CO129-392 - Governor Sir May - 1912 [9-10] — Page 143

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Enclosure 2.

133

3.

You will recollect that towards the close of last year and the beginning of this I addressed a series of despatches to you dealing with the serious increase in crime in the Colony and reporting to you the measures I had taken to suppress it. This state of affairs led me of course to enquire into the efficiency of the Captain Superintendent of Police and his assistants, to ascertain what steps had been taken to keep the Police force and its methods of detection and suppression of crime abreast of the very striking changes which were taking place in the general condi- -tions of the native population of the Colony, and in the methods of the criminal classes and the nature of the crimes to be dealt

with.

4.

Mr. Badeley is an officer of ability, and he is I believe popular with his men, but my investigations left me with the impression that he was somewhat deficient in initiative, and without interest in his work which he described as "a dreary and thankless job". From time to time an increase in crime or some special occasion for public criticism, such as the riots of Novem- -ver, 1909, evoked what he called a "campaign", and my references to him produced only destructive criticism of all suggested reforms. I consulted the Colonial Secretary, Sir H. May, who had himself been Mr. Badeley's predecessor for nine years and was therefore exceptionally well able to form an opinion. He told me that he thought Mr. Badeley was not specially well suited for his

appointment, and that "the introduction of some fresh blood into

the executive of the Police such as Mr. Hallifax in place of

Captain Lyons or even a change in the Captain Superintendent

would make all the difference". The Registrar, Mr. Brewin, asked

for an interview with myself regarding the state of crime and

expressed the view that "the Captain Superintendent of Police was himself largely to blame for the deplorable state of things, and the whole of the superior officers of the Police were not sufficiently energetic and shewed little initiative".

5.