The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1889. Burglary and the Detectives

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 144, 11 June 1889, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1889. Burglary and the Detectives

In our local column we publish an ac count of another safe robbery com mttfcd ; t lie time at th« railway Btation in the Hutt Valley . It will be seen that the artists adopted the same means and followed the same ulan as they did in ' the case of the Feilding post office some weeks ago. In the latest case, now reported, we observe that the police have displayed unwonted ac«s tivity and have actually arrested a man on suspicion of being concerned in hoth robberies. It will be reme.nbered that the sarnei-risnaerALLENDALE was arrested— informally— by a smart

Wellington detective — save the mark — on suspicion of being concerned in the Feilding robbery and allowed to go free because there was nothing found on the man to connect him with the crime. As if an old hand like th accused would \>e verdant enough t<> mike such a mistake A co.ittuu^o ar> in Wellington not long ago, when writing of the murder oi the late Mr Hawkins, more than hinted that crimes committed by intelligent men or women, not tha riff raff or petty thieves, were beyond the ken ot the detective force, in that city, as now constituted. We would go farther, and apply this opinion to tiif whole detective force of New Zealand. Experience has shown that the amount of skill displayed, either individually or collectively, in the discovery of any of the major crimes committed in the < olony, is very small indeed if we jud^e by results. We do not blame the men. We believe they are selected for their courage as well as intelligence ; but we doubt the ability of those in authority who make the selections, to pick out the best and most suitable men for the purpose. Old Vidocq, the famous Freuch detective, said " a good policeman always makes a bad detective," and he knew his subject well as he had been, before he was " converted," one of the most noted and desperate criminals of his time. The drill and setting up of " members of the force " leave their mark on them for all time, and the veriest tyro can pick out a man who has served under any circumstances whatever, especially if he is at all interested, whether as a professional, or as an observer of men and thiHgs. A man to be a good detective should be without distinctive points of any kind, and entirely unhampered by the red tape so dear to the official mind. Undsr the system — or the want of it — which aow obtains in detective police management, a direct encouragement is offered to so-called high class criminals in esse or in posse, for them to give full exercise to their peculiar talents or abilities, and we certainly think the sooner a radical reform is inaugurated by Parliament the better for the preservation of the lives and properties of the law abiding members of the community.