POLICE IN THE PROVINCES

Observer, Volume XXIX, Issue 43, 10 July 1909, Page 2

POLICE IN THE PROVINCES

An Example of Inadequacy

THE Minister for Justice has recently been turning his mind to problems concerning the Tieclamation of the criminal. Through the medium of facts ancK figures, he has attempted to prove that the existing gaol system is al- i together wrong. He has visited*; the various gaols, and has pointed out their shortcomings. No ex* ception could be tafien to that. A© Minister of Justice, it is hie duty to expose any defects in our prison system. There may be defects. The prisoners may not have the featherbeds which are their just due. Billiard ta.bles may be barred to them. The delirious joys of two-up may be denied them. They may even be compelled, through a brutal regulation, to retire to their more or less virtuous couches at an unseemly hour. But, before Dr. Findlay attempts to alleviate the lot of the convict, it would be well for him- to turn his attention to defects that undoubtedly exist in the' present scheme of police administration. • • •

As an example of these defects, take the case of Tauranga. population of the borough and county of Tauranga, according to

the latest Year Book, is 3046. The police force that supervises the morality of these 3046 people totals one constable. This constable, however energetic he may be, cannot be in two places at one and the same time. He may summoned to attend to a case some twenty miles away from Tauranga, and, in his absence, a murder may be committed. In the case of murder, one of the first essentials is that the ground in the vicinity of the place where the murder was committed should be kept clear of people, in order that footprints and other evidence may lead to the identification of the criminal. But if the only available constable is twenty miles away, there will be no chance of ensuring this.

Apaxt from any consideration of the perpetration of serious crime, it is patent that one constable cannot be expected to adequately look after a district with a population exceeding 3000. And here an interesting., study in contrasts may be relevantly introduced. Devonport, with a population of 5073, has one sergeant and three constables to look after it. Tauranga, with a population of 3046, has one constable. It must be remembered, too, that the Devonport police, in the event of encountering any abnormal trouble, can always, by means of the telephone, summon auxiliaries from Auckland. The Tauranga constable, on the other hand;, has only his solitary self to rely upon, and, in the event of a serious disturbance, he would be quite unable to uphold the majesty of the law. In any case, if such a disturbance occurred, he might be prosecuting his duty miles away.

If Dr. Findlay, instead of worrying his soul over the alleged hardships suffered by the convict, were to turn his attention to the inadequacy and unequal distribution of the police force, he would be doing a work that is requisite and necessary. We have quoted the case of Tauranga, because it is .one near home ; but many other similar instances could be mentioned. Such a condition of affairs is not fair either to police or public. It places a premium on crime, and opens the door to evils innumerable. The constables in charge of these outlying and populous districts may be con--scientious enough, but they are handicarmed so much by the Justice Department that their lot is decidedly more unhappy than that of the town policemen, and it is little short of marvellous that they can keep order as they do. Anyway, it would be well, at the present juncture, for Dr. Findlay to take his eye off the criminal, and focus it upon the custodian — or, vi other words, the common, or garden, country constable.

useful purpose, and were sufficient for the requirements of the community. But the growth of industrial works in their vicinity, and the progress of reclamation, have rendered them entirely unsuitable, and tended to create surroundings that become more and more repulsive to the bather. As it is ; only the thorough-going enthusiast ' can harden himself to disport in the mixture of mud and slime that are too often the accompaniment of swimming at our one public saltwater bath.

What remains, then ? Some little time ago the City Council erected a shelter shed at Shelly Beach to provide decent accommodation for dressing and undressing for the crowds that were accustomed to frequent that more suitable and popular part of the harbour-side. But it is proved by experience that that accommodation is ridiculously insufficient for the number of would-be swimmers, and apart from the dressing-shelter there is practically nothing provided. Moreover, the exposure of the swimming area to public gaze precludes ladies from bathing on the beach at all. The Ponsonby Swimming and Life Saving Club calls for the construction of properly equipped baths. Moreover, it offers to take a fatherly care of them if they are provided, and assures the City Council that the proposed baths are, at the ordinary charges for such places, likely to be a financial success. Of this, the large population of . ordinarily cleanly and exercise-loving folk who would be served by the baths should be an ample guarantee.

But, of course, the consideration in the matter of baths cannot be limited to Ponsonby. The populous eastern side of the city is equally entitled to be provided for. Possibly there is some excuse for delay in that direction in the fact that the drainage of Auckland and Parnell flow through the lower portions of the harbour. . That objection, however, should be removed in the course of a year or two and there ought to be additional baths in the neighbourhood of Mechanics' Bay, a scheme in which the city and Parnell might well cooperate. Even the Freeman's Bay baths can hardly be maintained much longer, in view of the fact that the reclamation works will shortly relegate them to what will relatively be back blocks. But certainly consideration for Auckland's health and cleanliness demands something better and more suitably situated than the archaic baths we now have. The city will look to its Works Committee, to which the Ponsonby request now stands referred, for either a definite scheme or some substantial reason why one oannot be contrived.