very important and' responsible duties which he would be called upon to perform. 5. As we consider that it is practically impossible to control and supervise in the most effective w«ay the night reliefs on the beats as at present arranged, we recomment the appointment of an additional sergeant in each of the four centres for night duty. The suggested increase to the numbers of the force will involve but a trifling cost. The colony has at present the cheapest force in Australasia, ana the additions'" recommended will cost less than Id per head per annum of the population. ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS. (Fhom Oub' Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, September 22. The following are additional to the particulars of the Police Commission report sent to you by the Press Association: — AS TO CONTROL AND SUPERVISION GENERALLY. Dtjnedin. Evidence was taken here at considerable length, and it has been shown conclusively

that the discipline and control and supervision, which arc absolutely necessary to the efficient carrying out of police duties in a large centre of population, have not been as they ought to be" The beats as laid out by the present inspector are too large for the proper supervision of the men working thereon. There can he no doubt whatever that the sergeants who have been doing duty in Dunedin tor a considerable time past have not exercised proper control and supervision over the men under them. Even after making every allowance for local difficulties a lax system had grown up, and each sergeant in turn seems to have been drawn into it. The constables doing duty on the beats and especially between midnight and 5 a.m. knew in most cases when and where the sergeant would be likely to be met with, and, indeed, appointments with men were frequently made. This naturally left the men on certain beats absohitely free to do as they liked for as long a period as three hours at a time. The results sneak for themselves. Inspector O'Brien and Sub-inspector Green knew of this practice. In October, 1904-, the inspector's attention had been drawn to it, but beyond writing the following minute in connection with a sectional report that had , been brought under his notice, neither he nor the sub-inspector took any steps to J actually satisfy themselves that the prac- : tioo had been discontinued. - The minute 1 reads as follows :—" Mr- • Gr-een : This is! most unsatisfactory as regards the sergeant. There should be no customary, time or place for visiting constables on their beats, but they should from time to time be visited in .different parts of their beats, and the sergeant should thus satisfy himself that constables are working their beats honestly and faithfully. X the sergeant (as seems to be ■ the. case) knows the exact time to meet the constables on No. 1 beat, at the corner of George street and the Octagon, he (the sergeant) should also know when he should meet that constable, say at the corner of j Hanover and Cumberland streets, or at the j corner of King and St. Andrew streets, etc., and insure a proper working of the beat, j A constable who may be inclined to 'be lax is, under the present custom, enabled to go to some quiet spot and lay down for an hour or more after each visit from the sergeant, instead of attending properly to the work for whoh he is paid. — O'Bbien, inspector, 12/10/04." The inspector had previously, by a station order dated tho 22nd September, 1903, warned the sergeants against such a practice in these words: — " Sergeants in charge of sections are strictly enjoined to see • that each constable working under them knows the manner in which his beat should be worked, and they (the sergeants) will see that each constable works his beat faithfully, and for that purpose the sergeants shall from time to time meet ; constables at different points ,of their beats, instead of always at a given point." j After making every allowance in favom* ! of Inspector O'Brien by considering the j fact that he had under him a weak subinspector and inefficient sergeants, it is quite impossible to hold otherwise ihan that he did not cany out his duty as inspector in a way that could be reasonably expected of him, and the same remark in a minor degree applies also to Sub-inspector Green. We found that the chief detective in Dunedin does not conduct any prosecutions in the Magistrate's Court. We think that he should be required to do so in all cases in which the evidence has been worked up by the detective branch, for the man is in a better position to conduct the prosecutions than the sub-inspector, to whom papers are handed, perhaps, only a few minutes before the case is called on in court, the detective remaining in court while his case is going on, and so two as en are engaged when one should be doing other work elsewhere. If tho chiei detective prosecuted in detective I cases, the sub-insnector would have a good deal more time than he has at present to devote' to other duties. In Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch the chief detectives prosecute in such cases, and the same practice should be adopted in Dunedin. Cheistchuhch. We are pleased to find here that the discipline, supervision, and control are very good. The men are specially instructed weekly in their duties as police officers— a system of great value, .and one that we should like to see followed in the other large towns. The use of bicycles by tho sergeants is of valuable assistance in enabling them to exercise special supervision over the men on their beats. Their use has been specially sanctioned and approved by the Commissioner of Police, and a bicycle allowance is granted. We think ! that their use should be encouraged in i other large towns whenever such is possible. Wellington. The discipline here is good throughout the force. The sergeants appear to exercise satisfactory supervision over the men on the city beats. If anything, the beats are too long and too numerous for one ser"geant to perfectly control at night, but the very best would appear to be done under the circumstances. If the sergeants in charge of the night reliefs were encouraged to use bicycles generally when going their rounds, tjhe supervision would be still better than it is. Our attention has been drawn to the accommodation provided at the Central Station on Lambton quay. We have found this poor and very inadeqxiate. It would seem that an extension of the present building is urgently required in the interests both of health and efficiency. Some of the internal arrangements are wretched in the