Difference between revisions of "The Argus at KellyGang 7/4/1883 (4)"

Latest revision as of 21:06, 20 November 2015

See previous

ROYAL COMMISSION

Final Report, Part II - continued

His opinion was supported by the testimony of many other witnesses, but Captain Standish, who was then chief commissioner, strenuously opposed so important an innovation. The experience of the last 20 years proves that Sir Charles MacMahon had formed a correct opinion of what was required by the police, and that his successor was altogether in error. It is in the opinion of your commissioners highly impolitic to vest the entire official control of so vast and important a branch of the public service in the hands of a single individual. Upon this point the witnesses examined before your commissioners were almost unanimous. It was urged on the one hand that by such a modification of existing arrangements there was less likelihood of injustice being inflicted where members of subordinate rank were concerned, while on the other it would in reality strengthen rather than weaken the hands of the chief commissioner, and effectually guard against external interference with the affairs of the department. The present chief commissioner is strongly impressed with the advantage of such a change. It seemed to be a settled conviction in the minds of the other witnesses that the appointment of a board of three commissioners to deal with all matters relating to recruiting, appointments, transfers, dismissals, and superannuation would ultimately remove all causes of complaint or dissatisfaction, and assist in raising the standard of efficiency of the force generally. A difference of opinion, however, existed as to the composition of such a board, and a serious difficulty seemed involved in defining its functions and its relation to the political head of the department. The board, in the opinion of your commissioners, should consist of the chief commissioner and two competent gentlemen selected from outside the force, one of whom shall have had legal training. The chief commissioner should act as chairman and as executive officer of the board, and be, as at present, responsible to the political head of the department for the enforcement of the regulations, the discipline and efficiency of the force. When sitting as a board three commissioners should have co-ordinate powers, and the duties appertaining to the administration of the department arranged by the commissioners as thought most convenient and advantageous to the service. To the board should be entrusted full power to deal, subject to the approval of the political head of the department, with all matters relating to recruiting, appointments, complaints, punishments, rewards, transfers, discharges, and superannuation, their decisions to be final in all cases affecting the subordinate ranks, the superior officers alone to have the right of appeal to the Government. This would supersede the present system of appointing boards to investigate charges made against members of the force under the Police Statute. A modification of the act in this particular is greatly needed, as the experience of your commissioners points to the conclusion that such boards are in most instances a mere mockery. The board should sit from time to time, at stated intervals, its proceedings to become records of the department.

IV – RECRUITING

In this section and in those immediately following your commissioners propose to deal with questions which have a bearing upon the existing police regulations, and with respect to which the delegates were more or less explicit. The selection of recruits under the old system (Q 117) was made by a board which sat every Tuesday and Friday. In time the names of approved candidates thus obtained became so numerous that the list was closed, and so it remained for years. Recruits, as they were required, were taken from the list in the order of rotation, and sent before the medical board for examination. A Gazette notice was published, October 21,1870 , notifying that members of the Permanent Artillery were entitled to admission to the police to fill vacancies as they occurred. According to the testimony of many intelligent witnesses, this mode of recruiting the ranks of the police was not attended with advantage (qs. 1,167, 1,516) Recruits taken from the artillery were found in many instances to have contracted objectionable habits owing to their association with low characters and women of abandoned morals. The qualifications of a recruit are thus defined in section 9 of the regulations – "Filling up a form in his own handwriting, giving answers to queries respecting his previous employment, whether married or single, or a member of a secret society." Many of the documents, such as reports and memoranda, written by subordinate officers and constables which came before your commissioners proved how utterly insufficient was the educational test thus applied. The delegates were in favour of a much stricter examination of candidates.

"Constables," observed one of the witnesses, "are the groundwork of the whole force – the officers are built upon us – therefore it is essential in the organisation of the police that greater attention should be paid to the class of men taken into it." With this view the commission coincide. The suitability of candidates should be considered educationally and socially no less than physically, and a much higher intellectual standard of merit applied in the appointment of recruits.

V - PROBATION

The non-observance of the regulation which requires that recruits shall undergo a period of probation has resulted in many incompetent and undesirable candidates obtaining a permanent footing in the police force. In section 12 of the regulations the rule is laid down, "that if, after a few weeks' service, any constables are found deficient in that general intelligence, aptitude, and inclination for police duties without which they cannot become good police constables, they will be discharged as unsuitable for the service."

In order also that this regulation should not become a dead letter the chief commissioner of police was invested with the power of discharging a constable without assigning any reason. From evidence given, it appears that if a man once gets into the force, it is difficult to remove him. If an attempt were made to dispense with his services on the ground of incapacity, it was urged that the chief commissioner would have deputations from the friends of the man declaring him to be "the best man that ever existed." It was admitted by the delegates that a certain fixed period of probation was essential, although some of the superior officers considered that it was superfluous, and that the proper mode of dealing with recruits was to send them on the "beat" in company with an experienced constable, from whom a knowledge of the work would soon be obtained. Your commissioners recommend that in no instance shall a recruit be entrusted with responsible duties until he has served a period of probation of at least two months.

continued

, .1. , .2. , .3. , .4. , .5. , .6. , .7. , .8. ,