Cargo Pilferage and Dock Thefts at Liverpool
| Date | 01 July 1931 |
| Published date | 01 July 1931 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3100400304 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Cargo Pilferage and Dock
Thefts
at
Liverpool
By
SUPERINTENDENT
WILLIAM
HUGHES
Liverpool City Police
IT is curious to compare the state of commerce at the Port
of Liverpool in the eighteenth century with the equivalent
statistics of modern times.
The
first wet dock was completed
in
1720,
and in
1757
we find the first figures relating to the
total number of ships which paid dock dues in that year.
The
number is
1371,
and the average tonnage was less than
100tons.
In
1929
dues were paid in respect of
20,583
ships,
and the average tonnage was 750.
Probably most readers of the
Police
Journal would agree,
if they were asked, that Liverpool plays one of the foremost
parts as a port for the exportation of British goods. But they
may not realize that in most years the exports shipped from
Liverpool are greater than the combined exports shipped from
Hull, Manchester, Glasgow, Southampton, Bristol, and New-
castle.
In
1928,
for instance, British goods to the extent of
443 million pounds were sent from Liverpool.
It
must be
clear that the police responsibility for protecting the port from
theft and damage is heavy.
The
concentration of so much
wealth and the continual passing of goods through the port is
atemptation to a particular kind of criminal.
Moreover the topographical features of the docks provide
in some respects facilities for the thief.
The
docks cover six
and a half miles. They are separated from the town by a
fence about ten feet high, with entrances, fitted with gates,
which give direct access to the avenues dividing the sheds used
by the shipowners. Running parallel with the line of docks
is the Liverpool Overhead Railway. Most of the staircases
35
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352 THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
leading to the stations are outside the dock fence. Some, how-
ever, are within: and these have provided in the past an outlet
for the removal of stolen goods.
How is the work of policing the docks carried out ?
The
general system is similar to that of town duty, i.e. an
organized beat system is in force, which is worked in the
ordinary eight-hour tour of three watches. Each gate or
entrance to the docks is guarded by a constable who is provided
with a hut, in which he may examine persons, etc., as the
occasion demands.
The
more important police huts are
equipped with telephones, whilst the duty at the dock gate is
included in the beat system and is numbered as such. There
are a number of dock gates which are known
as'
Specials,' and
these are closed at the end of an ordinary working day.
In
addition, there are also constables who perform what is known
as ' Private duty,' being exclusively engaged by certain of the
shipping companies in the sheds of their appropriated
berths;
-the
companies being charged for such service.
The
actual strength of police serving on the docks in 1857
was 314, and, although the system has probably been trebled
since that period, the total strength now utilised for this duty
is 373. It comprises Iinspector, Isub-inspector, 30 sergeants,
and 341 constables.
The
adequacy of the existing strength is,
from time to time, the subject of discussion between the Chief
Constable and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.
The
dock police are part of the strength of the City Force
which, including the 314 dock strength in 1857, totalled 906 ;
whereas to-day the total strength of the combined force, in-
cluding the 373 dock police, is 2261. These figures indicate
the growth of the port during the past 73 years. Whilst the
docks have grown almost in proportion to the city, the in-
creased police strength only numbers 59 for the docks, and
1296 for town duty.
Until quite recently the system for the removal of cargo
from the Liverpool Dock Estate in vehicles left much to be
desired from the point of view of protection. Formerly the
driver of a vehicle, when leaving the docks with a complete
load, merely produced to the constable at the dock-gate his
cartage-note, showing that he had a specified number of pack-
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