JUSTICE, POLICE, PRISONS AND RECORDS
The total number of reports made to the police rose from 314,438 to 416,024, of which 173,837 disclosed no criminal offence. The balance of 242,187 included 19,053 reports of serious offences (18,306 in 1952) of which 9,543 (50.09%) resulted in the arrest and prosecution of 9,726 persons, of whom 419 (4.3%) were juveniles, mainly implicated in cases of minor larceny. The remaining reports were of miscellaneous offences (169,777 in 1952), of which 174,956 resulted in the arrest and prosecution of 186,674 persons. The figures for the various classifications of serious offences are given in Appendix XI.
The increase in serious crime consisted mainly of petty larcenies, arising from the economic conditions and uncertainty of employment prevailing in the Colony.
An encouraging feature of the year was the continued assistance given to the police by members of the public, who were responsible for the arrest of 923 persons perpetrating serious crimes. Twenty-four letters of
of appreciation and monetary awards were presented to members of the public for outstanding services to the community.
Traffic. The comparative figures for accidents are as follows:
Fatal
Serious Injury Slight Injury Damage Only
1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953
132 96 119 129 104 106 72 226 462 618 603 490 466 448 1,738 1,952 2,786 2,976 2,328 2,698 3,124 3,233 3,871 4,923 4,619 3,937 4,787 4,892
5,329 6,380 8,446 8,327 6,859 8,057 8,536
There was an increase of 479 in the number of accidents reported, but the number of fatal accidents decreased by nearly
one third, the lowest since 1945. serious injury decreased and the recorded.
Similarly, accidents involving lowest figure since 1947 was
127