DUTIES OF DETECTIVES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 596, 23 February 1929, Page 1

DUTIES OF DETECTIVES

Police System Explained HOW WALKER MYSTERY WAS HANDLED THE part taken by Superintendent Wohlmann, officer in charge of the Auckland head police district, in the handling of the Walker Case, was outlined by that officer when the inquiry into the police methods employed was continued before Mr. E. Page, S.M., at the Police Court to-day. With the exception of a small portion of the inquiry work done by stations in his district, he stated, the hulk of the inquiry was handled by the detective branch under Inspector J. W. Hollis who conferred daily with Inspector Mcllveney and himself.

INURING the week-end the Conunia- ' sinner, Mr. E. Page, S.M., of Wellington, will visit Papamoa, tlie district where the late Elsie "Walker, resided with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. F. Bayly. The evidence is being led by Mr. A. ?: Currie, of the Crown Law office, Wellington. Superintendent Wohlrnan is represented by Mr. N. Johnson, uf Hamilton; Inspectors Hollis and Mcllveney. of Auckland, and Inspector ilccles, of Hamilton, by Mr. A. H. Johnstone: Chief-Detective Hammond by Mr. Allan Moody; Detective-Ser-geant Kelly by Mr. G. P. Finlay; and Sergeant Lambert, of Otahuliu, and Constables Collins, Pollard, Nield and Moloney, by Mr. L. P. Leary. Evidence regarding the system of control was given yesterday afternoon by Superintendent Wohlmann, officer ill charge of the Auckland head district. He said Messrs. Hollis and Mcllveney were his inspectors. Inspectors were heljl responsible for the control of members of the force in their own district, but on certain matters they reported to the superintendent of the head district, who reported to the Commissioner. If anything occurred in his district which necessitated the services of a detective, he applied to the detective department, which was under the control of Inspector J. W. Hollis. The detective would be under the control of the chief detective, subject, of course to the inspector. Once placed in the hands of the detective branch, it passed out of his control. Conferences between the two inspectors and himself were held every morning, generally occupying an hour. They were quite informal and no records were kept of the decisions arrived at. Inspector Hollis had the bulk of the subject matter owing to the fact that he was in charge of the detective department. He could not remember the fact of the girl’s disappearance being discussed in conference, but the case was frequently discussed after the finding of the body. At one of the early conferences the conclusion was arrived at that the medical report did not go far enough and Dr. Murray, police surgeon, was invited to attend his office and discuss the matter. SURGEON’S REPORT In reply to the Commissioner, the Superintendent stated that a supplementary report was received from the surgeons dated December 6. At the discussion in his office Dr. Murray said he could not give evidence to substantiate a charge of murder. At that time they had no evidence or knowledge that a crime had been committed. It was decided at a conference that the efforts to discover the cause of death should not be relaxed. Inspector Hollis informed them of the steps taken. In addition to questioning taxi drivers, railway guards, service drivers and refreshment rooms on all possible routes, it had also been arranged for school teachers to ask their pupils for any information which might throw sonje light on the girl’s movements. Thus almost every home bad been asked for information of the girl. The Commissioner asked him whether, in view of the extensive publicity given to the case by the Press, the inquest should not be conducted by the Crown Solicitor instead of by a police officer. This was contained in a memorandum to witness. The Superintendent also stated that whatever was agreed upon by the officers in conference was not binding on any of the inspectors. Mr. Page; Do not the instructions

say majority shall rule? The Superintendent; That position has not yet arisen. Our only redress in such a case would he to report to the Commissioner. FIRST-CLASS OFFICERS Resuming his examination this morning, Superintendent Wohlmann said a telephone message from Constable Moloney was handed to him on October 3. It was to the effect that the Whippet car had been found abandoned. The information was circulated to all offices previously warned. Copies of all telephone messages of importance are given to the two inspectors, witness and the chiefdetective for their general information. Mr. Currie: You are aware that Constable Moloney said that when he took charge of the car he was not informed that that was the car in connection with Elsie Walker’s disappearance. That was on October 4. Witness: The information was sent to him on October 3. I don’t know when he received it. The next report received was from Constable Collins, of Panmure, on October 6 reporting on the finding of the body. At this stage the commissioner requested counsel to refrain from making what he termed “a running comment” on the evidence. It was rather distracting. Mr. A. H. Johnstone said that unfortunately their files were not annotated in the same way as Mr. Currie’s. Documents were being handed in of which they had no knowledge. The table at which the six counsel were seated was littered with police files and some difficulty was being experienced by counsel in following them.

