'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎148v] (301/470)

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check the work minutely and the present Police station clerks are many of them
not intimately conversant with Police procedure and have not a high degree of
education. Thus diaries, &c., are inaccurately written up and magistrates complain,
particularly those who are accustomed to administer the Criminal Procedure Code
in India. I have recently promoted two senior head constables to the rank of clerk
sub-inspector, and hope in time to eliminate the local babu type from Police
stations.
Four non-gazetted officers have been trained and have qualified as finger-print
proficients, and four others have been trained in the method of taking impressions.
(9) Recruitment of Local Inhabitants as Native Officers. —There are now 10
locally born Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, five of these being probationers under
training. All are Mohammedans except two, who are Armenian and Jew respect
ively. Half of these local men are quite untrained, having only very recently
joined.
(10) Relations between the Police and the Public. —I am told at somewhat
frequent intervals that the Police are very unpopular with the people, but there
have been very few actual complaints of acts of oppression or high handedness,
and this makes it difficult for me to gauge the situation. The people who complained,
as far as I can make out, are the well-to-do merchant class; some of these, I suspect,
look for preferential treatment in matters like traffic control, which they probably
got in Turkish times; all probably forget the centuries of bad tradition behind
all subordinate Government officials in this country, and expect too much improve
ment in a short time. Moreover, the people in general use the word “ Police 55
for every kind of official of the lower ranks, jail warders, labour Police, fire brigade—
anything, in fact, in uniform. I have had several concrete instances of complaints
against the Police, turning out to refer to men of entirely other departments.
The fact remains that the number of charges of rough treatment, oppression, or
extortion is practically nil. I should be the first to take up and punish severely
any such cases that were brought before me, and all ranks have been strictly warned
on the subject.
(11) Health of the Force. —There was a great deal of sickness in the latter part
of the hot weather, particularly among the office clerks and the influenza epidemic
took its toll. In this connection I may remark that money spent on fans and
comfortable quarters is never wasted in a climate so trying as that of Basrah.
(12) Buildings. —New Police lines are badly needed, and I intend to apply
for the present Indian Base Depot (old Turkish barracks) at Qazarah to be ear
marked for future Police lines when vacated by the Military. Houses for station
house officers are also badly needed; the Police station is much too public a place
for persons to bring information to. A good hutment has been provided for the
Ma‘qil Police by the area Commandant.
10. Shabanahs : (1) Zubair. — The Assistant Political Officer, Zubair, reports
as follows :— ,< . >
It was decided in March to form a local Shabanah force for the policing of the
B.N. Railways. The pa^ decided upon was : Chaush, Rs. 50/- ; Onbashi, Rs. 40/-;
Nafar, Rs. 30/—. One hundred and forty-seven was thv number fixed and the men
were icciuited, half from Zubair and the other half from Dhafir tribes. They were
armed and equipped with the *303 long Lee-Knfield, Mark I., rifle, 50 rounds
of ammunition, bandoliers, and water-bottles, but had no uniform. The posts
from Zubair station to Ghabashiyah, with the exception of SlnFaibah station, were
taken o\er fiom the Military on the 11th May, and Yadillah to Muraijib, excluding
Luqait and Tall-al-Lahm, on the 20th May. Shaikh Ibrahim had warned me that
the men would not submit to being drilled, so I contented myself with teaching
them to cairy their arms and salute. Their duties were to guard the railway
personnel and property , and for this purpose they were required to provide patrols
of two men to accompany coolie A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. gangs. The Zubair group, which occupies the
posts from here to Ghabashiyah, have done their work well, and their conduct has
been almost exemplary.
^FP^Afir, who occupy the remaining posts, demurred at accompanying coolie A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
gangs. ns was brought to my notice by report of an alleged case of removing
bolts from the line by desert Beduin. There were no witnesses to support the story
of the keyman, and as the question of escorting coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. w as being pressed at th
same time it was considered to have been made up by them. The Shabanah were
made to provide patrols for the coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. and there was no further complaint on that