TRAINING OF DETECTIVES.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1934, Page 6

TRAINING OF DETECTIVES.

The inauguration of a system of exchange of police officers between New Zealand and Scotland Yard foreshadowed by the Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe, in the House of Representatives this week has much to commend it. To increase the opportunities for the adequate training of New Zealand’s detective force is to cast no reflections upon the' personnel and methods of the staff at present employed. Members of that staff will be the first, to welcome the opportunity for obtaining specialised experience, and the same can no dpubt be said of the staff attached to Scotland Yard. Though conditions in Britain differ in many ways from those in the Dominion, there are certain characteristics in the discovery of crime that seem to apply wherever the criminal operates. The handling of the Ruawaro case was a tribute to the zeal and discretion of the detectives engaged in that notorious investigation, and the skill and determination shown in the detection of crime throughout the whole police force have been remarked upon by more than one Supreme Court Judge. The crime statistics show that on the whole New Zealand possesses an exceedingly law-abiding community. Nevertheless experience is teaching that the criminal is quick to take advantage of the services research and science have made possible, and that those whose duty it is to protect the public must be given every opportunity for preparation in matching their skill against that of the criminal. In regard to equipment for the transport of investigators Mr. Cobbe’s remarks were less satisfactory. Granted that at present financial considerations must weigh uppn any proposals for better equipment for the police force, there have been many occasions when swift investigation might have saved a good deal of later inquiry and the expenses involved therein. The criminal must often be checked by the use of the weapons he employs. One of these is speedy transport, and the police must be equally well equipped in this direction if the protection of • the public is to be secure.