spent in this connection would be money well spent, has been proved over and over again. The detection and suppression of organised crime can only be accomplished by a specially trained agency and this agency cannot be established and trained unless funds are made available. Meanwhile the unequal struggle between organised gangs of criminals and unco-ordinated police units, already overburdened with routine work, must continue. There can be no improvement until the problem is tackled in a systematic manner by an agency scientifically trained and organised." Out of the cases tried 86 per cent. ended in conviction under all classes, and 81 per cent. under the Indian Penal Code, the results in the year of report being the best during the past five years. The improvement was shared by the entire Presidency. Non-cognisable crime increased from 63,507 to 72,639, a net increase of 9,132 cases. The number of persons concerned in non-cognisable cases who appeared before the Courts during 1922 was 116,802. Of these 6,720 were discharged after appearance without trial, 76,948 were tried, 48,424 were convicted and 28,524 were discharged or acquitted. The percentages of persons convicted to those tried and of persons convicted to those appearing before the Courts were 62 93 and 41 45 respectively. over The value of property stolen during the year was 25 lakhs and the value of property recovered over 71⁄2 lakhs. Of the 20,793 persons convicted during the year 4,344 were identified as having had previous convictions and 1,147 were classed as habitual offenders. In this connection the Inspector General complains that many instances came to notice in which the Magistrates failed to inflict enhanced punishments on habitual offenders. He suggests that leniency of this nature to hardened criminals is sadly misplaced, for it only serves to increase the contempt that habitual offenders already have for the law. The protection from such offenders to which the public is entitled is reduced to negligible proportions, while the task of the police in checking the activities of habitual criminals becomes impossible. Criminal Investigation. The reorganisation of the Presidency Criminal Investigation Department was held in abeyance for want of funds and the Inspector General points out that the scientific study of the professional criminal and his methods is essential to successful Police work and that a Central organisation whose sole duty it is to study and to tabulate the modus operandi of each individual professional' criminal who comes to the notice of the police, is a necessity for efficient Police work. For such organisation would exercise a most effective check upon the activities of professional criminals and be responsible for the detection of countless crime which but for its operations would remain undetected. The Inspector General regards the reorganisation of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bombay Presidency on the lines indicated as an imperative necessity. The Annual Report for 1922 gives a number of interesting cases which were dealt with by the Criminal Investigation Department during the year. The Finger Print Bureau continued its work during the year and now has on record 121,000 finger impression slips, while the total of slips recorded in the Finger Print Bureau in Sind amounts to over 63,000. Miscellaneous Duties.-Numerous miscellaneous duties were performed by the Police. In addition to licensing and supervising public conveyances and escorting prisoners and many lakhs of treasure, the Police served a total of 186,955 summonses and warrants, extinguished 806 fires, destroyed 89,348 dogs, enquired into 1,118 cases referred to them by the Magistracy and into 13,391 petty cases under the Cantonment, Public Conveyance and other minor Acts, 678 suicides, 5,110 accidents-545 on the Railways-and 361 suspicious or sudden deaths. The Police in the Presidency proper also apprehended 34 military deserters. The sanctioned strength of the Police in the Presidency, including Sind and the Railways, stood at 1,059 officers and 21,936 men as compared with 1,125 officers and 24,453 men the previous year. The reductions were due to the retrenchment schemes undertaken at the desire of the Legislative Council and sanctioned by Government during the year of report. The total cost for the year 1922-23 amounted to 1 crore 231 lakhs as against 1 crore 391⁄2 lakhs in 1922, a saving of Rs. 164 lakhs. The average cost per policeman dropped from Rs. 538 in 1921 to Rs. 514. The average cost per head of the Police in the Counties and Boroughs of Scotland in 1921 was Rs. 4,630 as against Rs. 617 in Burma and Rs. 395 in the United Provinces, the two administrations which show the highest and lowest percentage cost in India. The Police in Madras, Bengal and Burma all cost more per head than in Bombay. The proportion of Police to area and population and cognisable crime investigated was 1 policeman to 5·74 square miles, 2.58 railway miles, 787 persons and 1.70 cognisable crime investigated against 1 to 5 29 square miles, 2·53 railway miles, 725 persons and 166 cognisable crime investigated in the preceding year. Statistics for 1922 for England and Wales and Scotland are not available. But those for 1921 were-in England and Wales, 1 policeman to 1'54 square miles and 815 persons, and in Scotland 1 to 4 43 square miles and 751 persons. There were 456 police stations and 482 outposts in the Presidency against 532 police stations and 776 outposts in the previous year, or a net reduction of 370 police locations, the result of the Retrenchment Schemes. Three hundred and ninety-seven police stations and 363 outposts were visited and inspected by Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents and Deputy Superintendents. The number of literate officers and men dropped from 968 and 12,939 in 1921 to 918 and 11,919 respectively in the year of report, the decrease being entirely due to the reductions in the force sanctioned in the Retrenchment Schemes. Proportionately there has been some slight improvement. Seventy-six police stations and 294 outposts were abolished as a result of the Retrenchment Schemes. "From the professional point of view," says the Inspector General," the reductions forced upon the Department have put the clock of progress back many years. There are two methods of preserving law and order, namely, (1) that of prevention and detection and (2) that savouring of the bludgeon. As civilisation progresses, the former method tends to supplant the latter. Drastic retrenchment has reversed this order, for substantial reductions in the unarmed police, who are responsible for the prevention and detection of crime, could only be made possible by a proportionate strengthening of the bludgeon arm of the Force. District officers were not prepared to accept responsibility for the maintenance of order in their respective districts on any other terms. If it was necessary for instance to reduce the strength of the police in a particular district by 150 units, the only feasible method of doing so was to reduce the unarmed strength by 200 and to increase the armed strength by 50." "Law and Order, formerly inseparable partners in our scheme of administration, have thus begun to have their interests separately weighed, the sacrifices of the former being counterbalanced by concessions to the latter." 66 So far as Sind is concerned, I am of opinion that the reductions have been so drastic that a popular outcry is inevitable." The outstanding feature of the year was the very pronounced decrease in reported cognisable crime-both ordinary and serious. As stated above, this decrease was largely due to the improvement in the economic situation which was a feature of the year. An examination of the statistics shows that the reduction of reported crime was not universal, but it must be remembered that the political agitation which was the feature of 1921 continued to increase in intensity till March 1922, when Mr. Gandhi was incarcerated, and that till that event took place and for some months afterwards, the police were distracted from their normal duties by the disturbing effects of the Non-cooperation movement. The police force was considerably below strength owing to the suspension of recruitment. The burden of work pressed, therefore, with greater intensity upon the shoulder of the depleted cadre. In the circumstances, it is satisfactory to be able to say that the Police maintained their reputation for loyalty, efficiency and diligence. |