Truth About The Third Degree.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17465, 27 July 1928, Page 10

Truth About The Third Degree.

The notorious Third Degree is not, as most people think, a modern method of mental torture practised almost exclusively in America; it was invented centuries ago during the days of the Spanish Inquisition.

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It can be defined mildly as the art of getting on somebody else]s nerves. Actually it come into being when the Spanish Inquisitors‘found that the torture of mechanical appliances sffch as the thumb-screw, the rack, spiked helmet, etc., often defeated the object in view. The victims, to their lasting disgrace, often died before they were able to confess all their sins. So ancient civilisation devised the Third Degree, the ceaseless harassing of the mind ; and if, as sometimes happened, madness supervened:—well, a madman could bo sacrificed to the glory of God as efficiently as a sane person. So the gaolers had it both ways Following the inception of the idea, in this way the Third Degree underwent varying phases during Continental wars, until a few years ago it was finally established as a legitimate method of raising information in Germany. Shortly before the Great War, when Germany was (he most police-ridden country in the world, the Third Degree became a fad with the authorities. Out of the Rut. With the help of scientists, psychoanalysts, and innumerable professors, they ■ lifted it out of the rut of persistent crossexamination and bullying of a suspect by relays of detectives, and converted it into a subtle, remorseless means of breaking down a Suspected person’s denials. There is a case on record, similar to many English cases, in which rumours of foul play arose long after a man’s death in a Northern German village. Detectives investigated, and Berlin police headquarters decided on a certain course of action. Rumours had grown around a respected citizen in the village, and he was made tiie object of police attention. For a week or so lie w,as puzzled by anonymous letters containing serious allegations. Then ono by one his servants gave notice to leave, refusing to give any reason. His friends fell away from him, and on leaving his house, club or office, he realised that he was being shadowed. If he looked out of his bedroom window at night it was to see the dark form of a man against his gate. The climax camo when he received a photograph, presumably of himself, and the" dead man, side by side, although they had never been® taken together. The other figure was a police-officer made up as the dead man to the smallest detail. Then camo another picture of himself standing, and his friend lying at his foet (a picture that could be faked by most amateur photographers). That evening he toon his wife to dine at a restaurant. No waiter arrived to Eervo him, and eventually he decided to complain to the manager. He was shown into the manager’s office—and fell in a faint. The manager confronted him in

1 The notorious Third Degree | | has been much in the limelight | = recently. Questions have been | I asked in the House of Commons = 1 regarding its alleged use by the § = English police. It was also I stated to have been applied to = s extract confessions of guilt in I | recent sensational cases in | = America and France. li

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the carefully made-up likeness of the dead man. When lie camo to his senses lie confessed that he murdered bis friend. Actually it was the last gamble on the part of his accusers. Had he shown no surprise the police inquiry would have been dropped. It is worth noting that he had never been openly approached by a police official during the whole of the investigation. The German police made the Third Degree the art of creating round a suspected person an atmosphere of nervous tension and uncertainty. “What will happen next ?” was tho question they suggested into tho mind. During the Great War the Third Degree completely, died out in Germany, but spread to France and America. It should be remembered that in both these countries the law as regards an accused person is different from Great Britain. In France and America an accused person (is deemed guilty until ho is proved innocent, or rather, proves his (or her) innocence. In Great Britain an accused is innocent. HI he is proved guilty.

The American police claim that the end justifies t.hc means when challenged with tho moral question,, “is the Third Degree fair?” They point out that they aro dealing with tho most mixed popula-

How it is Applied by Police of Many Countries .

tion in the world, in a vast country, and that their criminal classes embody the most dangerous, elusive, ruthless and resourceful of all the bad men of all nations.

It it not surprising, therefore, that in the hands of the baton-swinging police of New York and Chicago tho Third Degree has become once again a merciless method of accusation and extortion.

A suspect is placed in a cell and questioned regarding the alleged crime by relays of detectives. Hour after hour every conceivable question is fired at him. He is browbeaten and bullied, cajoled and cross-examined until he doesn’t know whether he is on his head or his heels. Every sacred thought and intimate association is talked about and magnified during hours of indescribable examination.

In the case of two suspects, they may be isolated, and then a seemingly satisfied detective will visit one of the men and say, “You are in for it. We know how you did it. What a rotter you are to lead your pal on l ; ke that! He has told us all about it.” Tho man inevitably denies this and tells the tiuth—what the detectives want to know.

Some American cells are full of trapdoors and speaking tubes, so that the victim does not see his accusers during tho Third Degree. One cannot write of the Third Degree without mentioning Austria, the home of the most scientific police force in the world. Here the detective is subordinate to the scientist; the chief constable is the errand boy of the University professor. Tho microscope, spectroscope, reaction chemicals, and all the paraphernalia beloved of tho author of mystery fiction are gathered, in force at tho ser vice of the Viennese “Yard,” and the grimmest crimes are often solved in the laboratory. „ Telling a Lie. Their latest crime detector is known as the sphygmomanometer. It has reduced the duration of the Third Degree, to approximately foul minutes. The sphygmomanometer consists of thref. delicate machines linked together. The first records the suspect’s breathing, tlie second the time between each breath, and the third registers blood pressure.

It is based on the undeniable fact that no man, woman, or child can tell a lie without affecting tho blood pressure, no matter how calm the countenance or glib the statement.

Tho suspect sits facing the detective, while the scientist in command hovers over various delicate recording dials on the instrument. Tho questions are put and tho dials revolve. If the suspect tells lies there is no escape. All allowances are made for nervousness and confusion—these are registered before any questions are put. But the machine notes any intakes of breath, no matter how short, chronicles rise in blood pressure duo to the excitement of quick thought when a suspect is about to manufacture a, reply, and if the heart “jumps” draws, in effect, a red line. Afer a few minutes the scientists inform the police whether it is worth their while to go on with tho. case. Incidentally, serio.us crime is lower in Austria than in any country in the world. British scientists aro familiar with this machine, and it has been suggested that it should bo placed at tho service of Scotland Yard.