CAN CLERKS CATCH BURGLARS?

Shannon News, 24 September 1929, Page 3

CAN CLERKS CATCH BURGLARS?

Cases reported frequently, if not! daily, of undetected crime in New Zea- j 'land must be a source, of concern and 'anxiety to the authorities in charge of the Poke Department (says the (Christchurch Star). When an investi- | Ration into this important subject is ordered, as it must be ordered sooner or later;, a) Iphase to be Considered should be the amount of routine clerical work thrown on to nearly every man attached to the metropolitan stations and .certainly on to every man working as a constable in a country district. Speaking in the House of-; Be-' presentatives on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice (the Hon. T. M. Wilford) said that in his opinion New Zealand had not enough police. Every session produced new work, new obligations and fresh duties, and on top of this the Agricultural Department and other Government departments required the police force to carry out numerous duties. The increasing crop of maintenance and divorce cases threw a further burden on the police. Observations to the same effect have been 'made on previous occasions by previous -Ministers of Justice.. Up to the present, unfortunately, nothing has been 'done to relieve the position. Every year, mol-e and more men have had to be detailed by their superintendents for work that should be performed by a typist, a bailiff, or a messenger. To all intents and purposes, every policeman spends one-third of his time as a kind of glorified clerk, pen in hand and helmet on the wall. Meanwhile, crime grows. The criminal too often is abl? to hatch his plans at leisure and carry them out undisturbed because the paid protector of society has been tied down to an office desk and a bewildering pile of reports, inquiries and summonses. If "the new Minister of Justice does something to remedy this absurd situation, he will assuredly earn the thanks of everyone but the law-breaker. The existing system is but an incitement to theft, assault, and arson.