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1908. NEW ZEALAND^

THE POLICE FORCE OF THE DOMINION (ANNUAL REPORT ON).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Commissioner op Police to the Hon. the Ministeb op Justice. g IB . Police Department, Commissioner's Office, 4th June, 1908. I have the honour to submit for your information the annual report on the Police Force of the Dominion (together with the criminal statistics) for the year ended 31st March last. Strength op Force. Qn the 31st March last the strength of the Force was 734 of all ranks, being an increase of 35 during the year. The total is made up as follows : — Inspectors ... ■•■ ■•• •■• ■•• 9 Sub-inspectors ... ... ... ■■• •■• 6 Station sergeants ... • ■ ■ • ■ • • • • ■ • 4 Sergeant-major ... ' ... ... ■ ■ • • • • 1 Sergeants ... ... "■• • ■■• ... 78 Constables ... ... ... ■■'■ ■'■■ 586 Chief detectives ... ... ■■■ •■• ■•• 5 Detectives ... ... ■ ■■ ■■• ■■- 27 Acting-detectives ... ... ■■■ ■■■ ... 18 In addition to the above there were— Police surgeons ... ... ... ... ■•■ 4 Matrons ... ... ... ■■• ■ ■■ 4 District constables ... . ... .20 Native constables... ... ... • ■ ■ . • • ■ 9 Troop horses ... ... ... ■ •. ■ ■ • 48 Stations. New stations have been formed at Dunollie, Herekino, Island Bay, Kilbirnie, Kingsland, Ohakune, Portobello, Queen Street Wharf (Auckland), St. Johns (Wanganui), and Tuakau. The district constable at Chatham Islands has been replaced by a regular member of the Force, and the district constable formerly stationed at Waikaremoana has been removed to Frasertown. Casualties. The following are the casualties for the year ended the 31st March last: Retired under Police Provident Fund Act, 8 ; died, 6 ; resigned voluntarily, 34 ; dismissed, 7 ; called upon to resign, 4 transferred to Justice Department, 1 : total, 60. This is 15 more than in the preceding year. Criminal Statistics. ■•"> The criminal statistics (Appendix A) deal with all offences reported to the police during the year ended the 31st December last, and show an aggregate net increase of 2,044 on the figures of 1906. These figures fluctuate considerably from year to year, and the increase shown this year

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