H.—l6b

"The Thames, Coromandel, and Ohinemuri Stations have been always supervised from Auckland up till quite recently, and should be still supervised from that centre. During the time of the mining boom about fifteen years ago, when the population of those districts was twice what it is at present, it was not found necessary to have an Inspector in charge there, sergeants being found quite capable of attending to police-work there. it"™. " The result of the new arrangements following the formation ot the I names District can be summed up as follows : Stations therein are more difficult to get at and it costs more to inspect them from Thames than Auckland. Correspondence of which there is a good deal, between Auckland and stations in the new district is much delayed owing to having to pass through Thames office, both going and returning, instead of going and returning direct as formerly. By having an Inspector and staff located at Thames to supervise a little over half the number of men that the station sergeant has to supervise in Auckland, an unnecessary expenditure of nearly £1,000 per annum has been incurred by the Department without the least benefit to the service, either by way of increasing the efficiency of the men in the new district or giving better supervision than they had before the new arrangements were made. " An Inspector in charge of Thames District cannot find sufficient work to keep himself employed on an average of two hours per day. "J. Cullen, Inspector. I agree to a very large extent with what Inspector Cullen says on the matter. If the Department finds it necessary to deal with the question in the near future, the information contained in the reference I have made will be found of value. These small districts involve unnecessary expense in various directionsunnecessary because there is no counterbalancing advantage in increased efficiency. • . As will be seen by a reference to page 96 of the evidence, it was practically agreed that I should recommend rearrangement of the Canterbury and Otago Police Districts. I therefore recommend that the Waitaki River be the boundary between these two districts. This only means that four stationsKurow, Ngapara, and Hampden—would be taken from Canterbury and added to Otago. I make this recommendation entirely for geographical considerations and as a matter of convenience. " As to the efficiency, conduct, sobriety, and morality of said Force or any of them." Taking the Force as a whole, I believe it to be thoroughly efficient, and I deplore the fact that the exceptions have reflected so strongly on the whole. The criminal statistics show the efficiency most clearly, with the large percentage of detected crime. It speaks well for the good members of the Force that the results of their work are so thoroughly satisfactory. I have appended below a return dealing with this aspect since the date of the last Police Commission, in 1898 :—

Efficiency as shown by Crime Returns.

XXVI

Year. Total Number of Grimes reported in each Year. Number of Persons summoned or apprehended. Percentage of Persons summoned and arrested to Crimes reported. Population of Dominion. Proportion of Police to Population. 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907. 16,378 16,865 18,358 19,909 19,771 20,736 21,066 20,249 21,160 23,204 23,510 14,730 15,561 17,131 18,742 18,802 19,867 20,118 19,251 20,295 22,255 22,472 89-90 92-20 93-30 94-10 95-09 95-80 95-49 95-07 95-90 95-90 95-50 768,910 783,317 796,359 816,290 830,800 851,068 875,648 900,682 925,605 961,604 977,215 1 to 1,435 1 „ 1,414 1 „ 1,359 1 „ 1,381 1 „ 1,375 1 „ 1,388 1 „ 1,398 1 „ 1,375 1 „ 1,387 1 „ 1,375 1 ., 1,331 1908