UK Policing News

8 June 2009 OFFICERS from West Midlands Police have launched a criminal investigation after the force helicopter was targeted in an arson attack this morning. The Fire Service were called by Air Traffic Control to the helicopter's landing site at Elmdon Airport in Birmingham at just before 2am this morning. The front end of the helicopter appears to have been set on fire. The damage to the aircraft is currently being assessed. An investigation was immediately launched. Forensic scene investigators and detectives have been working since the incident to establish what happened. Officers are working in conjunction with airport security and fire service. Enquiries are o…

Terror suspects win legal battle By Dominic Casciani BBC News The Scales of Justice at the Old Bailey It is a major decision about the legality of using secret evidence Three terror suspects whose freedom is restricted by control orders have won a legal battle in the House of Lords over the use of secret evidence. Nine Law Lords unanimously ruled it was unfair individuals should be kept in ignorance of the case against them. They did not quash the men's orders, but one warned the ruling could spell the end of the control orders system. The home secretary called the decision "disappointing" but said all control orders would remain in force for now. The Home Office…

Officers honoured for sea rescue Two police officers and a member of the public will receive bravery awards for saving a man off the Blackpool coast in an incident that killed his girlfriend. Sgt Robert Gomery and Pc Mark Mulholland and Michael Hammond jumped into the sea to help the pair on 24 August. The woman, 20, from Manchester, died after she was swept from the shore. The trio will be presented with a certificate from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society later. Mr Hammond will also be awarded with the society's parchment and silver marine medal at the ceremony. A national 48-hour strike by coastguards had been in place at the time. During the inc…

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/...-from-cops.html Police taunted Joby Sanders, 37, in verse after seizing £255,000 of assets under a Proceeds of Crime order, reports The Sun. Nice bit of poetry. :lol:

The number of police officers in Scotland has reached a new record high, according to official statistics. The country's chief statistician said police strength stood at 17,048, an increase of 373 on the previous quarter and a rise of 814 since March 2007. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said it was the first time that Scotland had more than 17,000 police officers. He said the figures showed the Scottish Government was set to reach its target of 1,000 extra police officers by 2011. The latest quarterly increase included 17 new officers in the Tayside force, 25 in Northern, 30 in Grampian, 37 in Lothian and Borders, two in Dumfries and Galloway and 249 in Strathcl…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8089171.stm DNA sweep to catch killer rapist Officers looking for a murderer and suspected serial rapist are asking men in east London to give DNA samples. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8089054.stm DNA policy 'stigmatises children' DNA samples are being taken from children in a London borough at the rate of nearly one a day, figures show. Its interesting that the DNA debate had died down completely. I this going to ignite it again? or are people no longer bothered. The 'hot topic' moves pretty fast in the media and nothing actually changes

POLICE have been blasted after officers lied about a probe into the theft of a special constable's car. Hero Campbell Douglas, 44 - who received a bravery award in 1993 for helping arrest a knife thug - carried out his own investigation after his Vauxhall Nova was nicked. But he was shocked and angry to find Strathclyde officers had failed to make door- to- door inquiries despite claiming they had. They also failed to carry out an immediate crime scene investigation and would not return his calls. Now the force has been ordered to say sorry by Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland Jim Martin. He upheld three complaints against Scotland's largest force, led by C…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...lice-chief.html One of Britain’s most senior police officers has criticised the Government’s obsession with performance targets and called for a return to old-fashioned policing. Nice to see that he cares nothing for his future knighthood!! :smiley_notworthy: :smiley_notworthy: :smiley_notworthy: :smiley_notworthy: :smiley_notworthy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8087745.stm

Sikh police want bulletproof turbans to be developed so they can serve as firearms officers and deal with public order, a newly-formed body says. The British Sikh Police Association says Sikh officers cannot currently do such jobs, as their religion prohibits removing turbans to wear helmets. But the organisation's chairman says he now intends to push for more research on suitable ballistic turban material. The Home Office said each force needed to ensure religions were accommodated. The British Sikh Police Association, set up last month to give Sikh officers across the UK an "officially recognised voice", said it wanted its members to play a full role in the poli…

I hope I have put this in the right place.

This was in Our local paper, makes good reading for the likes of me....... Huge proportion of women who attempt to join Staffordshire police are failing the Government's compulsory fitness test. Figures show that 63 per cent of would-be female recruits are flunking the gruelling exam - which tests all aspects of physical fitness - compared to five per cent of males. It is feared the recruitment gap between men and women will widen unless the national standard is changed to address the physical differences between genders. Staffordshire's assistant chief constable Huw Jones, who is leading the national stance on proposed changes to the test, has pledged to make recom…

Death chase cop to face law John Scheerhout May 28, 2009 A POLICE officer will be summonsed for dangerous driving following a 50-minute police pursuit which ended in the death of a father-of-five. Alan Long, a grandfather-of-13 from Denton, Tameside, rode off when police tried to check his driving documents. He refused to stop, sparking a 50-minute chase, partly on the M60, which included a 'convoy' of police cars and the force plane. Traffic police are alleged to have defied radio orders to back off - although colleagues say their instructions were 'ambiguous'. Mr Long died after his motorbike collided with a car at the junction of Stamford Road and Rassbottom Str…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/8086701.stm Nice to see the neighbours are getting involved in some community spirit!!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/...-every-day.html CRIMINALS let off with “soft†community sentences commit four serious offences every day, it was revealed yesterday. Is there change in the air, or the same tired dribble?