Scotland Yard Detectives.
There are but few officers who fully understand what is meant by the
term “Scotland Yard”. Scotland Yard means the headquarters of the
London Police, said to be the shrewdest detectives in the world. It is
located on the Thames embankment and still retains its celebrated name
because, when located at Whitehall, it was reputed to have served as
the residence of early Scottish Kings. This system has four definite
divisions with the minor, though important, fifth division: (1) There
is a special branch that looks after secret service matters relating
to the protection of the King and his ministers. (2) The criminal
registry. (3) The convict supervision office. (4) Finger print branch,
and the additional division is the office squad, which is subject to be
called out or detailed in extraordinary cases.
If we understand the English system fully, we must take into account
the fact that the English mind thinks in a straight line; that is,
it reasons directly from cause to effect and effect to cause, and it
seizes only the essentials and drives home to its object with them. The
English rely on straight thinking and common sense instead of intricate
reasoning and psychical research. This fact accounts for the type of
workers employed. The men are not laboratory specialists or medical
experts, but practical policemen, for the most part, from the country
districts. There are several different reasons for this choice: (1) A
country fellow is not acquainted with city ways and customs, and is
therefore not liable to be influenced by them. Again since crime is
regarded by the Englishman, not as a result of hereditary tendencies
or a psychic phenomenon, but as a mere violation of law, it demands
no intricate reasoning. A country fellow is more apt to see things
clearly than is the city bred man. There are only two distinguishing
characteristics. The first is the direct action in cases of arrest.
The second, or most important, is the method of following dominant
clues. The direct action in cases of arrest is a very dangerous method,
as the criminals are wholly capable of a good pitched battle or a
running fight; and they are almost invariably as well armed as their
assailants. Still the Englishman will not allow a capture by a ruse
or finesse. It must be direct. The method of following the dominant
clue is, as I have said, the distinguishing characteristics of the
English method. The detective, instead of taking into consideration
every thread of the woof and warp of the evidence, chooses one single
item--the essential clue. On this one item of circumstantial evidence
hangs the entire decision. This organization of Scotland Yard is
entirely independent, entirely under the control of a commissioner,
who is responsible to the home secretary alone. It is not accountable
to the public in any way, gives no information, corrects or discredits
nothing reported, never affirms or denies a newspaper rumor, and offers
no explanation for its expenditures. It is thus enabled to work without
any interference or outside pressure.
The greatest difficulty Scotland Yard is forced to meet is the handling
of continental criminals, because of the great amount of red tape
necessary in order to get in contact with the foreign detective agency.
All communications are to be made first to the foreign minister. He
informs the Ambassador in London, who in turn takes up the matter with
the British secretary of foreign affairs, who turns it over to the home
secretary, who in turn, turns it over to Scotland Yard. These peculiar
methods remind one of the house that Jack built. Still these matters
must be handled with the greatest delicacy and diplomacy.
The Scotland Yard detectives maintain a sensible man hunt by an
experienced officer, and this will do more good than all the laboratory
experiment the continent can carry on, and the American detective, in
order to be successful, should follow these methods.