extreme. The building at present does not afford the necessary accommodation required for the men who are actually on duty in tho city. Eleven of these men are quartered in a house at some distance from the station. The house is rented for the purpose at a weekly rental of £1 10s. This arrangement must seriously interfere with the proper control and supervision of the men. There is ample space for a suitable extension of the present building, and in the event of this being carried" out it would undoubtedly be of advantage if suitable office accommodation were provided in the new building for the Commissioner of Police and his staff. The excellent accommodation and perfect conveniences provided in the police station at Auckland by comparison wdtih this, the capital city of the colony, emphasise the need for an improvement. We also visited the Mount Cook Station, wihere the recruits for the Police Force of the colony, are housed and trained. Excellent work is carried out here under most disadvantageous circumstances. It appears to us most important that a properlyequipped depot should be provided. The present quarters are entirely too small for

the recruits and duty men together, and no proper conveniences exist to enab'c the instructor to <Jo full justice to his valuable system of instruction. If a separate buikl1 ing vere prowded for the recruits, tho present station would be large enough for many years to come. Additional con- . stables mu«t soon be appointed to this I station, as population is rapidly increasing i in that direction. The present congestion will then be greatly accentuated. Inveecargill, Geeyjio-uth, Wakgantti, and Napier. There is nothing in connection with these smaller and less important police districts that calls for special mention. Auckland. I The discipline hero under Inspector j Cullen is strict. He has charge of a large i district, and appears to keep it well under i control. The system of supervision by ! inspector, sub-inspector, and sergeants is generally everything thai could be desired. This satisfactory condition of things is in \ a large measure due to the exertions of the present inspector, as, when he took charge, police matters in the Auckland district were in a state of great disorganisation. A great deal of evidence was taken by us showing a lamentable amount -of friction between Inspector Cullen and Subinspector Black. This did -not seem to us to have in any way a»ffected the efficiency of the force. It was apparently due to incompatibility of disposition and temperament. There was really nothing of any great importance underlying the quarrels between the two men, and there was certainly nothing- to justify them. Both are good men in their respective offices, and capable of rendering good service in the force. However, in the face of what has transpired, the two officers should bo separated by the transfer of Sub-inspector Black to another district, as has already been requested by that officer. GENERAL. A great deal of evidence was tendered to us on matters that we did not consider properly coining within the scope of our commission. A portion of what we diid actually admit would at first glance appear to be outside the order of reference. Where, however, that evidence bore, in our opinion, in the most remote degree i upon questions affecting the control and supervision of the Police Force generally, we admitted it. We felt that the recent occurrences in Dunedin had somewhat shaken public confidence in the police throughout the colony. We therefore deemed it our duty fo make the fullest inquiry into all matters bearing in any manner, however indirectly, on these occurrences. We took the statements in Dunedin of those ex-constables who are now undergoing sentences for theft. In addition to the published evidence taken on oath, we obtained statements made by each of the prisoners separately to the Commissioner of Police. We considered that they would speak more freely under these conditions, and that, if they could give us proof of complicity in the thefts by 5*5 * anyone now in the force" it would assist us in purging it. On getting the statements we consulted j with Commissioner Dinnie, and agreed that it would be desirable for the inspector in charge of the district, wihere any constable whose name was mentioned was stationed, to closely question him and get his written statement a.s to facts mentioned by the prisoners without either the inspector or constable in any way being made aware as to the reason for suoh questioning. This was done, and the constables were afterwards examined by us on Oath as to all such matters. After the most careful and thorough investigation we are wholly unable j to find any satisfactory corroboration of the allegations made. All those constables -1 who could be found to be connected, how- J ever slightly, wifeh irregular acts in Dunedin have either resigned under compulsion or been discharged. We believe we are justified in saying that at the present j time none of those implicated remain in tlhe force. Statements were also made by one of the convicted men . to the effect that thefts had been committed for some considerable time past by constables in other parts of the colony. We consider these statements entirely disproved and to 'have no foundation in fact. Some evidence has been given of iihe inadequacy of the present rates of pay AJthough not, perhaps, conning- .strictly within the scope of our inquiry, we might be allowed to say that, so far as the single constables are concerned, there would appear to be no cause for dissatisfaction. In the case of the married constables a slight concession might with advantage be made by granting the usual lodging allowance at the expiration of one year's service, instead jof three. There may be, and probably ! are. inequalities in some other grades, but with respect to these we have no recommendation to make. It is very apparent that in the four large centres a great deal of the inspectors' and sub-inspectors' time is occupied in attending to correspondence of an unimportant nature. We shall hereinafter make a recommendation which, if carried out, will leave these officers much more free to attend to the duties of close supervision, such as we deem essential to the proper control of the force. In our opinion the watchhouses in the four principal cities are at present not under proper control. At night they are left in charge of constables, as watehhouee-keepers, who arc sometimes junior men. Tlie appointment of additional sergeants, as recommended by us, will remedy this defect.