The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1916. NECESSITY FOR POLICE GAOL

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13292, 22 September 1916, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1916. NECESSITY FOR POLICE GAOL

The lack of efficient accommodation at the Hamilton police station for the reception of prisoners is a matter which has reached such an acute stage that*urgent remedial measures by the Justice Department are called for. More than once the question has been mentioned when .the Supreme Court sessions are being held here, and it was again introduced last week, when the Judge and the Crown Prosecutor both commented upon the surprisingfact that Haraiton had no police gaol. Mr (fillies also brought to the notice of the judge (he completely inadequate provisions for Mealing with prisoners who are sent from Mt. Eden to stand Iheir trial at the sessions which are held in this centre every three months. His Honor instructed the Crown Prosecutor to make application in the necessary quarter to have Hamilton gazetted as a police gaol. The Statute provides for the detention of prisoners at a police gaol for a maximum period of thirty days, whereas they can only be detained at Hamilton under present circumstances for twenty-four hours. It is, to say the least of it, surprising that Hamilton has not long since been so situated in the matter of its facilities for dealing with prisoners, when less important centres from a police point of view, like Taumarunui, Kawhia, Botorua and Thames, have police gaols. The most important aspect of the whole matter comes in viewing it from a hygienic standpoint. The Justice Department should be perfectly well aware that a large number of prisoners are dealt with here by the higher court during the year, because it is responsible for their conveyance from Mt. Eden. There, however, the matter seems to terminate as far as the Justice Department is concerned. It should not be so, however, in justice to the prisoners themselves. The maximum accommodation at the local cells, we are in a position to know, is decidedly poor, while, according to the vagaries of the weather and the number of prisoners, it recedes to a state of affairs that is well nigh intolerable. The accommodation comprises a wooden building of four cells about 10 x 10, one of which is used for purposes other than the reception of prisoners. There is only one bunk fitted up, so that when there is a heavy influx of habitues, as Supreme Court periods invariably give rise to, the extra sleeping accommodation required can only be given by placing mattresses on the floor. Under these conditions it is needless to argue that "the night in the cells" is anything but detrimental to the health of the inmates. In each cell there is only one small opening for ventilation and light; in the summer they are stuffy and nauseating to enter, while in the winter they are as cold as the tomb. The building is an old one, having been up well over 20 years, and apart altogether from its lack of ventilation and heating appliances, its appointments are an incomplete as it is possible to exr ct. The cooking and cleansing operai :is for the cells' inmates have to be i idertaksjn with a»maximum of labour. . here is no provision for cooking except at the police official's residence, adjacent to the station, but what of the labour that is essential to providing meals three times a day for perhaps as many as eight and nine prisoners, which very often is the total housed locally at Supreme Court periods? Perhaps the strongest argument why better accommodation is so essential is in the present glaring deficiency of an adequate reception place for female prisoners and mental hospital patients (male and female) who, from time to time, are received locally, from outside districts and even from the local hospital, and placed under the necessary police surveillance prior, to being escorted to mental hospitals. These latter are the class of subjects who should be accorded especial treatment in the matter of accommodation, but it is sadly lacking in Hamilton. There is no padded cell at all. The Ngaruawahia station has a padded cell among its appointments, and while we

ciunn this to be essential at every station, the neglect of the Department to have one in the headquarters of the South Auckland police district must certainly be an omission that cannot be logically substantiated. It is true that there is a padded cell at the hospital, but the Department cannot surely justify its neglect on that ground. When a patient reaches an acute stage the hospital authorities naturally seek for immediate transference and the police assume control. Our facts on this point are borne out by events. What '" wanted is a .police gaol, with modern conveniences for prisoners and police officials. The matter is urgent; the total inadequacy of the present building, from accommodation and hygienic points of view, amply supports this conclusion.