THE POLICE FORCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 535, 16 June 1909, Page 6

THE POLICE FORCE.

The public will, have good reason to feel extremely uneasy when they read tho observations upon the police force which were made in the House by Mr. Arnold yesterday. For some time past there has been no little talk upon tho condition into which the force has been allowed to drift in this city. There have been ugly rum'ours of drunkenness and disorder, and of favouritism, and it has for some time been known outside police circles that a criminal'wanted by the authorities in another State was actually in the force in this country. Mr. Arnold gave particulars of a large number of cases of improper appointments and of injustices under the present administration. Perhaps he may be misinformed on one or two points, but he declares, and there is no reason to doubt, that he has made very full inquiries before bringing forward his very serious charges. Nobody could be less impetuous than Mr. Arnold, or less fond of sensationalism, and we really cannot see how the Government can refuse to order an investigation of the whole system of police administration. Until the Government takes action, if it cannot destroy Me. Arnold's damaging indictment, the public cannot feel safe. As the member for Dunedin South observed, it is no less important to havo a "first line of domestic defcnco" in which the people can trust than to have an efficient system of national defence. The truth—which everybody is now realising— is that under the present Commissioner tho force has steadily fallen away from the high standard reachcd under tho administration of Mr. Tunbridoe. ■ Mr. Herdman emphasised this fact yesterday. There, are excellent men in the force, and amongst the higher officers there are men of exceptional worth, but the administration is full of abuses. The public will not be satisfied with anything less than a change in the Commissionership or a full inquiry into the whole police system.