NO REWARD FOR POLICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1013, 2 July 1930, Page 10

NO REWARD FOR POLICE

CHRISTCHURCH FIRE-BUG CASE

IfJ E St .\ ’iS Parliament cry IZc porter PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Today.

On the ground that the Christchurch fire-bug reward of £?SO was offered for information supplied to the police that would lead to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for I the fines, a police inquiry decided that the reward would not he given to Constable Gillum or to the detectives concel tied iu the Gray case. The reward was not received by the police. To questions by a Sun reporter, the Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. G. C0h1.... made the following replv; "The Police Regulations provide that no rov ard or gratuity may be accepted hv any member of the po]ice force without the approval of the commissioner. 1 he object of this regulation is to prevent the bribery and corruption of tbe police. Where standing rewards are offered for the arrest or conviction of offenders such as that by the Post and Telegraph Department for the conviction of persons breaking insulators or interfering with slot-tele-phone machines, by the Public Works Department for the conviction of persons interfering with electric power lines or by the shipping companies for the arrest of deserting seamen, it nas been the practice to grant permisSion to the members of the police force to accept such rewards when the arrest or conviction resulted from the efforts of the police. Small rewards arc also granted by the Police Department to members of the force for servtce in the suppression of sly-grog selling and occasionally for exceptionally meritorious conduct. "As regards the reward offered in the recent cases of incendiarism at Christchurch, the State Fire Insurance Ofhce and the Council of the Fire and T'" 1 ™ , L "del-writers' Assoeia, ion of .Nett Zealand offered a reward or £2511 n,T T. f ?,T at ! 0 " s '‘in’licd nr the police that will lead to the conviction of the person or persons responsible' for the damage °r destruction by fire of four dilteront premises in Christchurch The only persons who supplied anv information to the police that led to ‘!’ e conviction of the offenders were the offenders themselves. Two brothcts named Gray were arrested hv a constable for attempting to break into pi druses in Manchester Street, Christchurch, and when being questioned subsequently by the detective staff as to m .t ,ICeS thev mi ” ll: have comnutted, they admitted being responsible tor the fires referred to iu the reward notice.

“Application was made hv the constable and the detective concerned to be allowed to participate in tho reward and their claims were investigated. but it was decided that as the information had not been supplied bv them they had no legal claim to anv portion of the reward. The constable was granted an acceleration of his increments of pay in r cognition of I is vigilance and good work in effecting single-handed ihp arrest of these youths, but the reward of £250 was not received by the Police Department.”