Colonel Fraser, Commissioner of the City Police, has forwarded a
defence of himself and force to the Court of Aldermen in answer to the attacks based upon the jewel robbery on Coruhill. His de- fence is in brief that all the recent robberies have been committed without breaking open any outer door, that City tradesmen leave their property unprotected by private watchfulness, that Mr. Wal- ker was very careless, that the public require from the police services they ought to perform for themselves, and that within twelve months he had reported to as many owners 1,300 cases of insecure fastening of their premises. He did not want more men, but he was inclined to agree with the suggestion that the veterans of the force should be better paid. Their wages had not risen, while prices had, and they were frequently attracted by better offers to other work. The defence seems sensible, but we are in- • dined to suspect that the supervision of the men supposed to pass every house " every seven minutes" might be made very much stricter with advantage. Street sentries, too, might in some places be found exceedingly useful.
Previous page
