The Colonial Police

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THE COLONIAL POLICE

SIR CHARLES JEFFRIES, K.C.M.G., O.B.E. Deputy Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies

MAX PARRISH . LONDON

The Queen's Message to the Colonial Service

I desire, on my accession to the Throne, to express to all members of the Colonial Service my warm appreciation of the ability and devotion with which in the past they have performed their mani. fold and responsible duties. The splendid traditions of the Service are well known to me, and are rightly a SOurce of pride to its members. I know that I can depend with confidence on their unfailing loyalty and on their continued and steadfast devotion to the well-being of the peoples whom they serve.

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Contents

Introduction PART

I

7

THE COLONIAL POLICE SERVICE

The British Police Tradition 2 Police Tradition in the Colonies 3 The Colonial Police Service 1

PART

1

II

THE COLONIAL POLICE FORCES

4 5 6 7

Police Forces of the Caribbean Police Forces of the Far East Police Forces of West Africa Police Forces of East and Central Mrica 8 Police Forces of Cities and Islands 9 The Palestine Police, 1920-1948

59 77 90 102 124 15 2

c

PART

III

,

THE COLONIAL POLICEMAN AND H I S WORK

(3

10 11 12 13

Recruitment and Training The Heart of the Matter Riots and Disturbances Unity and Diversity

165 179 195 212

r v

s t

a

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II

APPENDICES I II

The Colonial T erritories and their Police Forces Note on Books

a

224 226

0

c]•

0] •

Index

IS

228

Introduction

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f

In our time, the words 'police' and 'p l' ", 'cr' 0 Iceman msplre h d' rat er dlu.erent emotIOns, at least in the breasts f th 'd' B" ' a blIng rItIs h publIc.' Police' especiaU 0' the or mary ' law'P I' S ' , y m e context of the o ICe tate, suggests an organisation devoted t ' h ' d h .. 0 seemg t at t h e' pu bllC 1 0 w at the authorIties want it to d 0, an d to makmg ' t h lngs unp easant for those who resist or disobey But th' I' ,. h fi' d . e po Iceman IS t e nen and ally of the public. He is there not to coerce them but to protect them and to help them even in such 11 h ' , s m a ' matters as teIIlng t e tIme or helping children and old ladies safely across t~e . road., Whex: temp:rs :un ~igh and the peace is disturbed, It IS the Man In Blue, WIth hIS notebook and his' Now then, what's all this?', who restores sanity and by his mer~ presence causes lawlessness to melt away. It was not always so. The policeman is, in a sense, a more modern creation than the police. Organised governments have usually had a police force, whether called by that name or by another. Britain, until not much more than a hundred years ago, was rather exceptional in not having one. When the Metropolitan and provincial police forces were formed in Britain, the policemen, though inheriting the ancient personal office of constable, were most unpopular because the whole idea of 'police' was strange and unwelcome to the general British public. Bu~ in time the policeman as an individual proved his wort~ and ga~ned the affection of all law-abiding citizens. Perhaps thIS affectIO~ may in some part have been due to an impression that the P?hce, as a body, were not particularly efficient. Such an impreSSIOn was certainly fostered and reflected by popular literature, and especially by the Sherlock Holmes saga. 'When Gregson, or Lestrade, y or Athelney Jones are out of their depths - which, by tHhe1wa , . 1al'd b!". is their normal state - the matter IS elor e me, 'saId 0 meso

8

1

THE COLONIAL POLICE

k has had a numerous . fi'literary . h the great Sh er1oc Yet, althoug ctIOn, In~ h re recent tren d 0 f popular detectIve ., f progeny, t e rna W 11 has been in the dIrectIOn 0 trans~ augurated by Edg~r aI,ace, n the superhuman powers of the . h offinal po Icema I I' . fernng to t e . d f describing in more or ess rea IStIc succ~ssfuI detectl~:'b anwh~ch 'Inspector Blank gets his man'. As detaIl the process h Y f the efficiency and brilliance of Scotland a result, abnew bm~ltt 0p which is probably at least as embarras~ Yard has een Ul u I' P I' . , ( hope) gratifying to the Metropo Itan . smg as It IS we may H h' 0 Ice . C' . 1 Investigation Department. t IS may and Its nmma . bowever ' fid . . t'IS that, at any rate in BritaIn, be t h e pam . pu hc con 'ence . In for preventmg andd'detectIng h ' I'Ice as an organisation tepa , . . ccnme r. . established along wIth, and wIthout preJu Ice to, allectIOn IS now h' h . h for the policeman as the universal uncle; w IC IS a very appy and desirable state of affairs. This book is an attempt to awaken and partly at least to satisfy interest in a less well known but no less important body of police work, namely that which is done in the Colonial territories for the good government of which Britain is directly or indirectly responsible. I do not write as a policeman but as a member of the civil service whose work has brought me into contact with police~ men and their problems. Any Colonial policeman who may read this will, I hope, extend to me the indulgence of the professional for the well-meaning amateur. Such opinions as I may venture to express are, of course, my own and must not be read as statements of official policy. I am conscious that, in dealing with so wide a field of activity I ~hall be guilty of many omissions, though not, I trust, of seriou~ ~IsrepresentatlOn. If anyone considers that some important inchlden~ or. achievement has been left unmentioned or has had less t an JustIce done to .t I I . . IS ' .IgnoranceI, btl canh on yhapologIse. The probable ex~ P1anatlOn . d · rather t, u ave ad, of Course' to be selectIve '11 an h ave trIed th an to present a compI 0 1 t ustrate I my general theme by examples sation of each f h {; e e cata ogue of the history and organiwhich I have t~ t:lI~ orty and more individual police forces of This book Could not h b ave een compiled without help and encouragement l". trOm many qu t I h . especially the former and ar ers. s ould lIke to tha~k present Inspectors-General of Colomal

Police, Mr C.M.G.; Sir of the book and staff of C.B.E.,D.s.o.

