UK Policing News

A police officer has appeared in court charged with raping a woman in Devon. Pc Nicholas Stone, 40, also faces three misconduct charges. He did not enter pleas at Exeter magistrates court. The incidents are alleged to have happened when he was serving with the Devon and Cornwall Police force between 1999 and 2001. Pc Stone, of Pitminster, who now serves with Avon and Somerset Police, was given unconditional bail. He is due at Exeter Crown Court on 17 September. An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said the officer had been suspended while the case goes through the courts. Pc Stone is charged with raping a woman at Tiverton, Devon, between 1 June and 31 July 2001. H…

The threat level to Great Britain from Irish-related terrorism has been raised from moderate to substantial. Home Secretary Theresa May said it meant an attack was a "strong possibility". It was the first time this threat level had been published, the Home Office confirmed. The head of security service MI5 warned last week that dissident Republicans opposed to British rule in Northern Ireland could strike mainland Britain. 'Remain vigilant' The threat from Irish-related terrorism to Great Britain is still lower than the overall threat from international terrorism, which remains unchanged at "severe". The new category of threat from Ireland applies to England, Wales…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-11388964 A senior policeman who tried to view a computer disk featuring "potentially offensive" images will not face disciplinary action for misconduct. Adam Briggs, deputy chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, was investigated after the disk was found in a laptop he used for force business. The county's police authority said the images intended to be humorous and were not pornographic or criminal. Evidence showed Mr Briggs did not view the disk and he has apologised. The police authority said the disk, which Mr Briggs said was sent to him by someone he knew, included items that could have been of use to …

I never thought Derrick Bird or Raoul Moat really made an effective argument either way for arming the police in Britain: both were such exceptional incidents with so many other factors, it's hard to say one way or another if one officer with a pistol would have made any difference. With that in mind, have a look at this video (only 40 seconds long): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzgLIdUS_WI OK, so it's from the US but don't dismiss the officers involved as cowboys just yet. Here's a young person with a knife who's been threatening other members of the public, just the kind of thing that happens on estates right across the UK. The guy lunges at a police officer who sh…

Source: BBC News - Saturday, 1 October 2005, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK

Just say this story from the Express on the Sky Sunday paper review;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11407853 A publisher has been convicted of assaulting a police officer near the House of Commons chamber. Ian Thomas, 41, of Colchester, Essex, was stopped by a police officer as he left the event hosted Conservative MP Eric Pickles in March 2009. He verbally abused Pc Christopher Leggett in a corridor after being told he was in an unauthorised area, Southwark Crown Court heard. Thomas punched the officer, causing his lip to bleed. Prosecutor Martin Pinfold said Thomas appeared "intent on compromising the security of the House of Commons" on the eve of last year's G20 conference in London. The businessman, a director …

POLICE have been sent on a training course to prepare for a massive earthquake, it emerged last night. http://www.express.c...ning-for-police Do we get enough earthquakes to worry about? Now all that`s needed is Lava training, which entails getting the hell out of a lave flow. thou i`m pretty sure we have no volcanoes, unless anyone knows differently. Does this story come down to health a safety issues, if we had a Earthquake and Police have not learnt to respond, they get sued? More on this story....... http://www.policeoracle.com/news/EU-Pay-For-Earthquake-Disaster-Training_26440.html

http://www.docklands...njured_1_649551 for anyone in Essex area... POLICE are trying to trace this man in connection with an incident at Royal Victoria DLR where a police officer was injured. British Transport Police has released CCTV images to try and identify the man in connection with an incident on July 23. Officers were patrolling outside the station just after midnight when they stopped a group of men for disorder. One of the officers was punched in the face which left him with severe bruising. The man in the picture is believed to have a tattoo on his right forearm which reads ‘CALLUM’. He is approximately 25 – 30 years old and is possibly from the Bas…

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/c...icle6053067.ece The leader of a drug gang whose violence recalled what a judge called the days of “Al Capone and Chicago†was told he will stay in jail until he reaches retirement age. And good riddance. I wonder if he was still smirking when he got his sentence "Sentencing Joyce to two life sentences" If he was he has a long time to wipe the daft smile off of his face.

Story here: http://bit.ly/axeKqj

Just saw this on BBC and looked at the list of quangos to be binned, including, on page 12, National Policing Improvement Agency, Abolish and transfer functions. Not a total surprise but I wonder what'll actually happen about what it does. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11405096

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315309/How-Yates-Yard-spent-33-000-flights--gave-air-miles-family.html Apparently he's been using air-miles accrued on business trips to subsidise private flights for his family. According to the Yard: "Under Scotland Yard rules, points amassed by officers as a result of official flights must be used to reduce the cost of future work trips." and "He was unaware this is not in line with MPS policy and is clearly concerned. Should there be any tax implications arising from this then he will deal with these immediately." Didn't Dizzy Desai have a few wee issues with his interpretation of MPS policy? And surely Yates should be d…

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2078750_policeman_sentenced_for_keeping_charity_cash

From todays Sunday Express... http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/201807/Tax-cuts-for-good-citizens Right. So sworn, full time cops, unable to strike, unable to pick and choose shifts etc etc etc would be ignored in these proposals. Smells like bribery is the only way the Gov't will be able to make good on their desire to expand the number of Specials to such a degree that can bump off the PCSOs