r 



182G.] [ 406 ] 



PUBLICATION OF " POLICE riEPOUTS." 



The Morninj^ Herald Newspaper, and one or two of the j)eriodical 

 publications, have been squabbling upon the subject of Police Reports : 

 the newspaper, of course, maintaining the advantage and utility of such 

 narratives — in the publication of which it has an interest ; and the 

 magazines — which have no particular interest in the publication of reports 

 at all — taking high ground about " the violence" done to the feelings 

 and characters of individuals. For ourselves, we think it quite obvious 

 that the newspapers have all the best of the argument. The opinions of 

 our lawyers, it will be recollected, have varied a good deal as to the 

 legalit}' or illegality of these police publications ; and even their opinions, 

 now-a-days, are far from being conclusive upon questions of the kind. 

 Thfit cannot now (be it what it may) continue to be law, which, prac- 

 tically, is opposed to convnon convenience and expediency. And, for 

 the equity of the matter, Uxken up by the London jNIagazine, and 

 elsewhere — how far is it justifiable to publish such accounts of examipa- 

 tions at police offices, as may tend to bring persons who happen to 

 appear at them into ridicule ? — the evil, even supposing it now and then 

 to go to this length, is not a very killing one ; it is but the sort of 

 conmient to which all persons who place themselves in a situation of 

 publicity become more or less exposed ; and a sort of comment which, 

 while it often does a great deal of good, can hardly, by any possibilitj-, 

 ever do much mischief. For the public, with all the gullibility it has 

 credit for, adopts very little, either in the way of ridicule or abuse, 

 unless some tolerably obvious foundation be laid, and made apparent, for 

 such abuse. All the wit resident in all the body of reporters, can scarcely, 

 of itself, do any man mischief: it must be by some act of vice or folly 

 of his own, if he really is rendered contemptible. Then, for the general 

 custom, it is not pretended that there is any mis-statement of fact given 

 in jwlice reports, or in any other reports. If any such does appear, the 

 remedy at law is obvious and certain; and the judges are always 

 (as perhaps it is best they should be) far from disinclined to give effect 

 to it. Our business, therefore, with the subject, is, less to contend for 

 the advantage of publishing police reports — a fact which already may be 

 taken to stand prett)^ well established — than to say a few words upon the 

 very peculiar absurdity of some of the grounds upon which that descrip- 

 tion of publication has been objected to. 



In the beginning, however — just shortly to state what our opinion upon 

 the general question is — we take the practice of police reporting, so far 

 from being dangerous or unjustifiable, to form incomparably, the most 

 valuable and admirable adjunct — the most powerful — the most constitu- 

 tional — and the least subject to misapplication — that ever was afforded to 

 the police administration of this or any other country. The great 

 objects of police in every state are twofold ; first, the detection of 

 offenders ; and second, the prevention of offence : and in every populous, 

 and especially in every commercial country, where nine-tenths of the 

 crime committed consists always of attack on propert}', what course can 

 be so well calculated to attain both these objects, as a general knowledge 

 of all offence the moment it appears on foot — such a knowledge as puts 

 B upon his guard against the fraud which has been practised upon A, 

 and makes the career of C (the felon) necessarily short, by preparing all 

 men to defeat, and, not only to defeat but, to secure him? The thief who 



M.M. A'ew.Sm>.5.— Voi,.I. No.5. .SO 



