§ Mr. J. JONESasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to allegations with regard to corruption and inefficiency in the Metropolitan Police Force; what action, if any, he has taken in reference to the alleged poisoning of General Horwood, Assistant Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and in regard to the FitzRoy case; and what steps, if any, have been taken, or are proposed, to investigate the administration of Scotland Yard?
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§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI would refer the hon. Member to the full reply which I have just given to the question of the hon. Member for West Bromwich (Mr. F. Roberts). I would point out that as regards the case of Sir Almeric FitzRoy, the learned Chairman of the London Sessions expressly exonerated the police constables concerned from any charge of bad faith. The police are still endeavouring to trace the origin of the poisoned chocolates sent to Sir William Horwood.
§ Mr. F. ROBERTSasked the Home Secretary whether it is proposed to appoint a commission or committee of inquiry into the administration of the police service?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANMy attention has been drawn to charges of a general character which have been made in sections of the Press against the Metropolitan Police, but when I have attempted to obtain specific evidence from those who made these charges I Have failed. Such charges, supported by evidence, would at once be investigated, but in the absence of any evidence I must hold that they constitute a libel upon a body of men who deserve the confidence of the community. Specific charges against individuals stand upon a different footing, and these are invariably inquired into. In view of the public importance of the matter, I would refer to the Report of the Royal Commission which in 1908 inquired into charges of a similar character, namely, of blackmailing prostitutes, which had been made at that time against the Metropolitan Police. I am sending to the hon. Gentleman, and will have published in the OFFICIAL REPORT, some extracts from this Report and the evidence of Mr. Coote, Secretary of the National Vigilance Society, who, speaking with an unrivalled experience, was able to say that after close inquiry he had been unable to find any evidence of the charges which had been so freely made. Mr. Coote reiterated this opinion in answer to a question put to him by a representative of the Home Office as recently as 1919.
The following are the extracts referred to:
The Royal Commission on the Duties of the Metropolitan Police reported in the following terms:
We have come to the conclusion that there is no ground for believing that there has existed, or that there at present exists, 2640W any widespread and systematic bribery of the police by prostitutes in any part of London, and though we cannot believe that isolated instances of constables having received money gifts from women have never occurred, we believe that they have been and are very infrequent.They added:For all these reasons we feel reasonably sure that, whatever may have been the case for short periods in years gone by, there is no ground for believing that the practice of accepting money from prostitutes prevails to any appreciable extent.Among those who gave evidence on the subject of charges against the police of blackmailing prostitutes was the late Mr. William Coote, Secretary of the National Vigilance Society, who said:…I have not in one instance had a charge made against the police as a body, or against an individual policeman of levying blackmail or of exacting bribes of any kind from these unfortunate women. On the contrary I have known many instances in which the police have helped them both with money and advice. For many years I have made it my private business, in connection with my official duties, to question these women AS opportunity offered, as to their relationship to the police in the pursuit of their calling, and the treatment meted out to them, in order to verify or otherwise the current statement as to blackmail. I have done this because in certain circles of good and bad society, amongst men, it has always been taken for granted that blackmail and bribery were weapons commonly used by the police in dealing with this class of women. Neither by foreign nor English women has it ever been admitted to me that they were asked to supply the police with hush money, or that they were made the subjects of police tyranny owing to their refusal to give money.