POLICE FORCE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2200, 13 July 1914, Page 6

POLICE FORCE

THE .ANN DAL REPORT. 1 - annual report of • the Commissioner of Police was presented to the 1 House of Representatives'yesterday by the Hon. As. L; Herdman, Minister cf Justice. , ' - ■ On March 31 last the strength of the force was 870 of all ranks, being au increase of' 24; during the year.'' Following were the; casualties tor the year < elided March 31 last: Retired on pen--' sion, 8; retired as medically unfit, -I; died, 4; resigned voluntarily, 34; called - upoii to resign, 3; transferred to Prisons Department, 1; dismissed,-1; services .dispensed with, 4: total, 66: ex-' aetly the same number as m tho pre- ' ceding year. ... , ' . ■ '• : Tho criminal statistics show an aggro •■'- gate net decrease of 506 on the figures of 1912., , IV'proportion of oftenccs to the. population - was 2.24 per cent, as against-. 2.35 -.the' previous year. : The i number of serious offences reported was •' i .014, aild ,516 persons were arrested. Of the offences reported,: 3C5 were bur- - glariesjand thefts from shops and g\vol-... , ! lings. ':During ,the last .ten years the' 1 number of serious crimes - has v<u led ■ from.o2o|tb'7s9, the present total being slightly below the average, The numbor of indecent and sexual pffences was 453, as, against 42/' the previous year.i There'has been a decrease-of-177 m the numbfer of persons -prosecuted for ' diunkonness .during the year,' as com- • pared with tliev previous year, the hg->; '• urps for - the year being 11,707, as • ' against.: 11,884 for the • previous "Tear..Of th^ : convictions for the year, •,1U,940.'were "males . and 757 females, and 0.1-.2 males and 240, females were reported as not having; been previously convia'cd.' The records of tlie principal towns in arrests for idriinkenness--'were as willow Auckland,, r2272'males,160 females; Wellington. 2757-males,-303" . females; Cliristchurcn, 1398 males, 125;' females; Dunedm, 898 -males, 76 • tomales. These figures' represent decreases -in- arrests for the year of 210 for Auckland, 285 for Wellington, 182 - for Ghcistchurch, and an increase';of 171 for Dunedm There were. 20b prosecutions, resulting ' in.133 convictions,-during the year un- .. der-the gaming' laws,, as agamst.34s prosecutions l and 301 convictions in.', 1012 "The, conduct of. members ;of uie Force lias been, on the whole, very satisfactory during'the year just ended," says, the Commissioner. "It .s . only '■ natural to expect that- some of the junior men of the Force feci their ties, irksome'for the first year or two of . ■ their service,, but they. 6oon .settlo down' to their new conditions of life, and gen- < - erallv/.bocomo very, good and trust-. , worthy , policemen. • The conditions un-.- ; der which . tho New Zealand police are. : now serving |Bre .better, than . thoso cb-.. taming, m any: other/police service in • thp Empire." The Commissioner adds ; . that.;to meet the growing needs r,f the v , community, ho is asking for an addition, to. the Force, of'so men,- which,.he.con-i- • siders, will' meet/the ..police needs, .of the community, for .which ,the present , l'orce is inadequate; • . • i