The Detection of Burglary in India
| Author | R.N. Marsh-Smith |
| Published date | 01 October 1991 |
| Date | 01 October 1991 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X9106400409 |
| Subject Matter | Police Journals of the Past |
Police Journals
of
the Past
The Detection
of
Burglary in India
R.N.
MARSH-SMITH
Superintendent of Police, Cawnpore
AFEW years ago there appeared a small book entitled The Detection
of
Burglaryin
India!
by W. A.Gayer, Director-General of Police in
Hyderabad State. This was probably the first book published in India
which was devoted solely to the problem of burglary. It was a remarkable
book, because it suggested a simple and effective remedy for a problem
which had confronted police officers in India for many years and which,
from its vastness and complexity, had seemed impossible of solution.
Gayer's
book, with its startlingly simple suggestion, immediately
commanded attention. Many police officers throughout India at once
began to tackle burglary on what soon came to be known as 'the Gayer
system.' In justice to the author
of
that work it should be stated that his
book did not merely set forth a system
of
investigating burglary but dealt
with the various aspects
of
the question, and pointed out that, for a
complete remedy, changes in the law affecting burglary and in the rules
and regulations affecting its investigation and prevention were necessary.
Most
of
his suggestions to this end have been overlooked:the systemalone
has been adopted, often with an imperfect understanding
of
its basis, but
still more often with a lack of appreciation of its limitations.
The basis of the system is that a professional burglar becomes
efficient in a particular method of burglary and that he always uses the
same method. In otherwords, once a hole-diggeralways a hole-digger, or
once a cat-burglar always a cat-burglar; or conversely, in a given area
cases
of
burglary exhibiting aparticular modus operandi should be
attributed only to burglars who use that modus operandi. The chief
instrument
of
the system is the crime chart. All burglaries must be
classified according to the method, and all cases
of
one class must be
charted on the same chart. From the chart and the dates
of
occurrence
appreciations will be made which should lead to a correctdetection of the
gang responsible. This in brief is 'the Gayer system'.
Without doubt this system can be of the greatest value in dealing
with the burglary problem; but it is my object in this paper to show not that
the main proposition underlying the system is incorrectbut that in practice
itreq uires considerable modificationand, thatit is necessary to supplement
this proposition by another which is
of
more general application and less
likely to lead to false deductions. Its application is necessary toenable the
Gayer system itself to be fully and correctly applied. The methods of
burglary hereafter discussed are methods which are encountered in India
and, in some respects, are peculiar to that country; but the arguments are
I.
Published by Thacker, Spink &Co., Calcutta, 1920
October 1991 333
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