ons of the advantages of a previous police
training in the uniform branch in the fact that the most successful
private detectives at present in the country are those who have formerly
been in, and originally trained in, the uniform branch...."

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE TRAIL.

Primarily, the great function of the police is to prevent crime;
secondly, when it has happened, to bring the offender to justice. How do
they work? Not by relying on spasmodic flashes of inspiration, like the
detective of fiction, but by hard, painstaking work, and, of course,
organisation.

Crime is divided into two classes--the habitual and the casual. Every
habitual criminal is known. Numbers vary, but the latest available
figures show that there are 957 habitual criminals in London, of whom
706 are thieves and 161 receivers. Now, each of these thieves has a
distinctive method. A crime occurs. It is reported to the local police
station, and a detective is sent to the scene. Perhaps he is able to say
off-hand: "This job was done by so-and-so." Then, having fixed his man,
he sets to work to accumulate evidence. Scotland Yard is reported to,
and thence word is sent to every police station to keep a look-out for
Brown, or Jones, or Smith--that is, if he has left his usual haunts.
Every detective--strange as it may seem--makes it a point to keep on
good terms with thieves. It is his business. Sooner or later the man
"wanted" is discovered, unless he is exceptionally astute.

There are, of course, a hundred ways of finding the author of the
crime. The good detective chooses the simplest. Subtle analysis is all
very well, but it is apt to lead to blind alleys. Imagine a case such as
occurs every day:

A burglary has been committed and reported to the police. The first
steps are automatic. The divisional detective-inspector in control of
the district sets his staff to work. Men get descriptions of the stolen
property, and within an hour the private telegraph and telephone wires
have carried them to every police station in London. The great printing
machine of Scotland Yard reels off "Informations" four times a day, and
in the next edition the story of the crime is told, and each of the 650
detectives in London, as well as the 20,000 uniformed police, have it
impressed upon their minds.

Swift, unobtrusive little green motor cars carry "Pawnbrokers' Lists" to
every police station to be distributed by hand. The _Police Gazette_
goes out twic