POLICE DISCIPLINE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 568, 24 July 1909, Page 5

POLICE DISCIPLINE.

REMARKS BY TOE COMMISSIONER. THE RECENT MEETING IN WELLINGTON. ' ! ' SEVERE COMMENTS. ' i "MOST. SERIOUS BREACH OF DISCIF- ' . " LINE." (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Chrlstchurch, July 23. ,

A parade of tho city and suburban policu was hold at tho Police Station this afternoon far inspection by Mr. H. W. Bishop, who is conducting tho commission. ' of iu- ( quiry. Inspector Gillies, officer in chargo of tho district, and Chief Dctective, Bishop were also present. Mr. Dinnio, Commissioner of PoKco, was in attendance. ' , > Tho mon • were paraded in tibo station' yard, and addrc&sod by Mic. Bishop, who > said that what ho had to say would, apply :to all ranks from the inspector downwsurds, bnt> more particularly to constables. The Government, for reasons whioh appeared, (sufficient to them, had decided to appoint a commission, and had' honoured him by asking him to conduct the inquiry. The rea-' sons which actuated fho Government wore hot altogether what was said inJParliamont,' but, it [ had come to' their' lmowledgo from various sources tihat there , was dissatisfaction ill oertain parts of New Zealand iu respect to promotions and other matters, cognate to promotion.

Desire of the Covemmcnt. t The Minister had informed him that it > . ■ was.the cawiest desire of tho Government-to . remedy, any dissatisfaction or anomalies that . existed, and with the view of> ensuringjthat. all tlioso members of the forcowho could • 'give information that would, assist him would come forward, the Minister had; on v his suggestion; given an undertaking that r , the jiving of'Cviaonoo' would not-bo sulowod < ,to; prejudioo iu auy ; way the. career; in tho .• police force of any oflioor giving evidence, > ■■ . . provided that in the judgment of' tho . , spoaker suc'h evideijcq was not given falsely ' or m bad 'faith. He invited every man who ; could honestly and • bona- fide giVo ovidcnco •which would assist him to corns forward freely ... iaDd without : reservc, aii<i givo tliat cvilciico' ' . on oath. ■As to h thc procure, ho.',, ffould: adopt, ho intonded to call every inspector,. : every sub-inspector, every station-Bergeant, ; and, as-far as possible, every sergeant iu the force', • and compol them to give oridonoe. He would not compel any constable to com® forward, but woijld leave them perfectly free 'agents, unless.'ho had reason to believe that, • . they oould say something ,' wWih; should bo-, said before the. commission. ' If a constablo had ' nothing but'• grievances—merely- littlethings} which would not -affect:- tho, efficiency of the force I —he "did not f want his evidence, * V:. but ho did invite any;man ho; was suffering from any sense of, injustice in tho matter of promotion,:.to, come forward and givo some particulars of his case.' y Tho earnest dosiro .df ' the; Government wa« ■' to place the force 'in a' stato of, the highest ' :■!. possible efficiency, to see that anoWialicS and grievances wore remedied: as far v as' ! possible, 1 and to make tho force what it 'had been -ini , his experience in.the past, a credit 1 to Nevr Zealand.-. . i : Tho Wellington Meeting. ■ : Mr. Bishop thon won't , on ;to refer to the; mooting ; of tho, r polico which -was held-, recently in Wellington, at'' which' the Polico Commissioner was -discussed and certain resolutions passed. He said that it "seemed there were forty members: of the force pre-1 sent. Ho thought it probablo that , tho - resolutions'- passed; wero : based oh"' a misapprehension or a, misconception, of what, had taken place. There' was iwthing. whatever which ' had taken .place which' J offered , any justification or ' excuse for .. what was con- ~ ,-. tained in the .resolutions. He wasiot. going, . $jy. that 'every- num whtfWwent. to , tbo ■ meeting was responsible for "what', ho regarded as the. most serious, breach of discipline which, had' $ver' taken place in New ■; Zealand. They would probably, find, if they got t6' bedrock,; that C.'one, or two meu manoeuvred 1 the whole}: thing, • and dragged' others in. 'If one; or two men led strongly, others , wore apt to follow/ without giving full; fconsideratioh^'-!to 'the: matter. In the . eyes of tho Govormnont, the 'trahlic,. and hidiself, this act of the police sbowod that if there was a single act on tho part of any member of tho polico which pointed , mor« any other to the fact that the polica failed to realise their duty : (at. least in Wellington) it was tho calling of that meeting | and the framing of . those' resolutions. ; Ho was not going to apologise for h(r had done in'cofineotion Tnth the-commission,. A Former Commission. • , With regard to tho reference to a fannor, commission, of which ho was a member, il had been stated that the report of that> commission had, unfortunately, to bo framed. ; : to a .great extent on' newspaper reforenccaJ which* contained'very fulli statements. Th« , reason for that was that the reporter what , was engaged by ; the 'commission to 'aasistf ■ the commission/ was not quite up* to' tho mark of a. modern.Hansard reporter, and tho. work got ahiMd' of him. It .' waa'' absurd I , to say that two men, like' Mr.' Poynton andi - i» himself, 'should have lost count of anything ,v in connection with tho evident that; in any/ . .way would prejudice tho value of the ■ He had no heMtaticp in saying 'i.that tho ■ action of the commission-at that time ne ■ suited, ill very; materially' improving', tho\ N position of, affairs in tho'forco.- .Not only', ithat,", but, it . strengthened the , hands of : tho . i commissioner ingottilig !. authority to . ih-l;Vi croase the number of'.officers and to ; - the efficiency of the force. Tho positions of different grades had improved ■ to-day as oompared with what it was prior to that: , commissioji. ; , "An Act of Impertlnanco." >'■ Ho regarded tho referenco by members of tho forco in Wellington.as.simply an act of impertinence, and one mado without 1 any ro- v gard to tho true facts of the case. Probably ( • not more than one or two of those. present i at 'the meeting had read the loport of tho i commission, but they were there 'appar-* •; ently to; soizo upon anything which might' l appear to 'give sufficient reason' to criticiso . this commission. Ho did not boliovo that . members of the police' force in Cbristchurch ■ , would; .lend themselves >to anything that ? would cast snch a, 1 serious .reflection; on' the-. ..; wliolo .force of the Dominion. , 'The action' V of--tho,-Wellington'"irien" had been; accepted :; as proof; that thero^'.was something wrong in the force, and, in his opinion, tliey, had. shown their' iguoraiice and displayed absolute disloyalty to 'Other members of th^ force.' : V i .-

