The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-14 00:00:00

The Metropolitan Police Poice.

An interesting document has just been issued by
Mr. Holmes (the surgeon in chief) to the 'various
divisional surgeons of the Metropolitan
Polico
Force, showing the amount of sickness and dis-
ablement which existed amongst the men during the
latter half of 1866. After the retirement of Sir
John Fisher, his successor, Mr. Holmes, believing
that useful public information might be accumulated
by preserving a faithful record of the nature and
issue of illnesses under which policemen suffer, in-
stituted a new method of keeping the statistics on
these points, and every divisional surgeon has or
plied the required data punctually and rJgullrlY
from time to time. It is the mass of information
thus collected that is analysed in the circular t°
which we refer. The surgeon in chief is furnished
with a daily " Morning State" of the number of
men sick, on sick leave, detached, and dead, and he,
keeps iu the " Pension Book" the particulars 0'
each case in which men are recommended to tbe
Home-office for pensions or gratuities on account of
medical unfitness for the service. The t 4 Morning
State" indicates the number of men who are
withdrawn from active service by disease, and the
," Pension Book" the nature of the chief causes
which finally incapacitate the members of the force.
Now, it appears that there are three chief causes that
invalid the men—first, severity of season; secondly,
the prevalence of epidemic disease ; and, thirdly, the
special exigencies that lead to bodily injuries 01
serious character, such as riots. During the Year
1866 the outbreak of cholera and diarrhoea in -1-4°-
don incapacitated a large number, especially 111
August. In October, 1866, the monthly sick Est
was increased by the recurrence of catarrh and in*
fluenza,, and in December winter diseases were very
prevalent. The daily percentage of sick was 5-5,85
compared with 5.284 in the household troops in
London and Windsor, but this included a number
of " detached" men, and if allowance be made for
this the average sick list appears to be considerably
below that of the troops. With regard to the na-
ture of the diseases that render the men ineffective,
in 370 cases it was due to injury, and in 1,039 eases
the services of the mea were lost to the force for a
shorter or longer period by the diseases of exposure;
in fact, nearly a fourth of all policemen are on the
sick list from complaints that arise from exposure"
Policemen are generally exempt from the dishes
that immediately ensue from a dissolute life, and in
this sense contrast favourably with the troop%
Dyspepsia, from the hurried manner in which meal:.
are taken, and sore feet from the constant marcce
ing, are common. Consumption is pretty I.l'.
amongst the men. The deaths in the police Ore
are few, inasmuch as men usually die from obrelllo
complaints of internal organs, and leave the sel"ges
before these ailments kill. The deaths during the
months ending Dec., 1866, amounted to 19. Of the:
4 were from cholera, 10 from consumption, 1 °leo;
matic fever, 1 digestive troubles, 1 concussion of
f the
brain, 1 rupture of an artery, and 1 disease 0- as
heart. In about three-fourths of the cases of inliheof
the men return to their duties within a mot";
their being placed on the sick list. The transitc6la
nature of the affections by which they are attack
!er
is due to the fact that they are of an acute charaei'ae
and operate upon individuals in the prime of
and of good condition as the rule. Very serious It' ;
juries that maim a man for life are frequently se.el:lo
in about one-third of the cases they are of a serl°he
nature. A table inserted in the report shovehitch
comparative healthiness of different divisions, vv is
varies very considerably. The Thames division,
consequence of the special nature of the entl3l°l).;
meat of the men belonging to it, and the peellii%a
ties of the locality in which they are employed, moo
three times as many men disabled by sickness as.,,
more healthy divisions (A, S, B, X). It is gratl'ice
ing to observe that the causes of invaliding are t°,ric
sought for in the results of honest and hard Wurid
rather than the consequence of intemperance atio
vice. Mr. Holmes, in bringing his very Sugges .00
report to a close, observes "that the
practical les..v
to be drawn from the above facts is that any
sure which will afford the men increased proteetWat
from the weather is likely to be followed by
gain to the service, and it is worthy of considerattom
whether some modification of the present unif°r
could not be devised which would attain ,il
is
object."