Page 357 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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In prosecutions made by the British Police in traffic eases, Black Market and other offences,
in all courts, the amount of fines imposed was Rs. 11,022. Fees and taxes connected with vehicles
and drivers amounted to Rs. 46,868 which was an increase of Rs. 7,813 over similar collections during
the previous year.

At the end of 1365 the strength of the State Police force was as follows :—
State Police.
Officers 5
N.C.O’s & men 295

British Police.
Inspectors .. I
Sergeants 5

Naturs 153, including 36 employed by the R.A.F.
Followers, including clerical
Staff, boat crews, gardeners, etc. 33

Grime.—Bahrain has a population of about 100,000, it is the largest seaport in the Gulf and
in its Capital, Manama, there is a cosmopolitan collection of Middle Eastern races: taking these facts
into consideration the number of serious crimes which arc committed in Bahrain is extremely low
and the amount of petty crime is small. From the time that detailed records of criminal cases have
been kept it is evident that by far the greater proportion of criminals are foreigners. On an average
190 foreigners and 270 Bahrain subjects are convicted every year on criminal charges, yet the number
of foreigners in Bahrain is small in comparison to the number of Bahrain nationals.
For many years crimes of violence have been rare, during the last 20 years 11 murders were
investigated by the police and in these cases 6 of the murderers were foreigners. It is possible that
during the first decade of the last twenty years murders occasionally took place which were not dis­
covered by the police but these crimes were mostly confined to the destruction of newly born unwanted
children or of women who went wrong. Such cases, taking place inside the harems of Arab homes,
were difficult to detect.

There has been no dacoity for 15 years, but before this time it was not infrequent, robbery
with violence scarcely ever occurs. In recent years, however, especially during the war, there has
been an increase in the number of petty crimes, particularly thieving, though the number of people
who were convicted in cases of this type has not increased to any great extent. The excuse that
people were driven to steal by want did not hold good during most of the war years because Bahrain
was then enjoying a period of great prosperity, there was no unemployment after the first year or two
of the war and though the cost of living became comparatively high yet wages rose in proportion and
every able bodied man could obtain work. The increase in thieving was due to a general falling off
in the standard of honesty, to the temptations to which the Arabs were exposed owing to inefficient
supervision of cargoes, stores and property belonging to the services and to commercial companies
and to a curious point of view which developed during the war which caused many people to think
that taking things from the Government, troops or companies was not to be regarded in the same
light as stealing from individuals. Pilfering from stores and ships cargoes became a “ racket" in
which both small and big men were involved.

In Bahrain, as in other countries, there have been waves of particular types of crimes. For
some months there was an epidemic of bicycle stealing, at another time there was a series of tyre thefts
and several cars were stolen, they were taken to distant parts of the islands, stripped of all that could
be sold and then abandoned. An outbreak of house thefts ceased abruptly when some stolen goods