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I am gratified to be in a position to state that the officers in charge of the several districts and the sergeants and constables under their command have been successful in keeping the peace. The prevention of crime has occupied the serious attention of officers and the other members of the force ; as appliances increase a marked improvement may be expected in this branch of the service. The officers without exception have discharged their duties with the utmost zeal and discretion. They have been well and faithfully assisted by the sergeants, and the constables' as a rule have shown moderation, intelligence, and judgment in their dealings with the public, and a friendly intercourse has been cultivated with all official authorities. The members of the force through moving about their respective districts are gradually attaining a knowledge of the country and its inhabitants, with the view of facilitating the prevention and speedy detection of crime. The European population have been exempt from serious outrage, Gisborne and Ohinemutu being the only places where slight disturbances have taken place through undue interference on the part of the Maoris. The detective branch of the service has been fairly successful. The prompt detection of crime followed by speedy punishment has a most beneficial effect in deterring possible criminals, and the certainty of detection followed by conviction is the most important object to be attained in endeavoring to repress crime. The offences committed in the Marlborough and Nelson Districts are included for 1878 and 1879 in the Offences Return—the former 236, and the latter 147 ; total, 383 —as these districts have recently been attached to the Northern Division. The attached criminal statistics of this division for 1878 show that 7127 offences came to the knowledge of the police; 193 were committed for trial, 5538 summarily convicted, 999 discharged, 6730 prosecuted, leaving 397 offences undetected. In 1879 there were 8204 reported ; 328 committed for trial, 5955 summarily convicted, 1360 discharged, 7643 prosecuted, and 561 undetected, showing an increase of 1077 in the total number of offences reported over the previous year. 135 of these were committals for trial, 417 summary convictions, 361 discharges, and 164 in which no arrests were made. The greater portion of the increase appears under the following headings : —Arms Act, Arson, Assaults, Bankruptcy, Breaches of the peace, Broaching cargo, Cruelty to animals, Cutting and wounding, Destitute Persons Act, Embezzlement, Escaping from legal custody, False pretences, Female Employment Act, Forcibly entering premises, Plousebreaking, Illegally on premises, Indecent exposures, Larceny, Licensing Act, Malicious injury, Merchant Shipping Act, Naval discipline, Neglected and criminal children, Obscene and profane language, Public Works Act, Railway Regulations, Riot, Sureties of the peace, Threatening language, and Wife desertion. The principal decrease —Assaults on the police, Breaking and entering premises, Distillation Act, Drunkenness, Foreign Seaman's Act, Gambling, Lotteries Act, Neglecting to maintain children in Industrial and Training Schools, Obstructing railway lines, Breaches of Prisons Act, Breaches of Rural Police Act, Sale of spirits to natives, Slaughterhouse Act, Vagrancy, and Weights and Measures Act. The crime in excess of the previous year appears to be traceable to the increase of population, scarcity of money, and the absence of sufficient employment. I may also mention that the records of crime are now being more accurately kept than heretofore, which will account for 50 per cent, of the apparent increase- The decrease may in some instances be attributed to similar causes, and both to some extent to increased energy on the part of the police. The actual increase is confined principally to the large centres of population, where numbers of people were unemployed. The increase in the committals for trial are principally for breaches of the following :—Arms Act, 9 ; Assault and robbery, 7 ; Burglary, 3 ; Cutting and wounding, 10 ; Embezzlement, 10; Escaping from legal custody, 5; Obtaining goods and money by false pretences, 10; Forcibly entering premises, 7 ; Forgery and uttering, 4; Horse and cattle stealing, 5; Housebreaking, 16; Larceny, 38; Malicious injury, 3; Perjury, 3; Riot, 14 ; Shooting with intent, 3 * and Sodomy, 3. During the year there were 22 men removed from the force, n resigned, 3 were discharged from ill-health, 4 discharged as unfit for the service, and 4 were dismissed. The distribution of the men and the position of the stations have been arranged to insure prompt action in preventing and detecting crime, protecting property, and preserving the peace. The return of strength and distribution- shows 100 police stations and 251 men, including all grades. Taking the population to be 254,620 it will give one member of the force to every 1014 of the population, and the cost of maintenance will be 3s 6d per head per annum. An additional station has been established during the last financial period at Molesworth-street, Wellington, and one authorised at Normanby, in the Taranaki District, now in course of erection. The station at Craigieburn, in the Auckland District, can be dispensed with when the one sanctioned for Warkworth has been established. When arrangements have been made to confine the members of the force to their legitimate duties it will enable them to leave their stations more frequently, make themselves acquainted with the inhabitants, and familiar with all parts of their respective districts—much better results may be expected in preventing and detecting crime. I have, &c, R. C. Shearman, The Commissioner of Superintendent in Charge N. P. Division. Constabulary, Wellington.