THE LONDON DETECTIVE FORCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1179, 3 October 1884, Page 3

THE LONDON DETECTIVE FORCE.

. Mr Hpjyard Vincent, who i« matting a tour of the Australian < 01-niea preparatory to seeking a seat in the British House of .Commons, was tor s.x years chief of the London police force,’ with the title of director of criminal investigations. Mr Vincent was appointed iri 1878, immediately after the'disclosure of the scandal caused by the discovery that several of the detectives at Scotland Yard had been deeply implicated in 4 series of frauds committed with their connivance. It was decided to revolutionise the whole department, and Mr Viuoeut was the chosen instrument. He accomplished his work most effectively, largely, increasing the number of detective-, and centring the whole of th« criminal'investigation of the metropdis in : this office. The elaboiate Police Co le published bv him, containing directions for police pfficera under every conceivable variety of circumstances, is a monument of his skill and industry, Mr yince-it is said to have received nearly 100,000 letters every year, and opened them all himself. •The correspondence of the office was conducted in all the European languages, and several other languages besides, and it was the custom to answer each letter by return of post.- The numerous reforms which Mr Vincent introduced; Worker! very satisfactorily, and he had enbqgh, q£ loot and geniality to succeed, in securing the good opinion of both, the public add' the force. Tin iplreSefletKef* such a man tn this Colony is an opportunity which should-not- be-lost sight of,. Be . wonW f doubdess, •■willibgly offer ' the Government the. Advantages of his experience with a view to'the much' needed reorganiaatio'u'of bur' own police force. A report from so capable an expert could not fad to.be of value. There are soma rema ks on the detection. of •crime, in .Mr Vincent’s Police Code which are worthy the attention of our police officers. He observes that the certainty of the detection of criminals is a point to he aimed at by all ranks of police, and it can onlv be attained by oordi il co-operation, an ab lence of craving for individual credit, free interchange of information, great activity, and the constant adoption of fresh and unexpected measures. With regard to the . position of detectives, he has also something to say which is worth bearing in mind. The anravelment of crime, he remarks, must ne ceasariiy depend in a very great measure u on the energy the ability, the judgment, the real, and Jhe.. integrity of tljetdetective force. D-tecti e»:are necessarily put to small expen-*-B, wh.ch qre; d.ffieult to charge, but.the great, majority of legitimate pajrttents may , be recovered in the regulated manner. The work is more varied and interesting than -the ordinary street duty; the officer is brought into contact with a greater variety of persons, and he is more prominently belore his superiors and the public. It is of the utmost importance that the duties should only be undertaken by men who have .a. voluntary inclination for them, and who have given proof of skill while on beat duty, for wi-fa-out genuine perseverance and Eeal they cannot' be- performed. -Detective officers should be especially guarded against the arrogation of individual credit ;-aad if they, have any information which may secure the arrest of a criminal they ah-iuldcom-municate it to the officer who ifl.in a position to work it out, instead of reserving it for themselves, Thev should ba watchful against taking cases away from each other, and especially from a uniform' constable. But, above all, they, should.remcnjber that it is far heiter to let 19' guilty persons escape than that one innocent peison should be apprehended. Everyone is liable t) make mistakes, -anti, an error should be freely acknowledged the. install); M;i» disco v,ered ; for sooner br-latar the truth is certain to come out, aud it may then be too late ■to repair it. Detectives must necessarily have informants! and be o-diged to meet them when and where they can. But it is very desirable that . the public-house should be avoided as much as possible. Tap room information is rarely worth much. Occasionally, perhaps, refreshments must be given to an iniormant, but when possible it is best to give money. A detective sbodd keep his own counsel, hear everything others have to say, but draw his own conclusions, follow out every channel which may possibly lead to the discovery of the leutii, and. be slow to adopt positive theories, and, above all, not communicating mere suspicions to anyone. Every officer employed on detective, convict, and other special duty in the .metropolitan police has to keep au exact daily dairy of all his movements. Not only does it enable his superior to sre how his rime has been employe-', but it is a great protection to the officer, himself in the event of any question arising thereon. The nature of the inquiries made should be entered fully, the places visited, the reasons for going to them, and the result of the visit, with any personal observations upon the subject-matter. A page is set apart for each day, but there is no reason why that sp«ce should not be exceeded. On the right-hand page are eutere in full detail the several items of expenditure in the public service, and therefrom is compiled the weekly ordinary eX ; pense account, which together with the duty record, is, checked by the responsible inspector, and perused by the 'superintendent. These dairies are the property of the public service, are privileged'ini-law, and must b« delivered over on lerir-ment, but they are never to-be produced in open Court, although .: for. the- convenience ’of back, reference, officers are allowed to retain them for two yeass • ... .

