WHEN PARSIMONY STRANGLES EFFICIENCY

NZ Truth, Issue 1153, 5 January 1928, Page 1

WHEN PARSIMONY STRANGLES EFFICIENCY

Why Commissioner Mcllveney Must Demand Square Deal For His Men From Government FARCICAL RED-TAPE SQWSTEEDS OF GRAVE UNREST

HTHE Force — the bulwark between law 1 and order and lawlessness — is

without question the most important of all the State departments and yet the Government in its wisdom is content to allow parsimony and redtape to strangle efficiency and sow the seeds of bitter discontent throughout the police force in all its branches. "N.Z. Truth" states without fear of contradiction that the men of the Force are nursing real grievances which could and should be removed without delay.

Commissioner Mcllveney must be aware of the discontent and if ever there was a time when he should bring the position before the Government it is now.

Under present conditions the Force is being sapped of all initiative and encouragement, than which there can be nothing worse for the country. On the one hand there is what almost amounts to, a prodigal recklessness of expenditure, while on the other there is a parsimony and meanness which is unpardonable.- . But from whatever angle the position is reviewed, .there is no gainsaying the fact that the Force is the Cinderella of all the Government departments.

Millions can always be found for education; hundreds of thousands of pounds are never lacking for an almost ftffGse^»ric£m^^ scheme, *ahd' hardly a'^ month goes • by' without the country being apprised of the fact that some Government official is embarking on a costly world tour — at the country's expense — to study farming:, finance, road building and the hundred and one other subjects that have to be investigated in every country under the sun.

But when it comes to bringing the police force up-to-date and finding a few thousands a year more for the protection of life and property — that is another story altogether.

There is no doubt that much of the. present discontent could and" would be removed if the Commissioner of Police battled harder for his men than -he does.

While the Government is primarily responsible for the position that has arisen in the police force, it is just possible that Gordon Coates and his Cabinet are unaware of the actual situation.

And they are not likely to be enlightened unless Commissioner Mcllveney takes a leaf from the books of some other departmental heads and squeals hard and loudly until he gets something done.

Drastic Reform

For the time is long overdue for reform — and drastic reform at that. The Commissioner himself, who wields tremendous power and who is virtually a dictator in his own job, has it within his own right to redress many of the grievances that exist to-day. The question of "perks" and privileges, for example. Time was not so very long ago that detectives rer-eived ten shillings or so when a prohibited person was convicted of being illegally on a race--1 course. Again, when detectives were escorting cash from a racecourse they were invariably given a small sum by way of consideration, but now not only are the racing clubs charged for the escort, but the escorting detectives receive nothing whatever. What is the result? The result of the cutting out of the "perks" with regard to "unwanteds" on racecourses is revealed in the surprisingly few cases of this kind that now come before the court. In a word, the inducement to keep these people off the course has been removed and the detectives are not going out of their way to bother about them. And all things considered it is not surprising. But the question of "small perks" is ;after all a very small one in the probleiii of discontent among members of the Force. Fundamentally — and after all that is the rock-bottom foundation of any subject — the internal administration of I the Force is weak and inefficient. It has always been the opinion of "Truth" that it is a foolish policy to take the best brains of the detective branch and place them in the uniformed division where excellent and highlytrained men are expected to while away their days dealing with petty licensing and other similar prosecutions.

But that is precisely the policy that is being pursued at the present time. No sooner does a capable detective attain the post of chief-detective or detective -sergeant than he stands in imminent risk of being bundled into the uniform branch — usually on promotion, of course — where his brains and capacity for crime detection arc lost for ever.

The effect of this pylicy can have but one i«« ult —^ nA that is that v.he detective branch is continually being recruited from, the uniformed constabular ranks and loaded with men, who, how-

Sf lUH""!!!!!!" 11 """"""""" 1 "" 111 " 11 """"""" 11 n n n* s C || "'mniniiHiiiiimi •inmiuini mn. || If The Police force of the Dominion is a force of dissatisfied || II men who are receiving from the Government treatment which j| Jf is altogether unjustified and when compared with the con- If II sideration shown to other State employees is little short of \\ \U a disgrace. |f 1 1 ' innumM

evei zealous and apt, are for the most part untrained and untried. . This inevitably means a weakness in the system of crime detection which should not be allowed for a moment. Not that "Truth" has one wo.rd to say against the detective force insofar as its personnel is concerned. It is comprised of capable men and in Christchurch this is particularly apparent, where the detective force, from a population standpoint, is the weakest (numerically) in the whole of New Zealand. Nine detectives all told to handle all the crime and _____________

petty inquiries in a city with a population of 115,000 people! . The low percent-

age of undetected — r crime in Christehurch is in itself a tribute to the small band of men who am waging war on ctoniihals^but/that s'ultsV^they do at the" expense of long houris and overwork — for which they receive no thanks— is a disgrace to the department that permits such a state of affairs.

