The Month in Retrospect
| Date | 01 October 1967 |
| Published date | 01 October 1967 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6704001009 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
motor
vehicles of the Leicestershire
and
Rutland
force will shortly
be in constant
touch
with a
computor
when on patrol.
The
computor,
which
will cost £18,000, is expected to be in operation in
about
three
months'
time.
It
is
hoped
to
make
similar facilities available for
foot
patrols
soon
after
. . • Reading
borough
police have agreed to
adopt
similar eyesight
standards
to those now
operating
in the
Metropolitan
Police.
The
move
will
mean
that
some men
and
women who need to wear spectacles or con-
tact
lenses will now be
able
to join the force.
The
acting chief constable
of the Reading Borough Police,
Mr.
Leonard
Dolby, believes
that
a
"significant
number"
of otherwise suitable men
and
women
had
been
prevented from joining the Police Service by the previous high standards.
Loughborough
in Leicestershire, with a population of 36,000, is to have
"unit
beat
policing".
The
town will be split into
four
zones each with
its
motor
patrol
car
on 24
hour
call,
duty
being
shared
between five officers.
Adetective constable
and
apolicewoman will be assigned to each zone
which will be split between two resident policemen equipped with personal
wireless
and
in direct link with the
motor
patrol
and
headquarters
. . .
The
chief constable of Lincolnshire, Mr.
John
Barnett, has expressed his
disapproval of the
"sponsored
walks",
the
current
fashion for raising
money
for charity.
"I
have
very strong views on these walks
and
think
they
are
inadvisable"
Mr.
Barnett
said.
"They
create aconsiderable
danger to people taking
part
in
them
and to
other
road
users,
and
I am
not
at
all influenced by the fact
that
this is a novelty or
that
they
are
run
to
make
money
for
charity".
"Clutterers
"-motorists
who drive nose to tail with no intention of over-
taking-have
been condemned by
Mr.
David
Gray,
chief constable of Stirl-
ing
and
Clackmannan.
The
frustration caused by tbis
behaviour
was im-
measurable, he claimed,
and
could
lead
to accidents • • .
The
Inverness
police have received their first personal wireless sets which were used for
the first time at the
Northern
Counties Agricultural Show
••.
Estate
agents
in
Yorkshire
have been warned to be on the
look
out
for bogus house
buyers who obtain the key to
empty
properties
and
then strip the house of
its fittings.
Reorganization
of the Liverpool
and
Bootie police. following the recent
amalgamation,
will result in the closing of 1I police stations,
and
the re-
placement of 14 ranging in size from section stations to divisional head-
quarters.
It
is
hoped
that
the replacement
programme
may
be completed
during the
next
seven years.
The
chief constable of the combined force.
Mr.
James
Haughton,
believes
that
with few exceptions the police stations
in
the
area
are"
antiquated
and
inefficient for
modern
needs".
The
new centralized communications system at the
headquarters
of the
Cheshire police,
operational
since January,' has resulted in a
"tremendous
increase"
in public response to police appeals for information,
and
several
important
arrests have been
made
in the county following 999 calls from
the public
•••
An increase of 356 in the
number
of crimes
known
to the
police in the first seven
months
of 1967,
compared
with the previous year,
is
reported
from Bristol. But of the 6,272 crimes recorded during this period,
3,369 - 501
more
than
during
the same period of 1966 - were detected.
Commented
C.I.D. head, Del. Sup.
Reginald
Hicks:
"Bristol
people
are
becoming very crime minded.
Apart
from
the
fact
that
more
of
them
are
heeding
our
advice in taking
greater
trouble
to keep their
property
secured,
the
number
of 999 calls to us has increased considerably during
recent
months."
466
October
1967
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