268
Reserves. That these
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guards" and " inspectors are engaged in what are essentially Police functions is evidenced by the fact that most of their legal powers are already shared and exercised by the ordinary Police.
With this numerous band of extra guardians of the law to supple- ment and reinforce the activities of the ordinary Police Force one would think that the criminally disposed person in Mauritius must lead a harried and precarious existence. Unfortunately for a certain type of criminal this does not appear to be the case. Although, as we have stated, serious or violent crime is not of frequent occurrence there is a very widespread laxity of conscience among certain classes with regard to the rendering unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and the revenue leakage through evasion of Licence and Excise dues presents an ever-present problem to the authorities. We are not convinced, however, that the solution of the problem is to be found in a multiplicity of Police Forces. One argument which was frequently expressed to us in favour of this system is that it places the law-breaker under the necessity of bribing two persons instead of one. This we feel is a quite ineffective deterrent if the illicit gains are high and the bribes need only be low. On the question of the extent to which corruption is practised we are unable to speak except from hearsay, although we are compelled to note that whether corruption does or does not exist the conditions which make for it undoubtedly do. With the raw material forum manufacture everywhere cheap and abundant and the retail price raised to a high level by the Excise duty, the profits on illicit distillation are on a scale which provides ample resources from which to tempt a lowly-paid subordinate officer. The position of a Revenue Guard is perhaps more vulnerable to such temptation than that of a police constable by reason of his greater isolation, while the risk of detection is less than in the case of the policemen whose duties are carried out to a greater extent under public observation and under more continuous official supervision. There is also the important consideration that a closer and more effective control over illegal activities of every kind can be exercised by a numerous highly-organized and disciplined body than by a small staff of Revenue or Fishery Guards, thinly spread over a wide area, and with fewer opportunities of establishing friendly co-operation with the law-abiding elements of the population. A comparative test of opportunity if not of efficiency is afforded by the fact that by far the greater number of detections of illicit spirit distillation in recent years have been made through information furnished to the Police without the assistance of the Revenue Preventive staff. The present position, in brief, is that the Revenue staff of Inspectors and Guards is meeting with little success in coping with this evil, and that the Police with greater resources of organization at their disposal can take over the work together with other duties now carried out by the Revenue Guards and Inspectors without adding to their own
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numbers. In the case of the Forest and Fishery Guards no revenue interests are involved. They are performing ordinary Police duties for which sufficient Police are at hand without their assistance. We propose, therefore, that the special Police services maintained by the Treasury in connexion with the Revenue and Fishery Ordinances, and by the Forest Department, should be abolished and that the whole of their duties should be taken over by the Police. With this addition to their work we think the numbers, grades and distribution of the local Police Force can be left as at present.
19. We do not recommend any staff reductions or other changes in the Police Headquarters organization which, besides the small personal staff of the Inspector-General, consists of three Branches, viz., the Criminal Investigation Department, the Paymaster General's Department and the Motor Traffic Branch. The clerical staff is drawn from the effective strength of the Force and is under the general control of the Paymaster, who is also Quartermaster. We do not regard its numbers as excessive. The Criminal Investiga- tion Department forms the personal charge of the Deputy Inspector- General but this officer also takes an active share in the general work of inspection. The Motor Traffic Branch is in charge of a junior Inspector and a clerical police staff of sixteen. If performs the following duties :--
(1) the issue of all licences,
(2) the examination of all public service vehicles (e.g., taxi-
cabs and omnibuses),
(3) the allocation and examination of loads of freight vehicles, and
(4) the supervision of road traffic.
We have already suggested in our report on the Treasury that the work of registration of motor cars and other vehicles for the purpose of the direct tax chargeable thereon under Ordinance 27 of 1928, together with the inspection work carried out by Revenue Inspectors in connexion with this tax, should be transferred to the Police. In the Motor Traffic Branch, which already requires for its own purposes to keep a record of all vehicles, the machinery for the registration part of this work already exists, and the Inspector-General informed us that the transfer would not involve any addition to his staff beyond one clerk to act as Cashier, and that even this addition could be dispensed with if the registration fee, which is a separate payment from the tax under Ordinance 27 of 1928, could continue to be paid at the Treasury. We see no reason why the latter arrangement should not be made. No in- convenience would be caused to the car owner who would obtain a receipt for the registration fee from the Cashiers' Branch of the Treasury for production to the Motor Traffic Branch with his application for registration. The direct tax under the Ordinance would continue to be paid as at present to the District Cashiers or
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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