Cditortat (Ven

“But words are things, and a small
drop of ink, falling like dew upon a
thought, produces that which makes
thousands, perhaps millions, think.”

THE following Editorials appeared in the
Comox District Free Press of Thursday,
February 17th, 1944.—Ep.

ENFORCING THE LAW

FROM time to time in any small city the
efficiency or adequacy of law enforcement
becomes a popular topic of discussion in
both official and unofficial circles. It is char-
acteristic of the comments that they are
usually derogatory to the police, for people
seldom pause to offer a word of praise when
things are running smoothly. It is only
when they are displeased that they bother

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to mention the police and then they are in
a critical mood.

By virtue of this fact and by its own
very nature, law enforcement is one of the
least appreciated of public services and
police officers are the least understood of
public servants. Because of this lack of
understanding, the public do not make the
fullest use of the service offered by the
police. Most people consider a policeman
in the performance of his duty as someone
to be avoided while others entertain the
mistaken conception that the officers are
constantly on the lookout for someone on
whom they can pin a charge and obtain a
conviction in the courts.

If the public would realize that the police
are trying to help them observe the laws of
the country rather than trying to catch them
breaking those laws, there would be fewer
petty court cases and a far healthier rela-
tionship between the two groups.

A SUGGESTION

MOST of the mistaken impressions of police
officers and their work have been handed
down to children by their parents because
of misunderstanding of the functions and
objectives of the police force. The men in
khaki and green uniforms are pointed out
to wayward young children as terrible ogres
who will get them if they don’t obey mother
or don’t stop asking father bothersome ques-
tions when he is reading the newspaper.

So most children are. brought up in fear
of the police who claim that one of their
greatest problems in dealing with juveniles
1s to counteract that impression. The records
of almost any detachment will bear this out
and the police themselves are able to show
that for every case that actually goes
through juvenile court, at least ten are
handled out of court by giving the erring
youngster a good, fatherly talk and swear-
ing him to better behaviour. And it is a
surprising fact that most of the miscreants
thus handled lose their fear of the police
and generally replace it with a healthy
respect.

In this connection the Free Press believes
that by not inviting the police to assist them,
school authorities in the Comox District are
passing up a splendid opportunity to have
the young people directed towards better

citizenship. In most small communities the |
police are asked to visit the schools regy
larly and to address the children in their
classrooms. It has been found that by this
means they. are able to dispel many of the
common juvenile misconceptions about law
enforcement and to build up a desire on
the part of the children, not to mistrust
the police and break the laws behind their
backs, but to trust them and try to help
out in their work by improving their own
behaviour and encouraging other children
to do the same.

We pass this suggestion on to the school
boards of the Comox District for what it is
worth: Invite the police into your schools,
introduce them to your students. You will
find the result to be an improvement in dis-
cipline and a closer and more willing obser-
vation of laws and regulations in general.

ANGRY Father (with walking stick):
“Now, come along, my boy, I’m going to
beat the dust out of your pants.”

Small Son: “Don’t be so old-fashioned,
dad—use the vacuum cleaner!”

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THE SHOULDER

STRAP