The Globe. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1878.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1353, 15 June 1878, Page 2

The Globe. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1878.

Dueing last. Sessiou, a Bill was introduced by the Hon. Dr, Pollen, entitled “ The Misdemeanants and Other Offenders Bill,” which passed, with certain amendments, through the Council, but was discharged in the House o£ Representatives. Its object was to legalise arrests made on the strength of telegrams, and also to empower police constables, in certain cases, to make arrests without having ip their possession the warrant authorising such a stop. As the law at present stands, a constable, or indeed any private person, can arrest any one suspected of committing a felony. In such a case, no warrant is necessary. But a distinction is drawn ,between felonies and misdemeanours. The law requires that the constable shall have in his possession at the time he does so the warrant authorising him to arrest any person charged with a misdemeanour. Even a telegram or letter is not sufficient to empower him inking such a step. It is not difficult to prove that ijio present state of the law requires altering. The distinction between felonies and misdemeanours is net always verv clear, and tlie punislimout'for offences under the latter head is often as severe as for some classes of felonies. A constable may often find some difficulty in deciding whether he has authority to arrest a man or net, and it ip nut to h$

expected that lie should in that .case run the risk of making an illegal arrest, and

so a criminal may escape. Again, it often occurs that several constables are sent out at the same time in search of an offender. Say, for example, that one man goes in the direction of Timaru, another to Lyttelton, and the third towards the West Coast. Only one of those three can have in his possession the warrant authorising him to apprehend the offender. The consequence may ho that a criminal may escape under the very nose of the constable, who is powerless to arrest him in the absence of the legal authority. The Bill introduced by Dr. Pollen proposed to make it lawful for any constable to “ apprehend, without warrant, any person committing, or who had committed, or is suspected to have committed, or is about to commit, a misdemeanour, whether the same shall bo a misdemeanour at common law or by statute, and to convey such person before a Justice of the Peace to bo dealt with according to law.” Wo admit at once that it is of the utmost importance that the law as it at present stands should bo amended in the direction of the clause quoted above. But the Bill introduced by the late Government -wont too far. The wide power of arrest it gave to the police might have been liable to great abuse. It took for granted that all police officers are highly intelligent men who would not bo likely to interfere with the liberty of the subject. Now it is no doubt quite true that in the large towns where trained officers do the work, there would bo little danger of any hardship being endured, but in the outlying districts it might bo different. It is not always possible to fill those posts with men who would exercise proper judgment. If the law protected such a man in making arrests, however trivial the grounds were, it might bo turned into an engine of tyranny. Wo should, therefore, in any future legislation, like to see a middle course taken to that proposed by Dr. Pollen. Lot it be made lawful for any constable, when ho knows a warrant has been issued to make the arrest of the offender without having in his possession the document itself; but if ho arrests the wrong man, then the law should not free him from the consequences. Such an enactment would give all the protection the detective officers require. They nearly always know their men sufficiently well to run small risk of making false arrests. On the other hand the general public would bo safe from the blundering officiousness of constables who neglect to make sufficient enquiries before acting. Another object of the Bill under notice was, with reference to offences of a particular kind, to authorise the transmission of warrants by telegraph from one part of the colony to another. It often happens that wore such a law in force, absconding offenders might be arrested in other parts of the colony when on the point of leaving Now Zealand altogether. As a matter of fact, till lately such arrests were sometimes made, illegal though they wore. Dr. Pollen quoted a case which recently occurred in Auckland in which a warrant was issued by the Bench at Timaru against a person who had loft Canterbury, and who was arrested on a telegraphic communication from the police authorities in the former place. Ho was brought before the Bench, when it was found out his arrest was in excess of the authority of the police, and so he escaped. As the law stands, it is perfectly evident offenders may often escape from justice, and the police be powerless to prevent it. It is plain that such a state of things should continue no longer, and telegraphic warrants should bo made legal. It is of the utmost importance that every facility should be given to the police authorities to suppress crime and bring offenders to justice. At the same time of course the Legislature must be careful not to place in their reach a power which, in blundering hands, might bo the moans of unnecessary and annoying interference with personal liberty. The clause we have suggested would, wo think, meet both purposes. It would give the police all the power they want, and it would at the same time compel them to act with caution. Wo hope therefore that during the approaching session some effort will be made to get a new Police Act passed, embodying amongst others, the clauses we have suggested. It is high time that the many laws dealing with police matters at present in force were consolidated and amended,