UK Policing News

Peter Vaughan succeeds Barbara Wilding, who became Britain's longest serving woman chief constable. In her time in the post Mrs Wilding was critical of the funding her force received and halted routine patrols on the M4 motorway in response. Taking up his new role, Chief Constable Vaughan said raising public confidence in the police was a priority. "Our future success will not simply depend upon us improving our crime performance," insisted the new chief constable. "Just as important will be the way people feel they have been treated by us and how well they feel we understand and address the issues that are most important to them. My commitment is to develop our…

The new chief constable of the South Wales Police force is starting his first day in the role. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8436031.stm wish him all the best in his new job

Police are not stopped from going on patrol by red tape – it's because they 'enjoy staying in the station in the warm', Jack Straw claimed yesterday. In comments that drew a furious response from officers, the Justice Secretary dismissed claims that excessive bureaucracy kept them from catching criminals. Mr Straw said he was 'sceptical' that mountains of paperwork was preventing overworked PCs helping the public – despite the Government's own 'red-tape tsar' admitting efforts to cut bureaucracy have failed. Home Office figures show that officers are spending almost a fifth of their time on paperwork and little more than an eighth patrolling. The proportion of…

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/n...il/article.html SENIOR Humberside Police officers have defended moves to axe an annual allowance for volunteer special constables. If i were a volunteer special constable i would be feeling somewhat let down, are volunteer special constables a valuable asset, or another burden on police resources ?

Just a typical story about Policing in NI, thank heavens for the peace process eh? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8435830.stm

Ten Scotland Yard officers were caught using illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis over the last year. Officers employed by the London force can be subjected to substance and alcohol misuse testing at any time. New figures revealed three of the officers proved positive for banned drugs during random tests by a team of officials. The officers took either cocaine, heroin or cannabis. Two resigned and the third was sacked after a misconduct hearing. The positive tests were only a tiny proportion of the 815 random substance misuse tests that took place in the 12 months up to November. Officials tested a further 11 officers after colleagues became suspiciou…

MORE than 150 civilian jobs in Greater Manchester Police could be axed in a cost-cutting drive.About 380 people who work in the force’s human resources and finance sections have been sent letters warning them a staff reduction will be ‘inevitable’. It says management have decided to ‘substantially change’ the way the services are provided. The force is to invest in new technology to replace out-of-date HR and payroll systems. The letter says: “The proposals will clearly outline savings as a result of improvements in technology and therefore it is inevitable that there will be a reduction in staff numbers in both HR and finance roles.†Unions fear up to 40 …

Spending by the Metropolitan Police on air travel has risen by more than a third in a year, with the amount spent on business class tickets alone exceeding the cost of all flights in the previous two years. Figures obtained by The Independent show that Britain's biggest police force spent £6.2m on flights in the most recent financial year, a 35 per cent increase on the £4.6m spent on air travel in 2007/08 and 06/07. Of the £6.2m, £4.7m was spent on business class flights. The figures have brought criticism from members of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) who have queried why, in the midst of a recession and with a shrinking budget, Scotland Yard has increased…

Scotland Yard blows £6.2m on flights in a year – an increase of 35 per cent with all the cuts in the police service and now this the money whould have been better spent on our police service and not on airfares :whistle2: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-...es-1852816.html

Source: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/n...il/article.html SENIOR Humberside Police officers have defended moves to axe an annual allowance for volunteer special constables. City councillors are calling on Chief Constable Tim Hollis to re-think the decision to end the £1,500-a-year payment. They recently backed an all-party motion condemning the move, fearing it will deter people from volunteering. Humberside is one of only a handful of forces across the country to offer the so-called bounty allowance. But Mr Hollis told the Mail cutting costs was necessary as part of an on-going review of police spending. He said: "The decision to stop this allowance was…

Tories to hit drinkers with £500 fine if they end up in hospital as NHS faces £23m NYE binging bill Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0bGeYkXKJ Thats what im talking about, i do hate to waste a good ambulance on someone who has got bladdered.

A clergyman has been criticised as 'highly irresponsible' after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0aL8DFbVv I have some advice for this idiot, but he won`t take notice anyway.

POLICE have released an audio clip of a woman who called 999 because her cat was "doing her head in" playing with string - click here to listen to the clip. GMP are appealing to the public to only call 999 in an emergency after the Force received 1,377 calls on the number over Christmas. Of all the 999 calls made between midday on Christmas Day and midday on Boxing Day only a fraction were actual emergencies. Another call released today is of a man who dialled 999 to say he was stuck on a patch of ice in a street in Bolton and was to scared to go forwards or backwards - click here to listen to this clip. GMP’s head of call handling Superintendent Karan Lee said: "…

Katie Hayes regarded her neighbour as a kindly grandmother always ready with a cheery hello. That was until she found her crouched by her prized Mercedes 4x4 scratching the paintwork with a bunch of keys. Miss Hayes, 25, could barely believe it was Annie Draper who had gouged three deep Xs into the £20,000 car. This was the same sweet lady she had seen sitting in the sunshine in a deck chair surrounded by her grandchildren. Draper, a 64-year-old former pub landlady, has been convicted of causing more than £2,000 of criminal damage after being caught red-handed by her neighbour. Miss Hayes’s boyfriend had parked the Mercedes ML 320 on the pavement opposite her fla…