POLICE AND THEIR PAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8352, 12 February 1913, Page 6

POLICE AND THEIR PAY

We must offer congratulations to the Minister of Justice on his now regulations and arrangements for the administration of the police section of ius department. The Hon. A. L. Herdman has evidently been at considerable pains to evolve a scheme containing many substantial i rnprovoinonts, and deserves credit for a sound and excellent schcine which displays marked constructive and administrative ability as well as commendable concern for the well-being and efficiency of the force. The higher status to be given to the chiefs of the fonr centres, who are to bo known as superintendents instead sf as inspectors, is in keeping with the .character of their duties and the dignity of men charged with such highly important functions. The complementary promotions, too, are calculated to produce good results in general efficiency, and incidentally provide opportunities for rewarding long and useful public service. A first-class feature of the Minister’s scheme is the provision for higher salaries for superintendents, inspectors, detectives, etc. Wo are certain that very few people will be found to objpet to the ' proposed increases, which are studiously moderate. A very high and special cajiacity is demanded of a successful police officer, updh whoso judgment and skill depends so very largely the detection, prevention, and punishment of' crime, and the preservation -of public order. The Government does not propose to pay for these services anything at ail beyond their worth —a fact with which the public will readily agree and towards which it will make willing response in providing the. needful. Tor, whatever Governments may decide in these matters, it is the public that pays. But we must express very great dis-' appointment at the fact that the Minister’s fountain of generosity dried up very suddenly when ho had worked down from the higher grades to the rank and file. All classes are to receive higher pay except the men in the ranks. “No alteration,” says Mr Herdman, “has been made in the pay of constables (8s to 10s 6d).” This is a grave weakness in the whole plan, and must create an undesirable feeling among the men. Without altogether endorsing Gilbert’s dictum that “a policeman’s lot is not a happy one," we do say that his duties are worth more than eight shillings a day. A constable’s position is at all times one of responsibility; in small centres ol population, very great responsibility, requiring the exercise of judgment, tact and skill, and demanding something more than an elementary acquaintance with statute law. What are the necessary qualifications of a police constable, an ordinary, commongarden, eight-snillings-a-day guardian of the law? Let us take Mr Heroin an’s own definition, laid down in the new regulations:—“A constable shall always be placed under the control of a superior, but in the execution of his duty as a peace officer he is generally called upon to act on his own responsibility. He should, therefore, be a person of intelligence, discretion, active habits, and good temper. His first duty is perfect obedience to his superiors. He shall receive the orders of those above him with deference and respect, and execute them with alacrity. He must always be on the aloft for the prevention of crime and the protection of the public; and he must never omit to report to his sergeant, or other superior under whom he is serving, any circumstance that may appear to affect the public peace or the character of the force.” Now, we put it to anybody of ordinary sympathies and common-sense, to say whether or not, in these days of better wages and high cost of living, the rank and file of the police are fairly treated under the new regulations. The Government will be well advised if it takes this question into very serious reconsideration. The increases proposed to be paid to the superior members of the force are, we repeat, not in any sense immoderate, and are in every way justified. But that justification can only hold by treating the ordinary constables with like fairness, if not generosity. Eight shillings per diem in New Zealand today is not, wo assert, a living wage. The unskilled worker, in many cases, is paid more. Yet we are asking a largo body of men to sustain wives and families on that pittance, and not only to conduct their lives decently and honestly, but actually to spend ail their activities in keeping the general community honest! ’ ,