THE WELLINGTON 1 RESOLUTION* - ', ■ Tho resolution passed at tho meeting of, tho Wellington polico force, which was held at tho Lambton Quay Station on July 19, is to tho effect'that tho meeting views with gravo xmcern tho proceedings at the Duncdin sitting of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into ■ tho..Now' Zealand Police Force, 'inasmuch as among other things it is reported: ;(I),That incorrect assertions as to misconduct in tho Wellington Police Barracks, etc;, were made by. Ulr. Arnold, M.P. ; (2) that Constable C. H. Lennon, formerly of Wellington,; but now : an assistant: clerk in: the Duncdin Polico Oißco, who had been described by Inspector O'Brien' as a pet from another district,, was denied the riglit of cress-examination of his accuser, whereas others wore allowed . tofreely cross-examine non-accusers and ad> versoly criticise absentee " (3) that Mr. Bishop,; S.M., has now publicly acknott 1 -, lodged l that : a previous Commission of Inquiry into New Zoaland police, and of which lie was chairman, framed its report 1 : severely dealing with, officers,■; at. least', par. tiully from. newspaper reports of its proceedings ; and. having: regard ;to ;thj apparent seriousness of tho ' situation, tins meeting desires to express its full appreciation of the ronfidcnco ,in our present Commissioner of Mr'. Dimiie, and 1 further' resolves ;to employ - 'able counsel to represent th 6 police of Wellington and suburbs ,at tho approaching sitting of the Royal Commission lirthis city, so that tlw protection of the individual', and '■ collective rights of all concerned may bo assured, and that justice, fair play, ana . truth nwDrevaiL. -y