CURIOUS CRIMES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4690, 26 April 1924, Page 1

CURIOUS CRIMES.

WHY ARE THEY COMMITTED ? The solving of curious and apparently purposeless crime is one of the most difficult problems that puzzle Scotland Yard (writes Hugh Brady in the London Daily Mail). Recently the motor cycle and sidecar of the Hackney division detec-tive-inspector was stolen from a local garage.’ More valuable vehicles were left untouched. What prompted the thief in making his choice is a mystery. Periodically there are epidemics of destructiveness intensely annoying to the victims and of little or no profit to the perpetrators. People with a peculiar turn of mind are imitative, and although epidemics of curious crimes occasionally last for some time, the wrongdoers are seldom stupid enough to allow themselves to fall into the hands of the police. Vindictiveness and cunning often run hand in hand. Early in the year there was an epidemic of gate stealing. In various parts of London iron gates were lifted from their hinges outside shops and taken away in motor cars. Where they have been taken to has never been discovered, nor have the reasons that prompted the thefts which, if carried out for gain, brought small financial reward to the thieves. Other curious offenders against the law delight in raising false fire alarms, and the possibility of a fastdriven engine in its mad scurry to the “ fire ” knocking down and injuring innocent people apparently has no terrors for the consciences of the folk who indulge in this form of annoyance. There are abo people who find enjoyment in destroying the pleasure of motorists by scurvy tricks. Many a day’s outing has been spoiled by broken glass placed on well-used roads. Upholstery in hotels and public conveyances is often ripped with knives, and the wrongdoers can only imagine the annoyance their wanton acts cause. In a somewhat different category is the person who sends bogus telephone messages. He can watch the outcome of his ill-natured prank. Perhaps he lurkingly watches doctors arriving at a given address for alleged sick call, or a relay of tradesmen’s carts coming up with unwanted goods: Then there are the curious crimes for small gains. Stealing straps from railway carriages is carried on extensively, and the spoil provides the thief with a good razor strop for nothing—if he is not caught in the act. Amateur psychologists among the police find the discussion of these curious crimes an intellectual recreation. The queer mentality of the perpetrators is the constant study of ambitious detectives, and is one that is particularly encouraged by the police chiefs.