Mr. Currie explained that at the time at his disposal he had no opportunity of arranging all the files in the same sequence.

Mr. Page; It can be done during the week-end.

Continuing, witness said the report was minuted to Inspector Hollis. With the exception of a few replies from country stations, which witness thought were not as full as they might be, and which he took up with the stations concerned, he did not handle any of the information sent in by the country stations. To Mr. Currie: He had written to Inspector Eccles regarding the statement of a service car driver, who said he knew the whereabouts of William Bayly, at the request of the Crown Prosecutor, who wanted the information for the inquest. Mr. Currie; Why was it that you represented the police at the inquest and not Inspector Hollis? Witness: We thought that it would be a more convenient arrangement. Inspector Hollis has extensive duties to fill every day and these would have bad to have been relegated to someone else. In the co-ordinated system of control we have no arbitrary rules. To Mr. A. H. Johnstone: Witness had 35 years’ experience in the force, with experience in both branches. Although actually he had never been in the detective branch, he had had detectives under him. The New Zealand Police Force was a homogeneous service. Both "were interchangeable and transfers from one branch to the other were frequent. Mr. Johnstone: Do you think there was anything strange in Constable Moloney making the car inquiries.

Witness: If he could not do that he would not be fit to be a police officer. In my relations with Inspectors Hollis and Mcllveney I consider them first-class officers, said the witness. Witness said he was of opinion that everything possible had been done. WILLIAM BAYLY’S MOVEMENTS Mr. Johnstone: Having knowledge of all the facts, what is your opinion of the case now? Mr. Page: I don’t think the question is a proper one in that form. Witness said the surgeon’s report did not indicate that the case was a crime of violence. A report was also handed in giving an analysis of the contents of the stomach, and the medical investigations also showed that there were no signs of sexual interference. On December 7 the brief was prepared for the Crown Solicitor. He did not think that any information given by William Bayly was included in it. A searching inquiry revealed nothing to shake the belief that William Bayly had been in Auckland at the time of the girl’s dis appearance.

Mr. Johnstone: What was the object of the conference with Dr. Murray? Witness: To see if there was any feature of the medical examination not. previously disclosed that might help, also to ascertain the effect of his evidence in regard to a charge of murder. A signed report was also secured. The addition to the medical opinion of the cause of death was appended to that report. To Mr. Finlay: Sergeants in charge of stations generally had about 20 years’ service. In most cases they had city experience, and also would have been constables in charge of country stations. They were men from whom the commissioned officers were drawn.

Mr. Finlay: The special inquiry of October 8, which was sent out, was an accurate account of all the information available. Do you think those suggested inquiries would lead these sergeants to make full inquiries?

Witness: Yes. I think full and complete inquiries were made. Td Mr. Moody: The chief detective had 26 men under him at that time. The chief detective had to arrange all their work, conduct cases in the police court, and confer with his superior officer once a day. Prior to his promotion he was a senior detective, and was considered fit to perform the duties of chief detective. Mr. Moody: Of course he lias to be guided by the reports of his detectives.

To Mr. Moody: The police were guided largely by the expert medical advice. They were always happy to adopt any suggestions made by the surgeon. The result of the medical examination, and also examination of the girl’s clothing, would, he thought, justify the chief detective in leaving the matter stand at that on the Sunday. Dr. Mux-ray had been police surgeon for many years, and had taken part in all the big cases that had occurred during that time. On the Saturday, the police force had been greatly extended by a riot at the racecourse. Detectives had to he appointed to special duties guarding buildings, and trouble was also expected at the racecourse on Monday. Nevertheless, full inquiries into the Walker case were continued. He had reason to believe that they were maintained for some time later.

At noon the inquiry was adjourned till ten o’clock on Monday morning.

Mr. Page stated that he proposed to visit Papamoa during the week-end to examine various routes, etc. He is to leave this afternoon.