POLICE REFORMS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20425, 2 October 1934, Page 7

POLICE REFORMS.

Higher Posts Reserved fo College. CHANGES IN BRITAIN. The Metropolitan Police Bill becam> law in July, 1933. Foremost among the reforms is the abandonment of the system, instituted by Sir Robert Peel, of filling the higher postc in the Police Force (up to superintendent) in all case* by promotion from the ranks (aavs the London “ Daily Telegraph ”). In future, the poets from junior station inspector upward* are to be filled, as a genera] rule, by those who have passed through the Metropolitan Police College. J hose admitted to the college will coiiHiet partly of men specially selected from the ranke of the force, and partly of outside entrants chosen by competitive examination, or by selection without examination, subject to certain educational qualifications. To outstanding men, the higher posts, including that of Commissioner, will be open. The two principal criticisms of the new police scheme have been that it is undemocratic and a militarisation of the police, who arc essentially a civilian force (write* Sir John Moylan, Receiver tor the Metropolitan Police District, in the same journal). The phrase, “an officer class,” ha* been hung round its neck not as a garland, but as a damnatory label. Since tlie war the police, through their representative institutions end otherwise, have urged that outside appointments to the higher ranks of tlie service are altogether unnecessary, and that all posts could and should be filled by serving Jhe Royal Commission on Police Powers and Procedure, which reported in 1929. stated that they regarded as inimical to tlie public inteiest any nystem which limited appointments to the higher posts in the police service to those who had entered as constable*. They declared that it was “essential to encourage tlie entry into the police ol at least a proportion o* men whose Attainments qualify them for position* of considerable resjmnsibilily,” and that “long experience ami good service in the lower ranks were not the only nor even the most import ant qualifications for the higher posts, which ought to be filled in all cases by men who. besides being themselves upright and fair-minded, are capable of impressing their own standards on their subordinates.” The Government White Paper pointed out also that what was being done was to bring the Metropolitan Polio® into line with the practice of business undertakings and of the Civil Service generall v. In these spheres it is well recognised as essential to recruit for the more responsible posts not merely those who join as office boys, but university graduates or others who have been able to continue their education after leaviifschool. Short Service Men. The other main feature of the 1833 reforms, and one which has also been regarded as savouring of “militarism,” is the decision to recruit a proportion of the force on a 10 years’ engagement, at the end of which they will retire and get a gratuity calculated on the basis of one month's pay for every completed year of service. It is intended that the number of these short service constable* shall eventually amount to about 30 per cent of that rank, or a quarter of the present strength of the force, viz., 5000 The scheme is an entirely new one. L T p to now the police in all forces in England and Wales have been recruited on the basis of serving (unless invalided earlier) for 25 years or longer, and then retiring on pension. The introduction of a short service system has been criticised as ba?-ed on a false analogy with the Navy, Army or Air Force, and as converting a policeman's job from a life career into a casual or temporary occupation. The Government White Paper indicated that the scheme is designed to remedy the unsatisfactory state of affairs which has been found to result in the Metropolitan police from the absence of incentive in the case of long service constables who have passed their turn for promotion. Much police duty, particularly of the beat kind, is of a monotonous and rather routine character, but those employed on it must he physically and mentally alert to deal with the emergencies with which they may at any moment be confronted. Constables in London are necessarily more restricted than in smaller forces to the performance of much the same kind of work in the same plaee for long years. The short service plan should result in the force containing a larger proportion of the young and physically active, without unduly sacrificing the advantages of steadiness and experience. Under it about two-thirds of the constables would be in their first 10 years of service, and only one-third of longer