THE POLICE FORCE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 108, 31 January 1919, Page 6

THE POLICE FORCE

'" PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS T THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY .',-!i.i.i:'A .list of promotions and transfers of ..■'■' members of the New Zealand Police Force was obtained by a Dominion re- '' porter/yesterday. Constable J. W.M'Holm, of Carterton, ■ • has been promoted sergeant, and is to be '■ transferred to Wellington. The following have been promoted to .-,'. the.rank of detective:—Constable J. Fitzgibboh, New Plymouth; Constable C. A. Lambert,-Auckland; and Constable J. 13. ' -Young, Ponsonby. '■"■ The following tranefere have been approved :—Senior-Sergeant Eccles from To Kuiti to Invercargill, vice Senior-Ser-.....Reant Burrows, deceased;, Sergeant ,T. A. ''' 'Matheur; from Monut Eden to Te Kuiti; ■ Sergeant A. E. Bower, Newton, to Mount Eden; Sergeant B. J. Parsons, from Newton to Parnell; vice Sergeant Taylor, deceased. ..'. ■ Several other changes are contemplated, but final arrangements have not yet been made. It is improbable that any Wellington members of the uniform, plain-clothes, or detective branches, will be affected in the meantime, or that any . promotions will be made here just yet. Much' 'interest is evinced in police circles in the decision of the Minister of Justice to set up a committee of .inquiry into .the pay and. general conditions of the force. Tho question as to ■who will constitute tho personnel . is . the minds of the men. practi- '- ((ally the whole of wlioni consider that in order to ensure an'absolutely impartial investigation no police officers should .be appointed,. l but that the members should be Stnwn from' either prominent .. legal or business circles, with a Mngis- . trote, such aa W.. G. Riddell, S.M., or Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M.,' as president . ■ . ■ ■'•■'. The matteM which the committee yrill ■ be required to examine are various, one Z , of the'.most -important'being the relation of the detective branch .to the uniform, braiich. The problem' here preeented i 6 regarded as an extremely com-, pies one, the solution of which will' piovft in no way easy. . Whether the status of detectives should be considered higher than that-,of "uniform and plainclothes constables who may possess as • long, or even longer, service, is one,of j ~ .the points at issue. The relative values I ' of, the services rendered by each, taking into account the hours and other conditions of work, constitutes one of the subjects of , the order of reference for< the committee of inquiry. Some of the men hold to the view that the best way to get over the trouble between the two branches is to grade all detectives 03 plain-clothes constables, and let them take their chance of promotion along with the rest. Under existing condi- .... tions the highest Tank a detective may obtain in that branch of the service is . chief-detective,, which corresponds to the position of senior-sergeant on flie uniform side. A man may enter the police us a constable and- work his way right through to the highest post in the force •without ever entering the , detective branch, but if a detective, to receive . promotion b|yond the rank of chief-de-tective he has to re-enter the uniform branch and in some cases this means financial loss. These and other matters have long been in dispute, and it is hoped, that the inquiry will result in a settlement being arrived at satisfactory to all parties;