Civilian Detective Doctrine in the 1930s and its Transmission to the Military Police in 1940-42

Colin R Moore,Gerry R Rubin

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2447166

Abstract

The Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police (RMP) was formed in 1940, after the military authorities became concerned at the widespread theft of military stores by members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and following a report on the matter by Chief Inspector George Hatherill of Scotland Yard. As a result 19 volunteer detectives from Scotland Yard joined the BEF to form the initial intake of the SIB. This article seeks to show that the creation of the SIB in early 1940, also entailed the transmission of civilian detective practices to the Royal Military Police, following the creation of a corpus of civilian detective doctrine during the 1930s. The development of standardised civilian detective doctrine can largely be attributed to the work of the Home Office Departmental Committee on Detective Work which was established in 1933. This body did much to disseminate best training practices by providing a training syllabus for initial police recruits in relevant investigative techniques, and more relevantly offered a syllabus for the training of detectives. It was this doctrine that SIB training courses from 1942 onwards duly embraced.

Highlights

In modern memory 1940 is remembered today as the year of Dunkirk and of the Battle of Britain
The Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police (RMP) was formed in 1940, after the military authorities became concerned at the widespread theft of military stores by members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and following a report on the matter by Chief Inspector George Hatherill of Scotland Yard
There is at least some evidence of what might be called scientific criminological practices described by Morrish in the first part, including local recording and analysis of crime;[97] annual reports and returns to the Home Office;[98] use of crime maps and graphs;[99] central registration and classification of criminals at New Scotland Yard, which combined modus operandi analysis with photographic records;[100] along with more traditional approaches to detective work, such as suspect interviews,[101] the use of informants, and the observation of suspected persons.[102]

Summary

Introduction

In modern memory 1940 is remembered today as the year of Dunkirk and of the Battle of Britain. Brief summaries of, Hatherill’s report have previously been published,[8] a fuller consideration of the 37-page document is merited.[9] Firstly the report spelt out in some detail the nature and scope of the losses of stores suffered through theft by the BEF before Dunkirk, a matter that is not a major focus here It sought to explain why the recruitment of a military detective force, and not an increase in the number of guards and of patrolling military policemen, was recommended. For it only made sense to create the SIB if its operating procedures were to be informed by the corpus of specialised knowledge distinctively associated with detective work, rather than with general policing duties Such specialised knowledge, in effect civilian detective doctrine, was becoming a formal body of investigatory learning, no doubt supplementing the instinctive ability of the detective to solve the mystery by a combination of intuition, acute powers of observation, a sharp memory, logic, experience and luck. The present paper seeks to show that the creation of the SIB in early 1940 meant the transmission of civilian detective doctrine to the CMP

The Theft Challenge

CMP Expansion

The Hatherill Report

The Initial SIB Intake

Findings

Conclusion