Coincidence
| Date | 01 November 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6603901109 |
| Author | F. A. Gordon |
| Published date | 01 November 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DETECTIVE
SUPT.
F.
A.
GORDON
New Zealand Police
Mr. Gordon's breezy story
of
under-cover duty in vice areas
confirms what every police officer knows about truth being
stranger than fiction
UOINUIDENUE
The Oxford dictionary defines" coincidence" as a notable con-
currence of events or circumstances without apparent causal con-
nexion.
The hand of coincidence and the long arm of the law must
surely run on parallel lines. Between these two is the added
requisite of a good memory and those three factors added together
mean good police work, which raises the point that the hand of
coincidence and the arm of the law may well belong to the same
limb. But coincidence can also cause embarrassment to the police-
man - especially when they pour thick and fast. I can vouch for
that.
Several incidents entirely unconnected and spread over a matter
of some months came to light in one startling succession of coinci-
dences that gave me one of the severest attacks of "butterflies"
I've ever known. And I'm not usually shaken so easily.
Nmnber One
Hobson Street, Auckland, then was not the Hobson Street it is
today. At night its dim lighting made it a place most good citizens
avoided
if
they could, leaving it to the adventurous or underworld
types and street women who found amusement or other interests
there.
Importuning by prostitutes was not uncommon and I found
myself detailed to help try and rid the area of its undesirable. That
is how I met Jean. Jean, 25 years, thin, and nondescript in
appearance, was the best unknown of the street walkers and was
known to be soliciting almost nightly.
Her
reaction in finding that
she had solicited a constable when she approached me with her,
"Goodnight, have you got a couple of quid to spend, mister?"
would hardly be printable here, but that was her last night as a
street walker. The court treated her generously and she left town
and her sordid past.
Number Two
Nora was a type of good-time girl, fast following along the same
pathway as Jean. She was younger and on that account perhaps
more deserving of a word or two of good advice. Outside a city
hotel, she was more than just a little intoxicated when I suggested
575 November 1966
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