Page 356 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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In September 1945 a detachment of British Police arrived in Bahrain, they consisted of an
Inspector, a sergeant and six constables. The Inspector did not stay long and the sergeant was pro­
moted to the rank of inspector and the constables were given local rank of sergeants.

The British Police took over the traffic section, the licensing of motor drivers and vehicles and
dealt with all cases in which Europeans were involved. The proposal to employ British Police was
originally considered as a wartime measure and for coping with the large numbers of construction
men who were working on additions to the refinery. By the time that the detachment had arrived
the war and the construction work had ended. The British Police however served a useful purpose
especially in handling foreigners who continued to come to Bahrain in increasing numbers.

The Year 1365 (1946).—During the year 100men left the police, of these 90 retired on com­
pleting their service and ten were discharged; one man died. Only 6 recruits were enlisted but
towards the end of the year there were signs that men were coming forward to be cnlis’ted but further
recruiting was postponed till 1365. An attempt was made to select a dozen young educated men
of good families for training as Cadet Officers. Over 30 young men applied but out of these not more
than five were found to be suitable, the majority of them failed to pass the medical test, mainly owing
to bad eyesight.

The guard at the Naval Base at Jufair, consisting of 23 N.C.O’s and men, who were lent toand
paid for by the Navy, were withdrawn when the base closed down and a guard of 15 men was provided
for the Residency. A number of the naturs resigned from the force, in most cases their duties were
discharged by temporary nature.

In the past the police were supplied with cooked rations in the fort and with dry rations when
on outposts. A change was made during the year and instead of being provided with rations all
N.C.O's and men were granted a ration allowance in lieu of rations and, in addition, when on outpost
duty, they were issued with dry rations. This innovation was found to be popular and resulted in
the police receiving pay and allowances, including ration allowance, amounting to Rs. 74 per month
in the case of a new recruit and Rs. 90 per month in the case of a man with four years' service. A
further incentive to re-cnlist was the grant of a bonus of Rs. 50 to each man who signed on again for a
further terra of service.

Throughout the year the police carried out their usual activities. About 170 N.C.O’s and men
were continuously employed on permanent posts and regular patrols and natur posts absorbed between
30 and 40 of the nature. The State Police all took part in a musketry course and about half of the
personnel either went on leave or, if they had earned three months' leave or more, they were allowed
to take two months' leave and to draw one month’s leave pay.

Traffic work was dealt with by the British Police. The number of road accidents recorded
in 1365 was 143, more than twice the number which was dealt with in any previous year, but this
increase in recorded accidents was to a great extent due to the public having realised the necessity for
immediately reporting all road accidents to the police. Five people were killed and 17 were seriously
injured in car accidents. Though these figures compare favourably with those of the two previous
years when 12 and 16 people were killed yet the percentage of accidents is still high when considered
in conjunction with the small number of vehicles on the roads. In 1363 two cars out of every 100
were responsible for a fatal accident. Twenty-four accident cases were brought to the courts by the
traffic section and convictions were obtained in all but one case. The British Police also undertook
the registration, tests and licensing of cars and drivers. During the year 773 vehicles were registered,
of which 168 were newly registered, out of this total there were 149 taxis.

In 330 driving tests 278 candidates were passed, the total number of driving licence holders
being 1,199, 692 pedal cycles were registered.