Review: The Law Affecting Police and Public
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3801100314 |
| Date | 01 July 1938 |
| Published date | 01 July 1938 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
THE
POLICE JOURNAL
flatten
and
break
up
the
small oil globules which form
the
print,
and
it
will again be proved
that
whereas anatural
print
has clearly defined
sweat pores of different shapes
and
positions, some of appreciable size
and
shape, others elongated
and
so on, comparing to all
the
shapes of a
jig-saw puzzle, and clearly defined,
the
transferred
print
will show all
these
minute
characteristics dislodged
and
flattened so
that
an
internal
comparison cannot be made.
Defendants
such
as
the
accused in
the
case I have referred to
should be challenged with definite facts,
and
not
by mere imagination.
The
expert's approach to this
problem
through
the
aid of scientific
instruments
and
the
intimate knowledge of
the
underlying principles
of
the
finger-print science,
and
his ability to detect
the
spurious from
the
genuine, should prove
whether
we are still experts or amateurs.
Thus
assured
and
fortified we need have no feeling of being discredited
anywhere,
nor
any misapprehension
that
finger-prints have
not
come to
stay. T. A.
MEDHURST,
Officer
i/c
Finger-print
Dept.,
Gambia
Police Force.
REVIEWS
THE
LAW
AFFECTING
POLICE
AND PUBLIC. By
GERALD
ABRAHAMS,
B.A., of Gray's Inn and of the Northern Circuit, Barrister-
at-Law. (Sweet &Maxwell, Ltd.). I5s. 6d. net.
As Mr. Maxwell Fyfe says in his introduction"
It
appears beyond contra-
diction that the duties of the various police forces in this country have
increased enormously, while the powers of the policeman have been
but
slightly augmented. Nevertheless, the judicial scrutiny of the exercise of
these powers remains as keen as at any period in our history. In such a state
of development it is a real service to have these powers clearly stated."
This little book is full of interest and the headings of the chapters, e.g.
"
The
Man in the
Street"
and "
The
Englishman's
Castle"
are attractive.
In "
The
Englishman's
Castle"
Mr. Abrahams refers to the fact that the
days of man traps and spring guns are over
but
adds that a man can use fire-
arms to prevent an entry to his house and is not guilty of manslaughter if
death result to the invader but he does not mention the classic case of the
High Court Judge who, when asked what he would do if he came downstairs
at dead of night and found a burglar rifling his desk, replied" Shoot him dead
through the back."
It
is curious that a Barrister and Lecturer should have allowed definite
inaccuracies to creep in on points of detail connected with road traffic offences
and in cases dealing with prostitutes. However, the book is not a text book
but, as the author describes it, an essay on law.
382
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