On and off the Beat
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700712 |
| Published date | 01 July 1964 |
| Date | 01 July 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
average of how long it takes to achieve advancement; there is very
little mention of the number of young men who are currently pro-
moted, setting aside those who attend the Special Course at the
Police College.
Generalizations such as these, and there are many more, do not
reflect the full picture, and can only cause the informed reader to
wonder how carefully the research work was done. The uninformed
reader, unfortunately, will probably take the book at its face value
and in some instances it willdo the Service's public image little good.
One reviewer has already been led to refer to
"the
basic cult of
stupidity in the British police ", which is unfortunate to say the least.
As an outsider's view of the police, Mr. Whitaker's book makes
interesting reading but his " radical analysis of current problems "
really includes little that is new; by far the majority of the ideas put
forward have been receiving attention in police and other circles
for some time, and insufficient credit is given to what has been and
is being done.
Two publishers have issued this book simultaneously. The
"
Penguin"
edition differs from the hard-cover edition principally in
the size of type and smaller format, in omitting the appendix con-
taining the Judges' Rules and the Administrative Directions on
Interrogation and the Taking of Statements, and also in having
corrected the many errors of the press which the more expensive
book should certainly have avoided.
On
and
08
the
Beat
(With
acknowledgments to those forces who have sent us their
magazines, news letters and notes
of
special interest.)
Mr. William M. Smith, chief constable of Aberdeen, writes in that force's
magazine that a flourishing swimming section is now in operation. The Aberdeen
city police concert party is going strong and has been found to be an excellent
method of promoting good relations between the police and the public.
During one of the motor car treasure hunts held by this force, a short pro-
gramme of motor gymnastics was given outside a hangar at an airport. The
pilot of a Tiger Moth aeroplane circling the airport, however, did not appear to
appreciate the performance and was more concerned with landing his plane
and getting it into the hangarwith about 30 cars coming and going on his domain.
Glamorgan county safety committee publishes a neat little verse:
You watch the fellow who drives ahead
And
the fellow who drives behind,
But the fellow you really have to watch
On the highway you willfind
Is the fellow behind the fellow ahead
And
ahead
of
the fellow behind.
Glamorgan Police Magazine points out that cars must be locked, even if left
outside police houses, as one sergeant found out to his cost. The lost car was soon
found having run out of petrol and been abandoned. Rumour has it, the magazine
states, that the sergeant now takes the precaution of removing the front wheels
'whenever he parks it!
July 1964 346
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