CRIME WAVE IN SYDNEY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4667, 27 February 1924, Page 2

CRIME WAVE IN SYDNEY.

PSYCHOLOGY AND THE LAW. Mr W. L. Park, superintendent of tlie metropolitan police district, considers that the present wave of crime which has spread from one end ff New South Wales to the other, and from which two separate and’distinct man-hunts have resulted, is largely duo to the pernicious literature and mind .warping “movies” upon which a large section of our people draw for mental excitement (says, the Sydney Daily Telegraph). In his opinion, the mind is thrown into a condition of palpitating unrest, which finds its.na-* tu’-al corollary in a craving for notoriety. In this frame of mind the person is not actually mad, but his powers of rational contemplation ; s temporarily suspended. If a man is not mad in tlie ordinary acceptance of tlie word he has to accept the penalty prescribed by law for his crimes. Two recent juvenile melodramatic episodes, in which the loss of. human life was narrowly evaded, were directly due co the mind-warping influence of “Deadwood Dick” literature. It would seem., however, from a case which Inspector Park quotes, that this suspended power of rational contemplation can be brought back to its normal operation by a sudden jolt. Years ago, when Mr Park was stationed at Singleton. a young lad, employed on a farm in the district, had his mind dis-, torted by bushranging stories. Ordinarily a well-behaved, hard-work-ing youth, he suddenly determined to go bushranging. He stole money from his employer during his absence, secured a rifle and ammunition, “held-, up” 7the occupants of the adjoining farm to obtain provisions, stole a horse and saddle, and announced his intention of riding into Singleton “to shoot a policeman.” Apparently any policeman would do. Mr Park was wai-ncd by a telephone message, and. riding out in plain clothes, he met the youth. The sudden jolt caused to his mind when Mr Park covered him with a big service revolver brought him back to normality, and. instead of putting up a desperate fight as the prelude to a wild career as an outlaw, he expressed his amazement that he had succumbed to such delusions, and was most contrite. AVlien Mr Park discovered the pile of books the lad had been reading he realised that he must have been reduced to a mental condition closely approximating insanity, but that did not prevent the youth receiving a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment. The youth is now a man, and has never sine? offended against the law.