Reference has been made in the past by "Truth" to the parsimonious policy that is pursued in regard to the transport of detectives engaged on a case.

In Christchurch — and doubtless throughout the Dominion : — a detective has to chase criminals on his bicycle or^on a tram car, unless the "heads"

. War On Crime

decree that the occasion is important enough to warrant the hiring of a car. "Truth" has said in the past — and reiterates it now— that one of the crying needs of the Force today is adequate means of transport.

A motor-car should be available for immediate use day or night by officers who are called out hurriedly on a case. In short, what is needed is a flying squad.

Strong exception can be taken "also to the method of training detectives. At present if a constable is a bright specimen and shows a "flair" for In-' vestigation he may

find himself in the plain clothes branch with the rank of acting-detective. But what • special

— ~" — : — ' training does ~h e receive? Very little. He. is. not uiugiu such subjections finger -print examina-, of tn'edn sfthg; -which is most important.

He is given the rank of actingdetective and out he goes on the road.

True, if he. has brains and ability, he will learn much/, in his job, but where the trouble lies ;is in the casual regard paid to the detective branch by the department. ; It does not jappear to be regarded as a scientific branch, but merely as a make-sKiift where a man can rise so high a>nd no higher and end his days in j a senior uniformed

position in some obscure country town pottering about with licensing cases and other unimportant matters of that kind.

Without doubt the uniformed branch has much the better end of the stick and it is no wonder that a chiefdetective or a detective- sergeant welcomes his transfer on promotion to the uniformed division, as it means much less work and a freedom from multitudinous worries that crushed him in his former office. Conditions of work and pay, too, are big factors in the discontent among the Force to-day, particularly in the detective branch.

There is absolutely no inducement for a man to aspire to the rank of detective, for the simple reason that he is rated on the same basis as a constable with the exception that he is allowed a paltry sum daily by way of allowance.

But for the privilege of calling himself a detective he has to work like a nigger all the hours that the system sends him.

He is apt to be dragged out of bed at 3 a.m. any morning and may be expected to work "until midnight — but there is no overtime for him.

Then there is a complete lack of coordination — petty jealousies creep in and it cdnnot be pondered at, for the present, system f osiers.' them, ,„'. ', , t ; wood murder iiivestigatiorA;' when 'each detective engaged was working out Ms ideas along his own lines— subject, of course, to a general policy of direction from those higher up.

Each man Avas out to learn something for himself and "bring home the bacon" off his own bat.

All very . commen&able, ' but coordination is essential in the detective branch.

And when .ideas are tendered which do not happen to coincide with or have not been thought of by those of higher iank, the man "taking instructions" is not apt to be encouraged or have the pleasure of knowing that his ideas nave been adopted.

There is such a thing as "getting

too fresh" in the detective branch

and superior officers are not prone

to. listen to v ideas that were not conceived in their own minds.

All this can be remedied by making the criminal investigation branch a separate entity quite apart from the uniformed division. The best men available should be chosen as detectives; they should be specially trained;' and according to the ability they show, so should they be promoted. .

Transfer Orgy

There is no valid argument against the rank of detective-inspector •or superintendent -detective or whatever titles the department cares to bestow. But what is of paramount importance is that detectives should have the right to promotion to. those high offices in their own branch instead of, as at present, having to transfer to the uniformed branch, where the work is more or less routine.

Such a system us suggested would dispense with all the chopping and changing round that is so prevalent to-day.

Under existing conditions, with Its orgy of transfers, large sums of money are being wasted — money which could be better spent on making the detective force a self-contained, compact, highly-efficient body of men trained to the last ounce of skill in crime detection.

What possible object can there bo in transferring one officer from, say, Auckland to Dunedin and transferring the Dunedin man of equal rank to Auckland?

If the men are married, with homes, the cost of transfer, allowing for transfer of furniture, cannot cost much less than £50 in each case — iind yet this is the sort of thing that is going on now.

In the opinion of "Truth" such a policy is wasteful and unnecessary and cannot possibly be justified. In the uniformed branch the introduction of the vidiculofes-looking shako in place of the old helmet was a grievr tince among muny of the men, but above all the petty rules and regulations that have, to be observed under pains and penalties are causing more discontent than enough. The consensus of opinion is that to be in the police force is infinitely worse than being in a discipline-ridden peacetime army— and this view is general in all branches of the Force.

The men cannot move for petty regulations. At every turn they

are beset with grave risk of frac-turing-some ukase and incurring the serious displeasure of the heads and the consequent punishment.,

None Will deny that strict discipline is •'necessary, but there is no reason why the men" should be so bound dbwii by red-tape: tniit thoy can hardly iuove for -it.'"" : '■' -'■.■■},;■■'

"TijutH" has the best of reasons for saying that the whole Force is seeth-' ing; with discontent, although it is not expressed. . . . • Reform is needed— and needed badly. •" ■■■■■: ■'•■ -' .. ' ' :.m^y