“What Can Happen Once Can Happen Again”
| Date | 01 July 1965 |
| Published date | 01 July 1965 |
| Author | Stanley Waller |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6503800705 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CriDlinal
Investigation
SUPT. STANLEY
WALLER
Deputy Chief Constable
of
Rochdale
••
WHAT
CAN
HAPPEN
ONCE
CAN
HAPPEN
AGAIN"
Having attended BDistrict Conference of Superintendents of
England and Wales, I was returning home, accompanied by a
colleague from another force. After crossing the invisible boundary
which divides the county borough of Rochdale from the municipal
borough of Heywood, I was surprised to be flagged down by one of
my own constables. I was even more surprised when he addressed
me, " Just a routine check, sir, the bank robbers might have nicked
your car and got away in it."
Thus I became aware of a major crime which burst into the head-
lines in local and national newspapers for several days afterwards.
A crime which the recorder of Manchester Crown Court eventually
described as " virtually an act of war on ordinary civilized people".
Parked at the kerbside, I was pleased to note one of our radio
patrol cars, with engine running and an alert uniformed driver at the
wheel, ready to pursue any vehicle which failed to stop when signalled
to do so by the constable who was speaking to me.
Compared with last year, our overworked criminal investigation
department was already coping with a 30 per cent. increase in crime
and investigating a complicated murder. Before the completion of
the bank robbery investigation, they had cleared up another brutal
murder.
Irrelevant thoughts flitted through my mind:
"The
public of
Rochdale ought to be grateful that its police officers are not bound
to work according to union rules."
"I
wonder how many irate
motorists will complain about being delayed or stopped by this
constable who, after all, is doing a good
job
of work."
Whipp and Bourne, Ltd., Electrical Engineers, of Switch-gear
Works, Castleton, Rochdale, is a firm of international renown, who
have installed switch-gear in the largest liners and cargo vessels
flying the British flag.
It
is the firm's custom to collect money for
the payment of wages each Friday from the local branch of the
Midland Bank.
July 1965 320
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