On Thinking a Bit Harder
| Published date | 01 May 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804100514 |
| Date | 01 May 1968 |
| Author | W. Muncie |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DET.
CHIEF
SUPT.
W.
MUNCIE
Lanarkshire Constabulary
ON
THINKING
A
BIT
HARDER
As a young detective constable I was quick to realize the im-
portance of having a firm foundation before taking certain action.
Two little examples come readily to mind and spell out the tre-
mendous importance of making a proper appreciation of a
situation.
It was wartime and I was almost tidied up for the night when
I received a telephone call from a section sergeant in my division
asking me to telephone my counterpart- in the Metropolitan Police
and get them to detain a young soldier who was on the night train
from Glasgow to London. He went on to say that around tea-
time that day a young soldier had called at a house in his section
introducing himself as being from the North of Scotland and the
son of a first world war chum of the man of the house; that his
father often spoke of his old pal and insisted that whenever he
was in Glasgow with time to wait for his connecting train south,
he was to call. The young soldier had now found himself with
several hours on his hands before catching the night train to Lon-
don to rejoin his unit. The housewife had been in the house alone
but as she was expecting her husband to return in a short time
she invited the young soldier in to wait, and gave him a comfort-
able seat in the living room while she busied herself in the kitchen
preparing the evening meal. Beside the chair where the young
soldier sat was a small chest of drawers
and
in one of the drawers
had been a flat, envelope-shaped handbag containing £60. The
husband had arrived home after some 20 minutes and was de-
lighted to learn who the young soldier was. They all enjoyed a
good meal and a long chat until it was time for the soldier to leave.
The
housewife
had
made him up a good snack of sandwiches for
his journey and the husband said he would see him off on the train
from Glasgow. On reaching the railway station the husband
treated the soldier to a couple of drinks, stocked him up with
cigarettes and saw him off on the train. On returning home, the
husband found his wife almost hysterical, complaining that the
handbag containing the £60 had been stolen.
I
did
not telephone as requested: I went to see the aggrieved
couple. What that pair were calling the young soldier would have
made any description his sergeant major might give of him seem
Bible class stuff. I was shown the chest of drawers and was
assured that the drawers
had
been thoroughly searched. I put
my hand on a drawer handle and was angrily asked if I could not
take their word for the fact that the handbag was gone.
"I
want
to search more than the drawers ", I said,
"I
want them right
228
Afay
1968
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