HOW THE FRENCH DETECTIVE WORKS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1929, Page 8

HOW THE FRENCH DETECTIVE WORKS

. Students of crime, and that means practically every man and woman who reads a newspaper, cannot help being struck by the great divergence of netliods of the French and English police, comments a criminologist in die “Daily Mail.” The Branson mystery, which is now interesting the whole of Europe, is a case in point. From the very first the public have Ibeen taken, into the confidence of the French police They have been able to follow step by step the deductions of the men of the Flying Squad, and as a result have been under no illusions as to the probable outcome of the investigations. Of course this has been done through the medium,of the newspapers; the Marseilles detectives have bidden nothing from the journalists; they have even allowed them to be present at tho interrogation of suspected persons. Therefore, instead f rumours and theories, the public have bad bard facts.

If that case had been in England, and investigated bv Scotland Yard, the closest possible secrecy would have been maintained by the detectives, and occasionally the public would have been regaled with a statement from the official police Press bureau. There would have been hundreds of rumours, and the investigation might liavo dragged on for many days, because the public did not know what the police were after and could not give them vital information. The open policy of the French detectives leads to information, because a lino of inquiry reminds someone that lie knows something about that matter and he ' imparts his information as speedily as possible. So much for the system. As for the men, Scotland Yard detectives are second to none in the world. As individualists and investigators they have nothing to learn from any organised body of crime specialists. As has well .been said, “The patience the bulldog tenacity, the racial talent of Scotland Yard. . . have something of the inexorable, quality of talent of the inexorable quality of fate, about them.”