'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎148r] (300/470)

There have been, on and off throughout the year, a number of thefts from officers’
quarters and billets. Most of these maj^ probably be put down to the criminal
element among Indian followers, to which I have referred earlier in this Report.
Owing to the circumstances already described, the Police are under a heavy handicap
in checking and detecting crime of this sort.
(7) Class VI .—This class includes all petty offences and offences against Army
Commander’s proclamations, dealt with summarily.
No figures are given, as this was not done last year. There is, however, one
class of offence coming under this head which is of importance, viz., smuggling of
opium and other drugs. Another is the offence of being found in possession of
Government property. The expansion of the river Police should assist largely
in checking these forms of crime.
(8) General Development of the Force .—The strength of the force underwent
modification twice during the year. A new sanctioned establishment reducing the
number of all ranks from 731 to 535 was introduced in March and again in September
a reduction was made from 535 to 440. At the time of the second reduction ration
allowance of Rs. 15/- per month was introduced and also three allowances of Rs. 5/-
each for (1) proficiency, (2) extra proficiency, and (3) long service (three years).
With an initial rate of pay of Rs. 30/- a constable who is literate and has three
years’ service can now draw as much as Rs. 60/- per month. It was hoped that this
increase of pay would bring in recruits, but it has not done so. It may be that all
available material has already been absorbed by the Labour Directorate, and in
putting in proposals recently for the river patrol I asked the I.G.C. to assist me with
150 Arabs from this source. In all probability, when the demand for labour eases
off, recruits may be glad to come in; at present they will not. I could get Persians,
but do not wish to enlist any more of these, as there is too large a proportion of them
in the force already. The men already in the force seem on the whole contented.
There have been only 19 desertions this year, as against 115 last. If once a good
flow of recruiting could be started and the excessively long hours of duty cut down,
I believe the force would increase in popularity. My intention is to develope the
Military side of the men’s training, give them more frequent changes of duty and
less exacting tedious stretches of point duty. Nothing can, however, be done as
long as the present shortage of men continues, and I am anxiously awaiting the
result of my application to the I.G.C. for help in this direction.
Training .—The sanctioned strength of British instructors is now 11, and these
have proved useful in smartening the men up and keeping them up to the mark
on their duties. They have also had to be employed to supervise Police guards
put on store ships to stop pilfering and on the river patrols. Training of the Head
quarters Reserve has suffered much from the absence for long periods (as much
as six weeks at a time) of escorts sent to Bombay. The Headquarter Police have
charge of two manual fire-engines, and have proved useful in dealing with minor
outbreaks of fire.
Instruction of constables in the rudiments of law and procedure is given, and
I am negotiating for a schoolmaster to teach recruits their letters. There are not
enough Arab drill instructors; though I have one good Egyptian; also a good
Egyptian armourer, who has been put through a course with the Ordnance Depart
ment, and now carries out all ordinary repairs to arms.
Training of the higher ranks has been chiefly in the hard school of practical
work, though classes in law have been held for native officers, and will be resumed
as soon as the Public Prosecutor returns from leave. Improvement in procedure
is slow, very largely from the absence of law books and manuals in the vernacular.
I have just bought copies of the Central Provinces Police Manual for all Police
stations and offices, and this will simplify very much the issue of instructions as it
will only be necessary to quote the manual and indicate any required modifications.
Any up-to-date Police manual would have served the purpose. I chose that of my
owii Province, because any single one must have been strange to the majority of the
users, and the one with which I was familiar would be the easiest for me to issue
instructions from. In the absence of a manual, long circular orders on procedure
have been necessary, involving great waste of time. There is still, however, no
Arabic text-book, and this means that the majority of the Police station investigating
and clerical staff can only learn by repeated mistake. Much of the routine work
of a Police station is simple enough to be done by a well-trained writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. head constable,
but accuracy is important; the station house officers themselves have not the time to