H.—2

IV

PART I. Organization. At the passing of " The Abolition of Provinces Act, 1875/' there existed a Police Force in each province, under the control of the Provincial Executive, enrolled under " The Constabulary Force Ordinance, 1846," and Armed Constabulary Acts of 1867 and 1869. No alterations in the law governing the Force took place until the passing of " The Police Force Act, 1886," which is still in operation, and which controls the administration of the Force. By section 17 of that statute it is provided that all officers and constables enrolled under" the Armed Constabulary Acts of 1867 and 1869, and serving as a Civil Police Force, shall be deemed to have been duly appointed to the Police Force constituted under "The Police Force Act, 1886." By sections 2 and 3 of the said Act the appointment of officers and constables, and by section 11 the employment and distribution of the Force, rests with your Excellency, while by section 10 the power to dismiss constables is given to the Commissioner of Police. The control of the Force is therefore with your Excellency, acting by the Minister in charge of the department, the Commissioner of Police, while possessing certain powers under the Act and exercising a limited authority in certain departmental matters, being really in the position of an Under-Secretary. Strength. The total strength of the Force of all classes, exclusive of district constables, for the years 1891-98 was as under : — 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. Inspectors ... 12 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 Sergeants ... 62 60 53 55 51 51 45 56 Detectives 14 14 14 13 13 13 12 16 Constables ... 404 401 407 410 416 404 452 457 Totals ... 492 482 481 485 487 474 516 536

Distribution. The distribution of the Force in the colony on 31st March last was as follows:—

The Force was distributed in the districts as follows: —

There are 110 mounted men included in the number of constables given above, of whom eleven are at head stations and ninety-nine at out-stations.

Police District. Inspectors. Sergeants. Constables. L Deteofcives. Total. .uckland lapier ... Vanganui Wellington lelson and Westland ihristchurch )unedin 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 4 3 9* 6 9* 15 91 37 32 80 33 91 93 5 1 "i 107 43 36 94 40 104 111 "i 2 56 457 16 536 * Including one sergeant-major.

Districts. Inspeoi jtoj At Head Station. At Out-stations. Detectives. Number of Outstations. Sergeants. Constables. Sergeants, j Constables. Auckland ... ... 1 Napier ... ... 1 Wahganui ... ... 1 Wellington ... ... 1 Nelson and Westland ... 1 Canterbury ... ... 1 Dunedin ... ... 1 4 1 1 5 1 4 5 I I j 39 8 5 34 5 32 29 5 1 "4 52 27 21 30 21 36 49 6 3 2 4 5 5 10 56 29 27 46 28 59 64 "4 2