Many accusations have been madp against tlitirtf frcifbr been, any scandal in regard to- ttleu'f- nppreaching that which occ irijed in London in 1877, and which led to, .Mr Yipceut’s appointment to the head of the force, and its complete n organisation. The facts of this case are so rcraarkablo - that they are worth repeating in a condense ■ form. - lo the early part of the year 1877 certain persona were tried and convicted for frauds committed oh a French lady. Mdine. de GonOrurt, and fiom statements nude 4b them by the convicts in- this casev-,the Treasury authorities were led to institute proceedings against four detectives and a .solicitor.- The trial- was co/iimencod dffcer a long and preliminary inquiry on October 24 at the Old Bailey before Baron Bollock It continued for the first- fiverlavs in each week until November 20, when the jury pronounced a verdict of guilty against four of the five prisoners, but acquitted Ciarko. The persons against whom the charge was brought we r o four detective inspectors, Meiklejohn, Drusoovich, Palmer. Claiky, and Kdward Froggart, a solicitor. TWdy were indicted for unlawfully conspiring together to commit divers offences- and (raids, and to prevent, the discovery of such offences and frands. In 1872 one Karr, who had been convicted of frauds, became acquainted with Meiklejohn. who. tor services in connection with a fraudulent company, received LIDO, and afterwards a, smaller sum for special services to Kurr. In 1874 Kurr, in connection with.. Benson, another convicted person, started frauds under the name of “ Archer and Co,” Hut they were stopped hyDruse.o. vitoh in. London, • and transferred to Scotland. . For services in connection - with this ‘ fraud Meiklejohn received LSOO At the end I of 1875 Kurr and Benson, with two other

men named Walters and Murray, started a '*• society far iaturaqpe against losses on the turf.” Suspicion being aroused, Walters and Murray-were arrested, but they absconded'from nail. Melki-j •hit was'alrea-y in the .power of these conspirators, who wanted to .obtain 1 a bold also 0.1 Clarke, the senior chief-in-charge at Scotland Yard Clarke had, in April 1874, written a letter to Waite- s in relation to a burglary, but he maintained that'it was perfectly innocent. A year afterwards Bason got into communication with Clarke through a Mr Andrew, who told him that Be son had information to give with respect to the Walters and Murray frauds. Benson endeavoured on this occasion to bribe Clarke, but unsuccessfully Ou bis return - larke reported the visit to the Commissioner, and suidjio bad come to the conclusion that Benson was a scoundrel. The moat remarkable portion of thp evidence was that .which rela.ed to the Monraom- ry or de doncourt scheme of fraud in 1876, for their share in which the convict witnesses Karr and Benson were, with others, under sentence'of penal servitude. The swindlers' succeeded in getting hold of ahoot LIO.OOO from Madame de Gonoourt, a French Countess, whom they persua red to send.moneys over to England to be “ invested*' in betting speculations. For the purpose of these frauds Benson con cocted a sham of which were printed in Edinburgh—complete in all respects with 'racing news, advertisements, leading articles --favourable notices of “Mr his mode of betting investments! These sham news paper*, and’ other do-punaeats- were distrihn ed by post-in France,, And in- the French Di-eotory, which the police fouud at Benson’s lo igings. It appeared from his marks or notes that the swindlers bad got no further than two departments in their selections of ad - ressea to which to send their communications. The other depaitmeu a were about to be “ worked’’ when tUey were stopped by Madame da Goncourt com municatiug with Scotland Yard. It was in connection with this scheme that the gravest charge against the detective was made, Meiklejohn being charged with being acces-sm-y before the fact to the swindlers’ operations. It was necessary for them to come into conimunio -tion with the post office and prevent their letters from being stopped, and this they did through Meiklejohn, who was put in possession of the whole affair at a dinner given by Benson. The other detectives' were, by means of bribes, induced to co-op-.rate in aiding Benson and his confederates in their nefa ions dealings until information was given avainst them. One stage in the proceedings w.is when the consul ators went to Scotland and opened au account at the Clydesdale Bank at Alloa, having received an intro motion to the manager from Meiklejohn, who went with them. Here they received communications which led thorn to believe that inquiry was being made about the Goncourt frauds, and they resolved to return to London on November 10. Eve dually the swindlers made their escape to Holland, but three of them were arrested at Uo iterdam on December 3. The news was received at Scotland Yard the next day, when Froggatt also heard of it. He then wrote out a draft telegram to be sent as if a genuine message from the Lon don police, and it was sent accordingly by one of the swindlers in these words.- “ Find Benson, and the other two men are not those we wan; Liberate them. Letter follows.” It was signed “ Cartel I ,'Scotland’Yard.” and was nearly successful. Froggatt next went to Rotterdam, furnished with LSO, to “square” the magistrate. He saw the pri soners, and on his return to London went to Benson’s lodgings to get po-session of a damaging letter and the French Directory. Ho was too late, a .police officer having been there before him. Froggatt was said to •have received L 250 for these se- vices. The convicts and a large number of other witnesses were called agaidst the detectives. The jury, after a deliberation of threequartevs of an hour, found Clarke not guilty and the o her primness guilty. Oruscovioh, MeiKlcjohn, Palmer, an 1 Froggatt were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour.— Age.