Recent Book: “Over Manning: “Cops and Robbers”
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7905200319 |
| Published date | 01 July 1979 |
| Date | 01 July 1979 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
beat and
'Jack'
(Leicester) even decided
which area he would work and then
covered it with great regularity.
Whilst whetting the reader's appetite
with such stories and talking of Colonel
E. H. Richardson (who could rightly be
called the father of the British Police
Dog), it is unfortunate
that
the
author
never comes up with the meal. There are
so many avenues that could have been
explored, but they are merely touched
upon leaving the reader up in the air. For
example, the chapter devoted to 'The
Success of the Airedale' takes only
nineteen lines and has two
photographs-
one showing an Airedale engaged on an
open search on a rooftop and the other
being so indistinct as to be virtually
unidentifiable, but would
appear
to be an
open search with a criminal located in a
tree.
The number of Forces that were
convinced
ofthe
assistance that could be
given by a trained dog increased very
slowly with Forces including Bolton,
Chesterand Sheffield being mentioned in
a 1914 Police Review as carrying out
experiments
in
this
field.
The
Metropolitan Police created their Dog
Section of thirty nine in 1950, and by
1955this had grown to one hundred and
fifty!
I found this booklet most interesting
but believe because of its lack of depth
and high price, it will only appeal to a
limited number of readers.
S. F. G.
EDWARDS
~OVER
MANNING
JOHN
BALL
-
LEWIS
CHESTER
AND
Roy
PERROTT:
"Cops and Robbers"
Andre Deutch £4.95
If we believe in Robin Hood then his
exploits must put him as a front runner of
organised crime and, if the legend has
substance, then he stole to help the poor
and oppressed and not for personal gain.
Likewise, if Charles Dickens was truly
reflecting his era, then the likes of Fagin
and Bill Sykes were becomingorganised,
but no
doubt
Fagin would argue that he
was giving gainful employment to waifs
and strays.
There is little doubt
that
the bulk of
crimes committed during the 18th and
19th Century were acts of individ uals
who were trying to survive in a harsh
poverty stricken class divided society.
'Cops and Robbers' however, clearly
illustrates how greed has now gripped an
affiuent society by the
throat
in a period
that bears no comparison to the days of
Dickens, where organised crime is now
on a par with business empires, except
their annual reports do not appear in the
financial pages of the newspapers.
As the reasons for committing crime
change, so do the patterns and habits of
the crimlnal classes. Every town has its
estate or street where anti social elements
tend to live or congregate, but the boys in
the big league soon learn and most livein
lush suburbs of the larger conurbations,
own farms or legitimate businesses -
attend Church on Sundays -support
charity events - rub shoulders with the
'aristocracy',
masking
their
true
profession
under
a
cloak
of
respectability.
In the past, the Police have, in part,
depended on local knowledge of villians,
and this in turn when confined to a small
Police area was being exploited by the
299
teams. This book certainly highlighted
the problem the Police faced in the 60's
and early 70's, when the 'Crash bang
gangs' started their long and successful
attacks on banks.
However, a witness to one bank
robbery, plus the action of an off
duty
detective started the ball rolling when
Derek Creighton
SMALLS
-'Bertie' to
his friends, came into the frame. Having
set the scene, the Authors then give the
reader a good insight into Bertie's
recruiting campaign, which he cond ucted
with the experience and precision of a
First Division Football Manager.
As usual, with books of this nature, I
read on with interest to see how long it
would be before it was revealed
that
at
least one ofthe villians was 'hob nobbing'
with a senior Detective Officer. I was not
disappointed, by page 43 Bruce BROWN
- a master bank robber, property dealer
member of and one time captain of
Ashford Manor Golf Club, was taking
coffee in an officeat Wembly 'Nick', with
his golfing buddy - the Detective Chief
Superintendent - Usual holiday abroad
with wives - a ski-ing holiday to
boot
- a
slippery slope to disaster? I suppose it is
fair game and no different to the ageing,
one time Hollywood starlet writing her
life story. The book will not sell unless
spiced with the names of all the men she
has slept with. By page 55 we are
introduced to verbals, followed by the
'usual' disagreements between units and
personalities of the Force and a whole
chapter dealing with complaints against
certain Officers which the authors
introduce with . .. "Was enough to
tarnish the whole operation." This, as far
July·1979
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