WOMEN BURGLARS.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 April 1926, Page 4

WOMEN BURGLARS.

. LONDON, Jim. 2(i. ■There is reason to believe that the authorities are seriously considering the advisability of iminediaW.dv augmenting the number of women police employed in London. Tbo necessity for ibis action has been brought about by the discovery that women are now actively associated with burglars and other criminals in the commission of offences. Information ju the pussesion of Scotland Yard shows that women actually accompany burglars on their expeditions. As one authority put it yesterday. “The modern girl, particularly of the class to !■? found in the less reputable night clubs, does not care very much what she does so long as there i.s monev and excitement in it.”

One of the most important ways in which a woman pan "help a burglar is to act as his look-out and keep guard in the street while lie works in a house. Tf seen by a police patrol a woman has always a much more plausible' reason for loitering than a man, and an officer, even if lie is not satisfied, cannot search a woman. This must be done by a female searcher at the police'station, and that is often a long distance away. Women police patrols, however, would largely obviate this difficulty, and the authorities are contemplating the appointment of more to serve with the Aletropolitan Police. In Lancashire the experiment of creating a women’s detective force lias been tried with great success, and it is ixkssiblc that the lessons of the north may be applied to London.