THE POLICE FORCE

Hokitika Guardian, 4 July 1930, Page 7

THE POLICE FORCE

members ask questions in

HOUSE.

WELLINGTON, July 1

The number of questions asked by members in tlie House at to-day’s sitting reflected the interest they are taking ip the resignation of the Commissioner of Police, Mr W. E. M’llveiioy. Several questions were put urgently, but the Ministerial answers conveyed little information.

Mr Black (Motueka) gave notice to aslc the Minister in charge of the Police Department if he will investigate cases of dismissal from the police three during tlie past twelve lJfbnths under Section 9 of the Police Force Act, also resignations from the force, and whether these will be reviewed before a new Commissioner is appointed.

A further question from Mr Black suggested that there should be institued for the police force a system similar to that followed by the Public Service Commissioner in .regard to appointments, which should, he suggested, be advertised in the “Police Gazette.”

POLITICAL INTERFERENCE DENIED “Persistent rumours are current,” said Mr Samuel (Thames) “that thp resignation of the iCbmmisstoner of Police js due to political interference with the administration of the Department, and it has beep freely stated that statutory authority has been overridden in this connection,” He asked the Prime Minister if lie would allay public fears concerning the efficiency of the police, force by making a. statement contradicting these reports. “I have no objection to answering that portion of the question regarding political interference,” replied the Prime Minister, “hut I would prefer the Minister in charge of the! Department to deal with' (he other . 'aspects. As for rumours that the resignation is due to political interference,' I can I give an emphatic denial to the statement that statutory authority has been over-ridden.” , . Mr Sullivan (Avon): Will.the Minister .make a statement as to the real reasons for the resignation of Commissioner M’llveney. The Hon J. G. Cobbe, Minister in charge of, the Police gave the answer I “Yes,” he said, “I have received a I letter from thb Commissioner resigning his office. That resignation i has been accepted by the Government. The letter did not give any reasons.” Mr H. E. Holland: Has the Government no knowledge of wh.v the Com- I missioner resigned? ' The Minister: We have no definite information in the letter, 1 This reply caused a buna of comment among members,

POLICE: COMPLAIN

MANY IRRITATING RESTRICTIONS.

Many complaints of the condition.' under which they have to work are made by the Christchurch members ol the Police. Force. It is stated freely that there is grave dissatisfaction throughout the force.

“The whole force is tied down by red-tape regulations and lack of money,” one officer told a. reporter. “They have taken from us every little concession we had.”

The main complaint made in Christ

church is that though there are nearly sixty men stationed here, no facilities whatever are available by means of which the men can keep fit. There is no gymnasium, and, though some of the men engage in football and other athletic pursuits, they do so ffi their own time and at their own“expense. Participation in sports is certainly not encouraged.

I “At one time” said an old member of the force “it used to be the aim of every man to keep as hard as nails In the old four-hour shift days, in between spells of duty, you would see the men boxing and wrestling, teaching each other new holds, and in other ways training hard. Those were the days when every ship in meant tha.l the crew would have to be locked up before night. That was in the days of II o’clock closing, too. We needed to be fit then, and the man who was | not fit ended up in hospital. “The policeman now does not have such a hard time of it, but all the same, even just for appearance sake, the men .ought to be encouraged to keep fit, • All the man do now is 101 l about, paying billiards and smoking. Have a look around, and you’ll see any i number of the men who* look anything but fit. You can't blame the men—some of them keep dumb-bells and do physical exercises on their own, but that’s not much good,”

ATHLETICS DISCOURAGED In Wellington, the reporter was told there, used to be. a gymnasium, but alterations were carried out there and as a consequence the gymnasium beicame the billiards-room. In Wellington i too, an attempt was made to start a police football team. The idea gained ground and tlie Club would havr been .pble to field a good team, but so many 1 obstacles were placed, in the way of the men who wanted to play, th.qt eventually the scheme had to be abandoned. In the same wav individual members who became prominent athletes found that if they got time off to compete in championships, tjie tjme was deducted from their annual leave

MANY SMALL COMPLAINTS Another local complaint concerns the purchase of a wireless receiving set for the station. There are some hundreds of pounds in the station library fund, it is stated, which is a good deal more than enough for the purpose for which the fund was created. Yet the men are not allowed to use any portion of it to buy a radio set for their common-ram, The rapid shifting of men from station to station, which is the cause of another complaint, prevents them from subscribing to the purchase of a set. The purchase of a set is advocated by senior officers, who state that it would aid greatly the discipline of the station if the men coud be kept in at night. “It is a petty complaint,** said one officer, “but it is .gpe of many such. We are tied down by red4ape ’regulations on all sides, One of our men, stationed at a very 'dud* station on the West Cbaßt, applied recently for leave to keep fowls. It was refused under a regulation made many years ago, when troop houses were kept. The regulation forbade the ’keeping of live stock, because it was feared that the officers might keep them Oil the fodder supplied by the Government. That is what we are up against all the time.” LOSS OF PRIVILEGES. Most of the perquisites which police officers used to enjoy have also been cut out or restricted, and this also is a cause of complaint. Every detective has a first-class railway pass, which once he could use at any time. Nowj however, lie can use it only in the course of duty. This is considered unnecessarily hard by the men who state that it would mean little to the Railway Department if the men used their passes when on leave. It is pointed out that a certain sum is paid to the Railway Department by the Police Department every year for the use of the passes, and so whether they are used or not matters nothing. If the Railway Department did lose anything, it has the compensation, it is said, that ii anything happens on the train in which he is riding, the detective is on the spot and has to do his duty, whether he is on leave or not. LOSING ENTHUSIASM. Some officers complained because, in some eases, the giving of rewards has been discontinued. That is considered by others, however, to be a good thing. At one time, it was stated, a. reward ot 10s was paid to any policeman who removed and prosecuted any “undesirable” found on a racecourse. The term “undesirable” was very wide and it is stated some over-zealous constables carried it. too far.

The complaints are ever growing, it is said, and with them all, the men are grrnrlnnlly losing enthusiasm for

their work