CRIME IN SYDNEY

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1930, Page 16

CRIME IN SYDNEY

YOUTHFUL BANDITS. VIGOROUS POLICE ACTION. A statement regarding the steps that are being taken to suppress youthful criminals in Sydney was made recently by tne New South Wales Commissioner of Police, Mr. Childs. “Recent acts of bauditry have been committed by irresponsible young men, influenced by cheap literature and probably some pictures,” said Mr. Childs. “Steps are being taken by the police to prevent the development of a dangerous new criminal type. The public are invited to assist the police with information, and-may accept my assurance that their identity will not be disclosed.” The commissioner said that additional wireless patrols, able to receive and transmit messages, were patrolling the city and suburbs day and night. Other steps being taken could not be disclosed without destroying their effectiveness. “The use of the revolver in some recent robberies!” Mr. Cliilds said, “may lead the public to believe that our social conditions \ are developing a criminal class as distinct from the old-time burglars and garrotters for which, at one time, Sydney was somewhat notorious. That is not the case. Some young men suspected of banditry have been arrested and are awaiting trial, .while a number of suspects have been allowed their freedom because of insufficient, evidence of identification. .< ■

“An examination of these men, their mode of living, and. their antecedents convinces me that those responsible foi recent acts of banditry are an emotional class of young man, who look upon the use of a revolver and the commission of audacious hold-up as a praiseworthy exploit. To thera.it is a brave thing to menace an attendant of a garage or to bail up the proprietor of a ham and beef shop and rush away with a few shillings or a few pounds. They are suffering from mental distortion, and are not 90 much the creation of our present economic* and social conditions as they are a product of the mock heroics of some entertainments and of .literature of the ‘thriller’ type.