G.H.Ro ..,.·.,. MrA. H.] and Mr C. original rna Stationery of Corona, Alan

.

SlOn to I.S.O.,M.B.E.

Canada, India, P",A.J.~ cern ed, \. uv . omit re{;o"o,; Colonial the days wh and signific is outside th( This book wealth, that tected State_ the United] are handled South Africa analand Prol close geograF South Africa: Relations Oft the Colonial refer to these

I

INTRODUCTION

9

Police, l'vfr W. C.Johnson ' C .M . G ., C .B.E., a n d M r A W M 11 . C.M.G.; SIr George Abbiss, O.B.E. who very k' dl 'd' u er, In Y rea the draft ' o f t h e b 00k an d rna d e. many valuable suggest'IOns,. theL' . . l branan an d staif 0 f theC oI omal Office LIbrary'' Brigad'Ier P . D . W. Dunn C.B.E.,D.S.O.,M.C., C,ommandant of the Police C 11 ' · D' 0 ege, and Mr G • H • R 0 b IDS, ~~.B.E., Irector of Colonial Studies at the College' MrA. H.JenkIns,Mr H.Conway, MrR.E.Proust, MrL.S.Wink and Mr C. W. D. Ogborn, of the Colonial Police S . fi .. I . I k' dl ervIce, or ongIna matena In y placed at my disposal' Her M' , . Offi ' aJesty s StatIOnery ce, !'1essrs Wm Blackwood & Sons Ltd, the Editors of Corona, the Polzee Journal and the Police College Magazine, Sir Alan Burns, G.C.M.G., Mr W. H. Ingrams, C.M.G.,O.B.E., Mr D. W. MacIntosh, C.M.G.,O.B.E., the Rev J. A. F. Ozanne for permission to quote from various publications and MrW.W. Clark I.S.O.,M.B.E.,M.C., for material used in Chapter g. '

*

Before getting down to my task, I had better make it clear what I am going to write about. The British Commonwealth consists of a number of sovereign States - the United Kingdom itself, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Mrica, India, Pakistan and Ceylon. With these we are not here concerned, though it would be impossible in such a book as this to omit reference to Ceylon in dealing with the history of the Colonial Police, since the development of the Ceylon Police, in the days when Ceylon was a Colony, is one of the most striking and significant factors in that history. Southern Rhodesia, also, is outside the scope of this book. This book is about the police forces of the rest of the Commonwealth, that is to say the forty-odd Colonies, Protectorates,. Protected States and Trust Territories which are dependenCIes of the United Kingdom and whose affairs, with three ,exceptions, are handled in the Colonial Office. (The three exceptIOns are the South Africa High Commission Territories - Swaziland, Bech~­ analand Protectorate and Basutoland; these, because of. theIr close geographical and economic connection with the U mon of South Africa, are under the supervision of the Commonwealt~ elations Office, but their officials are regarded as members 0 the Colonial Service.) It is convenient, though ~ot, accurate, to refer to these territories collectively as 'the Colomes .

TliE

COLONIAL POLICE

8

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t Sherlock has had a numerous literary Yet, although the great t end of popular detective fiction, inmorearrecen r has been m . the d'IrectlOn . 0 f transpro~cny, tIe Wallace, 1 augurated by Edg. 1 j"ccm an the superhuman powers of the ferring to the o~~la p~ lof describing in more or less realistic ~ucc~s~ful detectl\e'b"nwhich 'Inspector Blank gets his man'. As detail the processes I y f the efficiency and brilliance of Scotland 0 which is probably at least as embarrasa resU It , a neW bmyt'ItI up Yard has Ul y hope) gratifying to the M etropO l'Itan P 0 l'Ice . . 'been ( Slllg a~ ItC. IS we . rna I Investigation Department. H owever t h'IS may and Its ,nnuna . ' pu bl'1C con fid ence 111 . . t' that at any rate in Bntam, be ' th eI'P01l1 IS , . . ' as an organisation for preventmg and detectmg CrIme t he po Ice . d' Ir' . established along with, and without preJu Ice to, auectlOn IS now . h . h for the policeman as the universal uncle; whlC IS a very appy and desirable state of affairs. This book is an attempt to awaken and partly at least to satisfy interest in a less well known but no less important body of police work, namely that which is done in the Colonial territories for the good government of which Britain is directly or indirectly responsible. I do not write as a policeman but as a member of the civil service whose work has brought me into contact with policemen and their problems. Any Colonial policeman who may read this will, I hope, extend to me the indulgence of the professional for the well-meaning amateur. Such opinions as I may venture to express are, of course, my own and must not be read as statements of official policy. I am conscious that, in dealing with so wide a field of activity I shall be guilty 0 f many omISSIOns, . . . though not I trust of serious' nusrepresentation '. ' . 'd . ' If anyone COnsl'd ers that some Important mel has b een 1eft unmentioned or has had less thaent' or .achievement d n Justice I . The probable explanation is . one to it,can on Iy apologIse. and have tri:~;:t~:~e~o~~t I have had, of course, to be selective than to present a I ustrate my general theme by examples sation of each of ~7 etc catalogue of the history and organiwhich I have to teUe orty and more individual police forces of ,


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