Page 221 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

1

13

police force, sails for police boats and they have done some experimental coloured weaving. A
good fast brown dye and a black dye are made at Jida from local sources which include henna leaves,
old iron, and pomegranate rind. Unfortunately, as far as this work is concerned, most of the prisoners
are in for short periods and by the time they become really skilful they complete their sentences.

Radons and Supplies.—Rice, flour, ghee and dhall were provided for the police by the D. I. D.,
on payment, other rations were supplied by a local contractor.
Attempts were made to purchase a supply of sandals from India but they were impossible to
obtain, the alternative of providing the police with army bools is under consideration. Some red
cloth, for turbans, was purchased in India but the quality of the dye was not good.
Miscellaneous.—During the year 17 police and naturs completed the repayment of their
diving debts to their nakhudas, over Rs. 3,700 was deducted from police and naturs and repaid to
nakhudas.
Permits were issued for radios, drum beatings and visits to Jczirat-Ncbi-Salch.
Traffic Accidents.—The number of accidents on the roads continued to be high. During
the year 15 persons were killed in accidents, 14 seriously injured and 78 people received simple injuries.
Although this may not appear to be a high proportion of deaths and injuries among a population of
over ioo.ooo yet it is an exceedingly high proportion if the comparatively small number of cars on the
roads is taken into consideration. Excluding military vehicles, which in fact were not responsible
for many of the accidents, the number of vehicles on the roads was about 600. In the year 49 accident
cases were investigated by the pob'ce, in four cases the culprits who were concerned were not discovered.
The majority of the cases which were investigated showed that they were caused by the neglect of the
public to take reasonable precautions.
Crime.—There was a decrease in the number of thefts. During the year 304 complaints of
thefts were made to the police, 159 of these cases were presented in court, 33 were not taken up owing
to lack of evidence and 112 were undetected. Among the cases which were successfully dealt with
were three thefts of motor vehicles, the theft of 35,000 rounds of ammunition from the Royal Air
Force, the theft of 20 tyres by an American employee of the Bahrain Petroleum Company, the theft of
considerable quantities of cement from the British Overseas Airways Corporation and the Royal Air
Force, a box of gold thread stolen from the Customs pier by an Indian sepoy, and the theft of sub­
!
stantial amounts of money and ornaments.
There were fewer smuggling cases owing to trade conditions providing less incentive for smuggl­
ing and because police patrols by sea and land proved a deterrent to many would-be smugglers.

British Police.—In September 1945 a detachment of British Police consisting of an Inspector,
a sergeant and six police constables arrived in Bahrain for service with the Bahrain Government.
The Inspector returned to England after a short time in Bahrain and Sergeant R. Cochrane was
promoted to Inspector, the police constables were given local rank of police sergeants.
The British Police took over the Traffic Section on the 24th Ramadhan and from that date
they dealt with drivers’ licenses, car licenses, car numbering and traffic control.
The detachment also dealt with all cases in which Europeans and Americans were involved
and with some cases in which Indians were involved. During the four months that they were on
duty, up to the end of the year, 38 British and American subjects were found in possession of liquor
in the town, 10 British subjects caused damage to property and 7 cases of “ Bilking " taxi drivers
were reported.
The number of persons prosecuted for traffic offences in the Agency courts was 46 and 9 were
prosecuted in the Bahrain Court, in addition 9 Americans, Indians and Portuguese were prosecuted on
various charges, drunkenness, possessing intoxicants, assaults on the police, etc., in the Agency courts.