UK Policing News

Police withdraw speed detectors Police have been using the system for more than two decades Traffic police in Scotland have been ordered to stop using handheld speed detecting equipment amid fears it could be affected by police radio waves. Road policing units were told to employ alternatives to the Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder (Vascar) system until further notice. It is thought police radios could be causing faults in the speed detectors. The system sees an officer pressing a button as a vehicle passes between two measured points. It has been in use for 25 years. Strathclyde Police confirmed its officers had been asked to use alternative spee…

Smith targets 'credit crunch crime wave' 1 hour 9 mins ago Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is hosting a summit to address fears of a "credit crunch crime wave" after burglaries were up 4 per cent in the last set of crime figures. Govt to tackle "credit-crunch crimewave" Ms Smith will host police, retailers, insurers and charities for elderly people at the meeting in central London. She will also launch a £1.6 million crime prevention campaign and a new web-based test for people to check their home security. The three-minute test will rate your home on the basis of the information you provide and suggest new ways to make your home safer. The Home Secretary has pledg…

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2200058.ece POLICE in Surrey have a new weapon in the fight against youth crime – snowballs. Cops out on the beat yesterday confronted hoodies who were throwing snowballs at cars with a pelting of their own. The officers in their high visibility jackets were hit by the teenagers who were only too delighted to sock snowballs to the cops. So the officers responded in turn. A resident living nearby shot the video and said: "They have an interesting approach!" Guildford Safer Neighbourhood Inspector Julie Murray said: "The officers in the video were not responding to a call, but came across the young people while w…

A Teesside mother, whose daughter was killed by a drink-driver, has helped win a change in the law on bans served by jailed motorists. Jan Woodward's daughter Kelly, 19, from Billingham, near Stockton, was killed by a speeding driver who was twice over the legal drink-drive limit in 2005. Mrs Woodward called for a change in the law to stop prisoners being able to serve driving bans while in jail. Mother wins drive ban law change New rules mean driving bans can now be imposed after a sentence is completed. Mrs Woodward gained cross-party political support and was backed by motoring organisations and road safety charities. Scarborough and Whitby MP Robert Goodwil…

Posted By: Philip Johnston at Feb 4, 2009 at 12:34:32 Jacqui Smith is hosting a burglary summit. That's a relief. Who would imagine that the police, locksmiths, burglar alarm companies, Neighbourhood Watch schemes and the like could possibly do their jobs properly without guidance from the Home Secretary? The Home Office has issued a press release with the headline: Home Secretary Leads New Burglary Crackdown. What is the point of this? Miss Smith said the aim was to discuss practical measures and ensure that reminders are given to householders to fit window locks and other security devices. Why is a summit attended by 40 people necessary to do that? Most places have Ne…

Three gang members convicted over the killing of schoolboy Rhys Jones cheered as they left the courtroom today. They celebrated after the judge ruled they will only serve five years in prison between them. James Yates, 21 tomorrow, Nathan Quinn, 18, and Dean Kelly, 17, yelled with delight after being sentenced for assisting murderer Sean Mercer, 18. Rhys, 11, was murdered by Mercer in Croxteth, Liverpool, in August 2007. Last month Mercer, of (address removed) was jailed for a minimum 22-year-term. The trio left the bullet-proof dock after winking and smiling at family and friends at Liverpool Crown Court. Seconds later they were heard celebrating loudly and a…

Source Daily Record I'm not sure this is what Salmond had in mind with The Homecoming. PS An appropriate enough name for a prostitute .......

FURIOUS senior cops hit out yesterday after the Union Jack hanging outside a police station was replaced – by a GAY RIGHTS flag. Officers accused London’s Met of “playing politics†after the swap. New Met boss Sir Paul Stephenson angrily ordered the rainbow flag to be taken down after he was informed. Met rules state only the Union Jack and its own flag can fly from force buildings. But the striped gay emblem was raised instead outside Limehouse Police Station in East London. It marks Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Month – a gay rights celebration in February. One officer said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. The police are playing pol…

Source BBC He's a nasty piece of work, no doubt about it. However all that's happening here is that he's asking for his pension back, and he can ask whatever he wants - there's no guarantee that he'll actually get it. On that basis, I think the protestors are barking up the wrong tree plus his eligibility for legal aid is neither here nor there.

Police 'aided witness media deal' A "supergrass" murder trial witness was helped by police to sell his story to the media before the case even got to court, the Appeal Court has heard. Mick Steele, 64, and Jack Whomes, 45, were jailed for life in 1998 for the murders of three gangsters in Essex. Their lawyers argue the book, TV and film deal struck by key witness Darren Nicholls made his evidence unreliable. Prosecutors deny claims of a police cover-up and say they will seek a retrial if the convictions are quashed. Witness scandals Baroness Kennedy QC, representing Steele, told the court new disclosures about police involvement in Mr Nicholls' media deal thr…

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2198708.ece FURIOUS senior cops hit out yesterday after the Union Jack hanging outside a police station was replaced – by a GAY RIGHTS flag. Nice one Sir Paul Stephenson!! :smiley_notworthy: :smiley_notworthy:

Obviously we don't yet know how the force can to this decision - they say he has been 'exonerated' but without making public how or why people will be understandably suspicious. Members who read the first thread on this subject will know what a dim view I have of the BNP, so I won't be contributing further to this thread, but will read on with interest. Does anyone know who the Special on the list was?

Detectives have reopened an 83-year-old case of a missing teenage girl who may have been murdered. Emma Alice Smith, 16, was last seen in 1926 as she set off on her bicycle from her home in Waldron, East Sussex, to Horam railway station. An investigation was started but her body was never found. Sussex Police have now revealed that a member of family has indicated that she may have been murdered and her body dumped in a nearby pond. The case has been reopened by the force's major crime branch. 'Proper burial' Det Ch Insp Trevor Bowles said: "This is a very unusual case. "We have been approached by a member of Emma's family who has indicated that there is a possibil…

FOILED ARMED ROBBERY - SHOTS FIRED AT POLICE OFFICERS 2 February 2009 Foiled Armed Robbery, Nationwide, Alcester Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham. Thursday 29 January 2009 Officers working on the investigation into the foiled armed robbery on Thursday evening where shots were fired at police officers continue to appeal for witnesses. The two robbers, who were attempting to break into Nationwide as security guards were delivering cash to the business, were believed to be male, black, wearing dark clothing, 5'10'' - 6' tall, with dark coloured face coverings. They are believed to have run off down an alleyway where they may have come out to Kingsfield Road or Institute…

Police followed footprints in the snow and made an arrest following a robbery at a County Durham club. Officers were called to the Ivy Leaf Club in Burnhope at 0130 GMT, when an alarm was triggered, and found cash had been stolen from the safe. A police spokesman said officers were able to follow footsteps in the snow to a house in the village. A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and is being questioned by police in Consett. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/7865318.stm =============================================== Nice and easy !!!!