UK Policing News

At a time when so many people have negative attitudes towards PCSO, it's wonderful to have some very good positive appreciation for PCSO. I've copied this from another site... Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been praised after they helped rescue a man from drowning in London's Camden Lock in freezing conditions. On Saturday 7 February, at 17:58hrs, the male PCSOs were patrolling the area when they were alerted to a man who had fallen into the canal and not resurfaced. One requested assistance via his personal radio while the other used a torch to conduct a search of the water. Very quickly the PCSOs spotted a body beneath the surface. One of the o…

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/c...icle5793087.ece

An Oxfordshire woman who had sex with a 14-year-old boy with learning difficulties, has been given a 12-month suspended jail sentence. Catherine Armstrong, a special needs tutor, from Thame, met the boy after agreeing to help him with his dyslexia. At Oxford Crown Court the 33-year-old admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child. Sentencing Armstrong, Judge Julian Hall told her: "You now have the chance to rebuild your life." Judge Hall said: "In prison there aren't any facilities for helping female sex offenders. ---------------------------- If we change the genders, to a male tutor and female (or even male) pupil, I suspect that the judge wouldn't ha…

Fake officer steals car with baby A thief posing as a police officer dumped a baby on a pavement after finding him in a car he had stolen. The child was in the back of a silver Lexus stolen by a man wearing a police jacket in Bolton, Greater Manchester. His parents endured a "horrendous" wait before the boy was brought back to Hypatia Street in a different car - a Nissan Micra - about 30 minutes later. Officers hunting for the Micra found it crashed, and a 39-year-old man was arrested. Greater Manchester Police said the parents' ordeal began at 1715 GMT on Thursday when the mother was approached by a man while sitting in her Lexus. Believing he was a police …

Tories propose mobile jail units Mobile jail units could be used in high crime areas to detain and charge suspects, the Conservatives say. Police could be back on the streets more quickly if they did not return to stations to process arrests, according to a policy paper from the Tories. The policy paper, for England and Wales, also proposes scrapping some forms which officers have to fill in. "We need to take the handcuffs off the police and put them on the criminals," said Tory spokesman David Ruffley. Mr Ruffley, shadow minister for police reform, said: "The public want the police back on the beat and that is where the police also want to be." The specially…

Police are hunting a "dangerously radioactive" London college principal who skipped bail shortly before facing trial on child pornography charges. "Chronically ill" Thomas Leopold, 42, head of a tutorial college in Harrow, Middlesex, was given large doses of radiation for a thyroid condition. He then drove on to a ferry heading for Rosslare in County Wexford, Irish Republic, and has not been seen since. Mr Leopold faces five charges of allegedly downloading illegal images. Jeannie Mackay, defending, said her client, who was in "chronic poor health", was on his own and "wasn't in contact with others". She told Southwark Crown Court: "His doctor confirmed he is dangero…

Source: Stockport Express

Police are preparing to face a "summer of rage" in the UK as people join protests over the economic downturn, says a senior Met Police officer. Known activists" were likely to foment unrest, with the recession creating more "footsoldiers" to join them, Supt David Hartshorn told the Guardian. The G20 meeting of leading and developing nations in London in April is expected to be a focus of protests. Supt Hartshorn heads Scotland Yard's public order branch. He is regularly briefed on potential civil unrest. The officer said that the established activists "would be good at motivating people, but they haven't had the 'footsoldiers' to actually carry out [protests]. "Obvi…

http://www.24dash.com/news/Housing/2009-02...aviour-strategy Persistent young troublemakers could be confined to their homes for up to a month under plans being outlined today by the Tories. Yet another wonderful idea that probably will not work. They have "human rights"

See SBG has beat me to it , but my titles more catchy!... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...don/7913034.stm Flash mob organisers are being urged to refrain from holding such events at railway stations by the British Transport Police. It follows the closure of Liverpool Street station about two weeks ago when about 12,000 people took part in a Facebook-driven flash mob event. Commuters were affected during rush-hour when overhead and underground trains did not stop at the station. The BTP said it aims to find out where flash mobs are being held in advance. BTP Det Ch Insp Andy Trotter said: "When you get thousands of commuters trying to go home at a very b…

TV presenter may have been killed in revenge for Nato air strike on Belgrade Police investigating the murder of Jill Dando, the BBC television presenter, are said to be examining new evidence that she may have been killed by a Serbian hitman in revenge for a Nato air strike on Belgrade in 1999. The Sunday Times reported yesterday that several witnesses saw a man claim in a Belgrade bar in 2001 that the 1999 killing was a revenge attack before he took a bow and applause for the killing. The tip-off about the alleged confession during a drinking session in the Portobello Bar came from a call to the Crimestoppers hotline, the paper said. It reopens a line of inquiry abou…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-...-defeat-it.html Serious crime is booming and we need a radical new approach to defeat it. I`m guessing they have found a way to cut expenditure for the Police.

If this has been put on here already I appologise now Taken from Daily Mail 20/02/09 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...uotas-axed.html Ten years after Macpherson, police race quotas are axed By James Slack Last updated at 10:47 PM on 20th February 2009 Police minister Vernon Coaker has decided central targets can be dropped Police are to scrap controversial race 'diversity' targets that made it harder for white men to win jobs. The decision could end the positive discrimination which has seen ethnic minority applicants selected where white rivals were at least as well qualified. The targets were imposed after police were labelled institutionally rac…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...butted-him.html A police officer spoke of his anger today after being taken off front-line duty for 20 months and hauled before a court for defending himself against a yob who had tried to headbutt him. Cannot put them in prison, cannot defend yourself either. Yet another joke played by the courts on the British public.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7449855.stm Whatever next? A shopper who was attacked inside a south London supermarket has died in hospital. The 57-year-old man suffered serious head injuries in the assault at the Sainsbury's supermarket in Merton High Street on Tuesday. He was taken to hospital where he died on Wednesday night. Tony Virasami, 37, of Sedgehill Road, Catford, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm and is due before Wimbledon magistrates later.