The Bombay City Police: A Historical Sketch, 1672-1916Edwardes, S. M. (Stephen Meredyth)
History
The Bombay City Police: A Historical Sketch, 1672-1916
Edwardes, S. M. (Stephen Meredyth)
Crime -- India -- Mumbai; Police -- India -- Mumbai
In the same year (1894) the Commissioner reported that, in accordance
with the orders of Government, he had introduced the Bertillon system of
anthropometry at the Head Police Office, but he expressed a doubt whether
results commensurate with the cost of working would be obtained. The
following year he stated definitely that the system was a failure, but
was urged by Government to persevere with it. The system, nevertheless,
was doomed, and in 1896 was superseded by the far more accurate and
successful finger-print system which was introduced into India by Mr.
(afterwards Sir Edward) Henry, the Inspector-General of Police in Bengal.
Although the Bertillon system was not finally abolished till the end of
1899, Mr. Vincent was able to report in 1898 that a finger-print bureau
had been established, that two police officers had been deputed to Poona
to learn from Mr. Henry himself the details of the system of criminal
identification, and that by the end of the year 300 finger-impressions
had been recorded. This was the origin of the Bombay City Finger-Print
bureau, which by steadily augmenting its own record of criminals and by
interchange of slips with the larger Presidency bureau at Poona, has
compiled a very useful reference-work for investigating officers.
The rapid extension of the scope of police work and the need of dealing
more quickly and effectively with various classes of offences had for
some time impressed upon the local authorities the need for a new police
law. The old Act XLVIII of 1860, under which the police worked in the
days of Mr. Forjett, had been followed by three successive Town Police
Acts, Nos. I of 1872, II of 1879 and IV of 1882. But the provisions
of these Acts needed amendment and consolidation to meet the altered
conditions of later years; and the Commissioner was justified in saying,
as he did in 1898, that the police were “working at a disadvantage
and were hampered in many ways” by the want of a comprehensive and
intelligible City Police Act, which would enable them to deal effectively
with the investigation of crime and the arrest and detention of
offenders and with the special offences peculiar to a large city. He
expressed a hope that the new City Police Bill, which had been under the
consideration of Government for several years, would be enacted without
further delay. Four years were still to elapse before this hope was
fulfilled by the passing of Bombay Act IV of 1902. In the meanwhile the
police, as well as the magistrates,[106] had to perform their respective
duties as best they could under the old law. Such success as the police
achieved in dealing with crime and other evils was due largely to the
energy and experience of the older Divisional Superintendents, such as
Messrs. Crummy,[107] Ingram, Grennan, McDermott, Sweeney, Nolan and
Brewin, of the Sirdar Mir Abdul Ali, and of tried Indian inspectors
like Rao Saheb Tatya Lakshman, Khan Saheb Roshan Ali and Khan Saheb
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