Suggestions for Simplification of 'Modus Operandi' System in Smaller Forces
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4802100308 |
| Author | I. D. MaCabe |
| Published date | 01 July 1948 |
| Date | 01 July 1948 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SIMPLIFICATION
OF
'MODUS
OPERANDI'
SYSTEM
215
Other situations with which Police may be faced are '
stay-in'
strikes, squatting to prevent traffic, unruly prisoners in gaols, etc.
CONCLUSION
It
should always be borne in mind that tear smoke is non-lethal
and only causes temporary discomfort. Smoke should therefore be
employed whenever there is the slightest chance of the Police being
unable to cope with a mob by baton charges alone.
It
is better to use
smoke
before
the Police are beaten up and demoralised, as the Baton
Sections must be properly organised and in a position to engage the
crowd at full strength immediately after the employment of smoke.
The
psychological and blinding effect of tear smoke is only temporary, and
it is essential to follow up the employment of smoke with physical
violence immediately.
Firearms are lethal, and therefore should only be resorted to when
the action is lost so far as the Police are concerned.
In
this connection,
it is understood that a famous Secretary of State once expressed the
opinion that he could not understand why it should be considered
civilised to kill with the .303 bullet and barbarous to disable tem-
porarily with lachrymatory fumes !
The
cure
for'
Mob
Hysteria'
is dispersal, and the only means by
which a small number of men can disperse a large mob without blood-
shed is by the use of
Tear
Smoke.
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF
POLICE
Acknowledgment is
made
to
the
manufacturers
of
the
equipment
described
(Messrs. Civil
Protection
(1946)
Ltd.,
24 St.
Mary
Axe,
London,
E.C.3) for
permitting
their
photographs
to be
reproduced
in
this
article.
Suggestions for Simplification of
'Modus
Operandi' System in Smaller Forces
By 1. D. MACABE
Uganda
Police
WHILE I was on leave I had the opportunity of being shown
the ' Modus Operandi ' system of filing and searching as an aid
to Criminal Investigation.
The
suggestions I now make do not apply to the larger forces
where there is sufficient work to keep a special staff of trained searchers.
In
the smaller forces where the Detective Staff have to do active
investigation and also keep the force records, less time spent in making
out and filing the records, and the simpler the system of searching the
records, would mean that more time could be spent outside their offices
in making inquiries. In a smaller force each Detective Officer should
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