BURWOOD MURDER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3723, 29 November 1927, Page 3

BURWOOD MURDER.

POLICE METHODS CRITICISED. The “Otago Daily Times,” in an editorial on the Burwood murder says:—“The handling of this case seems to have had too much in common with the traditional practice in this country. The conservative practice on the part of the police of working in silence and keeping the public in the dark until the arrest is believed to be justified. Circumstances alter cases, but assuredly where the sheeting home of the responsibility for an abominable crime is concerned the police can always expect to find in the public a sympathetic and helpful ally. In the Burwood case they iireferred to keep their own counsel, and, having apparently come to certain conclusions, they concentrated their efforts in the direction of sheeting home the murder ,to a man who liasnow been acquitted after a fair trial. The verdict was obviously in keeping with the evidence. Had their search had a widen range and had it tieen conducted on different lines, possibly success instead of failure would have rewarded their efforts. “The question may be asked whether anything was left undone to trace the murderer, and the answer may be fairly returned that one thing that was left undone was the adoption' of the expedient of enlisting the assistance of the public in solving the mystery of the crime. If Scotland Yard can take the public in a large measure into its confidence and invite its co-operation ■in the search for clues of which it is in need, the police' authorities in New Zealand need not hesitate to follow its example.”