H.—l6

Growth of Department. —The following return shows the growth of the Department, the population, and the total number of offences (irrespective of by-law offences) reported, and in which arrests or summonses resulted, at each tenth year since 1877, prior to which date each province in the Dominion had its own Police Force. The figures for 1939, 1940, 1941, and 1942 are also shown :—

Criminal Registration Branch. —At Headquarters during the year the finger impressions of 3,736 persons were received, classified, indexed, and filed; 174 persons were identified as previous offenders who, had it not been for the finger-print system, would have passed as first offenders ; 2,141 photographs were taken by the photographers attached to the Branch ; the photographs of 2,665 prisoners (4,112 photographs) were received and dealt with ; 528 photographs were reproduced in the Police Gazette ; 13 wanted persons located ; and 3 unknown deceased persons identified by finger-prints. Finger-prints left by offenders committing 43 crimes were identified as belonging to 26 persons, all of whom were convicted. Finger-prints of 116 persons were received for inquiry from other countries, of which 18 were identified as those of persons previously convicted in New Zealand ; the finger impressions of 43 New Zealand offenders were sent overseas for inquiry, 17 being identified as having been previously convicted outside this Dominion. It is interesting to note that in New Zealand the finger-print system has, to date, been responsible for the identification of 7,865 persons. In conjunction with the Arms Bureau, various photographs and lecture slides were prepared. Auckland Criminal Registration Branch.—On the 31st March, 1943, the finger-print collection in Auckland totalled 9,320 sets. During the year 1,094 sets of finger-prints were received and were duly classified, searched, and filed. The remanded prisoner forms with the results of the cases inserted for 475 prisoners were dealt with. The photographs of 201 prisoners were taken, and 1,005 prints were taken from the negatives ; also numbers of photographs of scenes of crimes and motor accidents, &c., were taken, the total number of photographs produced by the Branch during the year being 1,752. In five cases offenders who would not otherwise have been known as having been previously convicted were traced by their finger-prints, and in eleven other cases finger-prints left by offenders when committing crimes were identified and the offenders duly arrested and dealt with by the Courts. Arms Bureau. —The work of this Bureau is being extended, especially in relation to the identification of metal objects which have been recovered by the police and which have been interfered with by filing or otherwise to disguise their ownership or origin. During the year a number of such articles, including bicycles, were dealt with, identified, and traced to their owners. In one case of wholesale theft of bicycles, this process led to a Supreme Court conviction. Many reports in respect of firearms which caused deaths were prepared for Coroners, and evidence given in several of the cases. Accidents with firearms are common, and every possible effort is being made to improve the knowledge of sportsmen and to make shooting safer. The firearms accident rate has risen again from 37 in 1941-4-2 to 52 in the past year ; of these, 16 were fatal. The average age of persons injured was slightly over 28 —the oldest victim being 88 and the youngest 2 years of age. An unusual feature of the year's accidents was the number which occurred with the service rifle — viz., 16, of which 4 were fatal. The -22 rifle accounted for 21 cases ; shotguns, 10 ; revolvers, 3 ; and odd rifles, 2. Police Buildings, &c. —The following works in connection with police-stations were carried out during the year by the Public Works Department:— A new station was erected at Elthain, and those at Norsewood and Havelock completed. Residences for sergeants at Feilding and Reefton and offices at New Brighton were built, and motor-garages were constructed at Kaiapoi and Karori. Sites for police-stations were acquired at Bay View (Napier) and Owaka. Repairs, renovations, and improvements were also affected at many stations throughout the Dominion.

2

i 03 •S g . Offences Arrests for I SB ® J Cost P er where Drunkenness Year. • oO •- Total. -p ... Inhabit- Population. . Arrests or (included in I Population. ant * reported. g ummonse3 Qflfences ® 5 § resulted. reported"). O Q Q 1878 25 90 14 329 458 1 to 944 * 432,352 14,157 13,959 6,668 1888 13 69 17 388 487 1 to 1,328 3/lf 646,913 12,897 11,854 5,387 1898 7 56 16 457 536 1 to 1,435 2/8 768,910 16,378 14,730 5,532 1908 15 83 32 604 734 1 to 1,331 3/2J 977,215 23,510 22,484 10,343 1918 20 111 38 732f 901 1 to 1,274 4/6£ 1,147,391 19,067 18,043 7,228 1928 23 127 54 91311,117 1 to 1,301 5/9 1,453,517 33,138 30,622 6,601 1938 26 145 93 l,164f 1,428 1 to 1,123 7/6 1,604,479 44,308 41,618 5,446 1939 27 148 91 1,173f 1,439 1 to 1,129 7/5f 1,624,714 46,378 43,162 5,935 1940 27 149 90 l,191f1,457 1 to 1,126 7/8J 1,640,901 45,009 41,619 5,470 1941 28 155 97 l,229fl,509 1 to 1,084 7/11J 1,636,230 38,559 35,896 4,887 1942 29 159 105 1,30611,599 ltol,022 8/3J 1,634,338 34,608 30,790 3,001 1943 29 175 112 l,324f 1,640 1 to 998 8/10J 1,636,700 * Not obtainable. t Includes temporary constables.