Review: A Police Constable's Guide to His Daily Work
| Published date | 01 October 1931 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3100400428 |
| Date | 01 October 1931 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
international conventions to deal with the problem, and of the ways in which
successive regulations have been evaded. There is a graphic description of
the physiological and moral effects
of
morphine, heroin, and cocaine, which
are the principal drugs in the illicit trade, but one need only consult the
Dangerous Drugs Acts
of
different nations to see that, as the restrictions
against the illegitimate use of one drug become more rigid, new drugs are
introduced as substitutes. Each nation disclaims any share in the illicit trade,
but the profits of the
'
dope fiend
'
are
so
enormous that smuggling is carried
on continuously and with little check from some of the exporting countries,
notably Turkey. In the author's opinion the only effective method of dealing
with the abuse
is
national control
of
all drug factories, supplemented by
national control
of
the international traffic in drugs. The means by which
these objects could be attained are discussed in the final chapter. The
full
index and the footnotes giving particulars
of
the publications quoted in the
text add to the value
of
the book
as
a work of reference on the abuses con-
nected with the trade in drugs.
A POLICE CONSTABLE'S GUIDE TO
HIS
DAILY WORK.
By
B.
M.
GRECG,
retired Superintendent and Chief Clerk, West Riding
Constabulary, and
C.
P.
BRUTTON,
Assistant Solicitor, West Riding of
Yorkshire County Council. Sixth edition,
1931.
6s.
net. (Effingham
Wilson,
16
Copthall Avenue, London,
E.C.)
THE
fifth edition of this useful book was reviewed on page
526
of
Volume
11.
of
the
Police
Journal,
1929.
In the present edition there are included a
number of statutes which have come into force since the fifth edition was
published, including the Race Course Betting Act, the Road Traffic Act, etc.
General instructions have been brought up to date and additions
of
model forms of reports of offences have been made.
The demand for a new edition of this book is a proof of the practical help
that it affords to police officers.
GUILTY OR
NOT
GUILTY
?
The stories of fifty famous crimes in
many countries. By
GUY
RUSSELL,
Barrister-at-Law.
12s.
6d.
(Hutchinson.)
IT
would be a thousand pities if this volume got swallowed u and lost in the
criminals.
It
is something quite different. In the first place its
'
heroes
'
and
'
heroines
'
will in many cases be strangers except to the most assiduous
criminologist. This in itself is refreshing. The exploits of the old brigade
tend to pall after a time and one is glad
to
be introduced
to
new characters
and new methods. Again the author has apparently set no geographical
limit to his researches and the result
is
a glorified tour round the world
of
crime.
welter of literature devoted to the ricitation
of
famous tria
f
s
and infamous
His motto has been to
"
Let
observation with extensive view
Survey mankind from China
to
Peru."
And finally this book is to be recommended for the admirable way in which
each episode
is
told. Though they are all short-the average length is under
six pages-yet they lose none of that atmosphere which is
so
essential to the
full appreciation of great crimes.
No
attempt
is
made to give a verbatim
account of the evidence
;
the policy of the author is rather to give a brief
sketch
of
each particular crime with
its
surrounding circumstances.
In
order
to suggest a motive, or point to the absence
of
a motive, a sufficient account
of the early lives of the principal actors is invariably given.
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