The Argus at KellyGang 13/1/1883 (2)
ROYAL COMMISSION - REPORT; DETECTIVES
DETRIORATION OF THE DETECTIVE FORCE
The deterioration of the detective force of the colony has been admitted by every witness interrogated upon the subject. The causes assigned for this declension are various. Independently of the administrative incapacity of the officer in charge, it has been attributed to the reduction in the number and pay of the men the appointment of plain clothes constables and the inferiority of the men offering their services. As a matter of fact, the pay of senior first class detectives is as high as it has been for the last 20 years; and although there has been a diminution in the number of effective detectives, it does not seem to be greater than is warranted by the improved condition of the population generally. There have been no complaints against the detectives in the country districts; the inefficiency and deterioration appear to be confined to Melbourne . When Mr Nicolson worked the city with 12 men the detective force was in the zenith of its prestige; now, when the officer in charge has 16 men to do the duty the department has sunk to a state almost of paralysis which cannot be ex plained away by pointing to the increase in the number of the metropolitan population.
The appointment of plain clothes con- stables engendered a spirit of hostile rivalry between the detectives and the general police. The evil does not appear to have been felt until Mr Secretan took charge of the detectives and Mr Winch was appointed superintendent of the city. These officers did not work in harmony the men under them imitated their example, until such was the jealousy existing that, as stated by one witness the detectives would prefer allowing a criminal to escape rather than that the members of the general force should acquire the credit of effecting his arrest.
The inferiority of the men applying for ad mission to the detective force has possibly much to do with its present ineffectiveness. It seems difficult on the principle of demand and supply to explain why a better class of men are not obtainable. The defectives for the great part rank as sergeants of the general police and their rate of remuneration is considerably higher. Industry intelligence and capacity generally tell much sooner in the circumscribed sphere of the detectives and all things being equal promotion should be more assured and rapid. Detective Eason ascribes the deterioration of the department to the use of men without experience having been taken on, and also to the dissatisfaction that exists in the police force with the system of management pursued in connexion with the detective office in Mel bourne
THE MUTUAL RELATIONS OF DETECTIVES
In the course of the inquiry it was elicited that personal quarrels were not infrequent amongst the detectives. Detectives O'Callaghan and Duncan either from a sense of rivalry or from private feelings of jealousy appear to have carried on a system of covert hostility, which occasionally exhibited itself in direct acts of aggression. Quite recently those officers quarrelled in the muster room of the office, whereupon Duncan forwarded a report to Mr Secretan, complaining of the conduct of 0'Callaghan. The latter thereupon drew up a report in reply, which was daily placed in the hands of his superior officer. Those documents, it was believed by your commissioners, if forthcoming, would throw some light upon the system of working pursued by the detectives no less than upon the laxity of discipline that was alleged to prevail amongst them. Upon inquiry it was elicited that the documents had been destroyed by Mr Secretan under circumstances which gave rise to the suspicion that their contents, if disclosed, would not redound to his credit nor to that of the department under his charge. It was also ascertained that some years ago a similar disagreement took place between Detective Nixon and Detective Duncan, when charges and counter charges were preferred by those officers the one against the other. On applying for the papers however, it was found that they also had been removed from the office or destroyed.
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
The evidence taken respecting the internal management and clerical work of the office discloses gross negligence and disorgauisation. The books appear to have been kept in a slovenly manner and without system. The official records of the department have been left so unprotected mat any of the detectives might purloin them without fear of discovery. In the course of the inquiry it was found that the following official documents &.c, had been either destroyed or stolen from the office:-The reports respect ing the quarrel between Detectives Nixon and Duncan; reports containing charges of Detectives O'Callaghan and Duncan, the one against the other; the supplemental crime report respecting the stolen property found in the house of Mrs Lamb, the letters and telegrams alleged to have passed be tween Duncan and Boardman, signed by Brown; the list of the prisoners to be discharged from custody in May last, and the photograph of the criminal Graham who had been in Mr Secretan's employment. The non production of the papers stated caused much inconvenience, and prevented the elu cidation of various points having a bearing upon the conduct of the detectives and the discipline of the office. In the opinion of your commissioners immediate steps should be taken to provide for the proper security of the official records of the department for the safe custody of property stored in the office which shall be so entered in the books that ail particulars respecting their receipt and disposal can be ascertained without difficulty and for the more efficient discharge of the duties appertaining to the clerical staff.
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