S.—l6b.

54

T. O'BRIEN.

stable has to attend at my office to answer the charge. The charge is read to him, and he is asked whether he admits it or denies it; if he denies it, then the evidence of the officer reporting him is taken. 56. Who is present?— Usually the Sub-Inspector and whatever sergeant may report him. 57. It is a sort of formal court-martial from the initial stage?— Yes. 58. To a young constable this would be rather overpowering. Would it, not be well, in the case of the more trivial breaches of discipline, for the Inspector to have the man quietly before him, and give him kindly warning and advice? —The course you suggest is often followed where the matter is trivial. I have adopted that course over and over again. I have told a man, " Y T ou have done such a thing in such a way; would it not have been better to do it this other way? " and have given him my reasons, and asked him to be more careful in future, and to consult the Sub-Inspector or sergeant in case of uncertainty. 59. What class of offence have you to report to the Commissioner?— Drunkenness whilst on duty must be reported to the Commissioner, with the evidence and the Inspector's recommendation. There ma 3' te a few other serious matters, such as serious assault or serious neglect of duty. Anything really serious is sent to the Commissioner, any such offence as is regarded as rendering a man liable to dismissal. 60. Any charge, after being disposed of by you, can be reviewed and reversed by the Commissioner? —Y^es; very few of my cases have been reversed, although I have had a good manyappeals. In the last twelve or eighteen months only one very small matter has been reversed; in that I only administered a caution to a man, and that was reversed. 61. The Commissioner decides on (he material furnished by you?— Yes. There was another case where I inflicted a fine of 55., and the Commissioner reversed it, and administered a caution instead. 62. Have you any views with regard to tlie length of time a man should be allowed to remain in charge of a country station? —No fixed time. 63. Does a man outlive his period of usefulness in some cases?— Some will and some will not. 64. That is the personal equation; how arc you to differentiate? —The Inspector ought to know. 65. Does he always know? —He has the best opportunities of knowing. 66. There should be no limit?—l do not think so. 67. If you became aware of a man not being thoroughly efficient you would take steps to get him transferred?— Yes; some men you may leave ten or fifteen years in a station, and they may be still efficient, and their local knowledge makes them still more efficient. Others, again, it is necessary to shift within twelve months. 68. In regard to giving constables an occasional Sunday off, is there any method adopted by you in regard to this? Why should not the clerks in the district office be sent out to do their duty?—l do not see much reason against it. In .my case, in order to give constables on beat duty a greater number of Sundays off, I made the constable who acts as Inspector of Weights and Measures come on duty on Sundays occasionally. That was overruled by the Commissioner, ■ and now he does not take up Sunday duty. 69. Do the clerks in the district office do any Sunday duty?— No. 70. It would not hurt them? —I do not think so. They only work five days and a half a week, and get Is. extra pay, and wear plain clothes. 71. One man has told the Commission he has not had a Sunday off for three years?—l am rather surprised to hear that, but Dunedin North is a small station where there are only a few men. 72. Does the Court orderly do any ordinary police duty?—He takes a beat on Sunday. 73. I do not see why the others should not?—l quite agree. 74. This matter could easily be dealt with by a circular from Headquarters? —Yes. 75. It would inflict no hardship?— No. 76. The clerk would still get his Saturday afternoon? —Yes; and every night in bed, which is a very great consideration. 77. In going over the police-station it struck me as a great defect that the Chief Detective has no separate quarters: have you'made representations on the matter?— Yes, and an addition was put up, but when this addition, consisting of two small rooms, was finished the Chief Detective considered the rooms too small, and preferred to remain in his old office. They are really too small; but our room is, unfortunately, very limited. I consider it necessary that the Chief Detective should have a separate office. 78. Have you any views on the circular to which some objection has been taken, in regard to men applying for positions outside the Force only being; able to do so after notifying the Commissioner?—lt seems to me a man in the Force should always be at liberty to better himself if opportunity offers. 79. I gathered from some questions asked by the Commissioner when this point was raised that he might be considering the transfer or promotion of a man, and it was necessary for him to know whether he was an applicant for outside appointment before he took steps in either one direction or the other? —There is that to be considered. 80. Then, if a man had a reasonable prospect of promotion he could have the choice of either going or not?— Yes. 81. You do not attach much importance to this point?—No; if a man sees a way of bettering his position by being employed in another way, I do not see why he should be handicapped in the least. 82. A good deal has been said about the embargo placed on constables leaving the station in plain clothes: what is your opinion in regard to that?—lt is only recently it has come into force in Dunedin.