Without the Consent of the Owner
| Author | James J. Crewdson |
| Date | 01 July 1946 |
| Published date | 01 July 1946 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4601900312 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
234
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
, liaising,' as it were, in the manner suggested, between theory and
practice, might contribute to the production of valuable results.
It
is largely a matter of developing within
the
Police Service a
particular attitude of mind, namely,
that
which regards the prevention
of crime as of
more
importance
than
its detection
and
which, when
considering problems relating to crime, always looks equally at the
preventive aspect as towards the question of detection.
That,
together
with
the
pooling of experience gained in conference.
Until the present time there has, without adoubt, been too
much
emphasis placed, in police circles, on the detection of crime, and this
has led to the well-known worship of
the'
percentage detected.'
Such
preventive work as has been done has been left largely to the individual,
apart from the age-old practices of ' night-checks,' vacated property
lists, emptying meters in unoccupied property, etc.
There
are, how-
ever, some forces who have made experiments in prevention by way of
social work and other means,
but
they are not many.
The
time appears to have come, when many minds are thinking in
the direction of prevention, for this type of work to be organised, in the
same way as work done in connection with the detection of crime.
This,
of course, involves the question of man-power and perhaps, because
of this, now is not a good time to
put
forward the suggestion;
but
the
time cannot be so far distant when the man-power situation will be
easier, and much preliminary work could be done without additional
men. If, by any chance, the authorities are thinking along the same
lines as many police officers, the day may not be so far away when
every police force will have
its'
Preventive Officer' or officers and the
appropriate department.
Without
the Consent of the Owner
By
CONSTABLE
JAMES
J.
CREWDSON
Oldham
Borough
Police
ONE of the most serious problems, of the many affecting the
Police in these days, is that of the stolen motor-car. Those who
do duty in Charge Offices and Information-rooms know this only too
well, and on occasions hardly an hour passes without acomplaint being
received or a message passed from another Force (by radio or other
means), of such an offence.
This
offence of taking and driving away a motor-car without the
consent of the owner is likely to be of greater concern to the Police
in the post-war period which we are now entering, since more cars
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