Review: The Detection of Crime
| Published date | 01 July 1934 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3400700319 |
| Date | 01 July 1934 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
382
THE
POLICE JOURNAL
THE
DETECTION
OF
CRIME.
By
SUPERINTENDENT
MARTYN
ELSE
and
AsSISTANT
CHIEF
CONSTABLE
J. M.
GARROW.
(Philip Allan Ltd.)
6s.
THIS book is modestly described as an introduction to some methods of
scientific aid in criminal investigation.
It
is extremely well produced and
the illustrations are very clear.
Superintendent Else has long been known as a pioneer on
the
question
of applying scientific aid to assist in criminal investigation work.
It
is
pleasant to find that he and Mr. Garrow have the courage to stick up for
their country, and in this connexion part of their preface, dealing with
the
oft-reiterated criticism
'that
there is no scientific staff attached to any
Police Force in the country,' is worth quoting in extenso:
, Everyone acquainted with modern crime realizes thatscience is a valuable
asset to the investigator and, consequently, to the public, and so far as this
country is concerned its greatest value for the purpose of evidence lies in
the fact that in almost all cases evidence of this nature comes, not from the
officer connected with the case or from an expert connected with the police,
but
from
the
expert witness who has no official connexion with the police.
Those acquainted with the distinction in criminal procedure in other coun-
tries as compared with that of our own will realize the importance of the con-
tinuation of a system that has repeatedly demonstrated its usefulness,
the
value of which, as evidence, is enhanced ahundredfold by its disinterested-
ness.
In
this connexion we have yet to learn that any country or State is
better served than
our
own. Every phase of crime to which scientific exam-
ination applies is provided for and, incidentally, the system provides a bulwark
of safety for
the
innocent which in its certainty is equal to
the
sureness of
detection when dealing with the actual criminal.
..
.'
The
book gives valuable hints as to search and examination for evidence
and valuable advice as to the preservation, packing, and transit of matter
selected for examination.
The
only risk to an enthusiastic police officer
studying this book is
that
he might be led to try to do too much scientific
work himself and might be led to forget that in many cases in which scientific
evidence could be given it is unnecessary, owing to the volume of other
evidence.
We must also remember that whilst, like
the
White Knight in Alicein
Wonderland, it is well to be prepared for everything, it is sometimes possible
to carry this principle too far.
It
will be remembered that when the Knight,
who carried amongst other things amousetrap on his saddle, was asked
whether he thought it likely that mice would be caught there, replied, ,
It
may not be likely
but
if they do come I do not choose to have them running
all about.'
There
is a danger of leading young police officers to believe that
practical results are likely to follow from scientific examination in far more
cases than in practice they do,
but
the
authors of this book realize this quite
clearly and have set out in plain language a mass of information which ought
to enable police officers who study it to realize the possibilities of scientific
aid in criminal investigation, to know what to look for and how to preserve
what they have found, and above all to know when they ought to consult
an expert,
the
kind of information he is likely to be able to provide, and
the
kind of questions which they ought to
put
to him.
To continue reading
Request your trial