UK Policing News

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/09/theresa-may-power-prosecute-police The power to decide whether a suspect is to be charged is to be taken from crown prosecutors and handed back to the police in more than 80% of cases, the home secretary, Theresa May, will promise. This looks like a move in right direction to an untrained eye, but is it?

David Cameron was yesterday accused of meddling in police operations after he asked Scotland Yard to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Labour peer Toby Harris, a senior member of the Metropolitan Police Authority – the body which governs Britain’s biggest force – accused the Prime Minister of undermining the operational independence of police. He said Mr Cameron’s intervention ‘drives a coach and horses’ through rules meant to protect police from political interference. Mr Cameron called for a fresh inquiry into the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine in Portugal following a personal appeal by her parents this week. But Lord Harris, a former …

13 May 2011 Last updated at 17:05 Met Police 'bring expertise' to Madeleine McCann search Kate and Gerry McCann had appealed to David Cameron to launch an independent review Continue reading the main story Related Stories Madeleine McCann inquiry timeline Kate McCann reveals fears McCanns urge PM to launch review The Metropolitan Police are to "bring their expertise" to the search for Madeleine McCann, the Home Office says. Madeleine went missing aged three on holiday in Portugal in May 2007, and David Cameron has agreed to ask for a review of the case. Met Police Authority member Lord Harris said Mr Cameron's intervention damaged the independence of the police…

Tori Duxbury was a study in teenage nonchalance at Blackburn Youth Court on Thursday. She sat slumped in her chair, wearing a well-practised expression of sullen indifference, occasionally rousing herself to glare at other people in the room. It was her second court appearance in the space of a week. Last Thursday, the 15-year-old ringleader of the girl gang who call themselves the Whitebirk Bitches was served with an interim anti-social behaviour order. After her arrest last week, Tori Duxbury, 15, posed for a police mug shot. She is the ringleader of the girl gang who call themselves the Whitebirk Bitches This week she was back again, accused of breaching the co…

Half of all new drugs found in Europe last year were first reported in the UK or Ireland, the EU drugs agency said today. Of the 41 new psychoactive substances reported to authorities, the largest ever found in a single year, 16 were found in the UK while a further four were found in Ireland, a report by two leading European bodies said new drugs were becoming available at an 'unprecedented pace' and the emergence of legal highs was a 'major feature of Europe's drugs problem today', they added. In their annual report on the state of Europe's drugs problem, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCEED) and Europol said the record increase 'takes pl…

Link: - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13368514 That certainly makes for interesting reading. It'll be interesting to see where the Government go from here with the idea of having elected comissioners.

I just had to post this because of how sensationally ridiculous it is, with all these references to "unsurvivable" ammunition. Clearly written by someone with no idea what they're on about. BBC News The Metropolitan Police is to issue all its firearms officers with the type of ammunition used to kill Jean Charles De Menezes. Hollow point bullets flatten and widen on impact, causing maximum damage to vital organs. The Met says the round is less likely to splinter, harming bystanders. Mr De Menezes, a Brazillian falsely identified as a suicide bomber, was shot dead in 2005 with hollow point bullets. 'Comprehensive testing' After it emerged he was killed with the ammun…

What do we think? :D http://www.newstoday.co.uk/875/2011/05/is-pippas-bum-still-better-than-mine/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13368514 The government has suffered a surprise defeat in the House of Lords over its plans for directly elected police commissioners in England and Wales. First major defeat for this government, cannot be a bad thing, had the reformed the CPS, that i`m sure would have gone down better.

Mods feel free to move, but I couldn't think where to place this which was prompted by the manner in which the media report on the police and it's affect on policing. Box ticking, target seeking policing cannot be good for police efficiency. So I was amused at this humorous piece in the Daily Mash - but it's tone is to me a serious comment on some of the laws brought in over the last eleven years, and the manner in which they are enforced, each which is perceived to be unfair by different sections of society. :ph34r: Police to target non-voting drivers Is the box ticking as serious as the mainstream media makes out sometimes? If so, what can the voters do about it?…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13330107 Government plans to curb anti-social behaviour in England and Wales could put vulnerable children at greater risk, the charity Barnardo's has said. It said giving police powers to force unaccompanied children under 16 to return home could push them into potentially harmful situations. The new powers are part of a range of measures that will replace Asbos. The Home Office said the proposals are open to public consultation and it welcomed a discussion with Barnardo's. Under the proposals in the anti-social behaviour consultation, a "direction power" would enable a police officer or police community support officer "to require a pe…

Source Clicky What can you say?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385498/Think-youre-whiter-white-The-average-Brit-breaks-law-21-times-year.html#ixzz1M4enVnYE

Judges and magistrates are to be told to send burglars to jail in instructions that end a decade of official leniency. Rules for the courts made public today said a criminal who burgled somebody's home should 'expect a custodial sentence'.In a shift away from efforts to reform burglars, the rules put the harmful effect of crime on victims before the hope of rehabilitating offenders.The least serious crimes will continue to attract community punishments, but the guidelines say only in exceptional cases should a domestic burglar escape jail. Drawn up by the Sentencing Council, a body dominated by judges, the guidelines reflect an Appeal Court ruling by the Lord Chief Justi…

When farmer Clifford Pearson was attacked by an intruder in his bathroom in the early hours, he acted instinctively and wrestled him to the ground. Despite being naked, the 48-year-old held on to the man for ten minutes until police, who had been alerted by his girlfriend’s 999 call, arrived at the farmhouse. But the couple were horrified to be told 12 hours later that the 20-year-old intruder had been given only a caution for common assault and was not being taken to court or punished further.Mr Pearson was punched once in the chest and both he and his partner were badly shaken by the terrifying ordeal. Their upset turned to anger when they discovered that police wer…