TRACKING THE CRIMINAL.

EXPERIMENTS WITH WIRELESS.

Members of the Chief Constables’ Association {Cities and Boroughs) of England and Wales, who met at the County Hall, Spring-gardens, yesterday, made elementary tests of the value of wireless broadcasting for the tracking of criminals. A wireless receiving set with ten ear-pieces was installed on the platform, and the chief constables “listened in” in batches to messages broadcasted from Marconi House, in the Strand.

Messages from the Chicago and New York Commissioners of Police were telephoned by wireless from Marconi House and picked up by the listening chief constables. The message of Mr. Charles Fitzsimmons, the Chicago Commissioner, said that an appropriation had been asked for in his city with a view to the construction of a new central sending station. They had plant for the equipment of policemen with receiving sets. Mr. Richard Ainwright, the New York Commissioner, in his message stated that the operation of 1,000-mile radio messages had been found of considerable advantage in tracking criminals. It was then announced that a description of a man “wanted at Chesterfield on a charge of obtaining 5s by false pretences – ship’s cook, aged 32, height 5ft. 4in, mole on left-eye,” &c. – would be sent by Marconi House, and would be picked up by a detective somewhere in Essex, who was equipped with n receiving set in a motor-car. This message was then despatched, and was also picked up at Springgardens. Later it was announced that the detective in Essex received the message, and his reply, sent from Chelmsford, was broadcasted by Marconi House and picked up at Spring-gardens.

In a paper on “Wireless for Police Uses” Mr. E. Blake, whilst emphasising the great advantages which would result from the installation of receiving sets in all police offices, did not deny that the “veil of secrecy,” so essential in certain branches of the police work, would be drawn aside. Broadcasting would be useful in such works as circulating descriptions and certain instructions which there was no harm in giving to the public at large, but there could not be secrecy without the use of code. Replying to questions, he said it would be quite possible for a clever criminal to conceal an aerial even in a motor-car. The problem of concealing one in a house would be simple. The receiver could be camouflaged as a coal-box, and the aerial hidden behind furniture or round a wall and painted.