UK Policing News

A police station has closed every week since Labour came to power in 1997, Government figures reveal. A total of 550 shut their doors for good over the decade. Of the surviving stations, only one in eight is open round the clock. They have been replaced by police kiosks, mobile vans and offices in community centres. Scroll down for more... Shut: A total of 550 police stations have been closed since Labour came to power in 1997 Read more... * Jack Straw asks Met to break prison strike but police brand request 'shameful' The figures emerged two weeks after schoolboy Jack Large was stabbed to death outside an unmanned police station in Essex. David Ruffley, Tory …

As the protesting police officers gathered at Hyde Park Corner on a cold and grey winter's morning, the purr of a helicopter could be distinctly heard overhead. From the ground it wasn't clear whether it was a police or news helicopter. Two of the marchers looked up and one muttered something about 'Big Brother', without any irony. The gathered ranks of off-duty police could be spotted from some distance away. This was not only due to the sheer mass of numbers - around 20,000 according to the protesters themselves- but also due to the bright white caps which perched on 15,000 heads. They insist their figures are accurate, especially regarding the caps, of which they …

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http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100new...-name_page.html Liverpool judge demands end to bail for 'feral youths'Jan 18 2008 Liverpool Daily Post A SENIOR Liverpool judge last night hit out at law-makers, left-wing intellectuals and well-meaning do-gooders who force judges to release “feral and lawless youths†into communities on bail. Judge Ian Trigger launched his heart-felt tirade as he sentenced a 19-year-old youth who smashed a woman on the head with an iron bar while on bail for knifing a man in the back. He was speaking just a day after three youths were convicted of the murder of Warrington father-of-three Garry Newlove, 47. Following their convictio…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7211185.stm A Sussex policeman is back on the beat after almost having his ear beaten off while he arrested a man he suspected of breaking his bail conditions. Acting Sgt Andy Standing, of Hove Police Station, required stitches to the top of his ear following the attack in Blatchington Road on Wednesday. He said the suspect head-butted him a number of times before sinking his teeth into his flesh. The attacker had to be restrained with a chemical spray. 'Baring his teeth' Acting Sgt Standing, who was a police constable at the time of the incident but has since been promoted, said: "I didn't realise he had done it at the time…

A home-made booby trap which exploded in the hand of a 12-year-old boy who trespassed on private land was an illegal firearm, a jury has been told. Jack Clarkson, 63, installed the alarm gun at his mill in Worsthorne, near Burnley, Lancashire, after he suffered a spate of thefts and fire damage. Jack John Ashley, known as JJ, was badly hurt when he set the trap off. Mr Clarkson denies charges of possessing a prohibited firearm at Burnley Crown Court. If convicted he faces a minimum five-year jail term. The court was told how JJ and three other youths entered the mill on 6 April 2006. JJ, of Worsthorne, needed surgery on his damaged hand after he triggered the d…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7198966.stm Last Updated: Monday, 21 January 2008, 08:04 GMT Overhaul of police pay proposed Police pay should be based on skills and performance not length of service, according to a report by think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research. The proposals come as 15,000 officers prepare to stage a mass march over pay in Westminster on Wednesday. Officers are currently given an annual pay increase of between 2% and 6% for the first 10 years of service, on top of the agreed national pay rise. The IPPR says this discourages officers from developing specialist skills. "This system does not reward expertise and discourages off…

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09:00 - 19 January 2008 A Judge told a serial burglar who was headbutted by one of his victims that it "served him right". Wayne Spencer, 26, was climbing down a drainpipe when he was spotted by homeowner Richard Higgins. Mr Higgins, a martial arts expert, said: "When I asked him what he was doing he said he was looking for his brother's house. "I just said to him 'No you're not mate', and that was when I headbutted him." Judge Dudley Bennett said: "This was a serious burglary. It occurred in the hours of darkness and involved a struggle with the homeowner. "It is perfectly reasonable for homeowners to use reasonable force to protect their property and protect them…

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BBC News Arrested for murder of his wife, police now also investigate link with murder of his mother in law.

Entry codes to doors of police stations across London were stolen from a car, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed. The list for access to 73 stations went missing after a car used by a vehicle maintenance contractor was stolen in Ealing, west London, on 28 December. All codes on the list were changed within 12 hours and none was for "high security" stations, police said. Commander Shaun Sawyer, the senior officer on call at the time, said: "There was no breach of security". Police said the car was stolen after the driver had parked it. The unofficial list of codes was missing when the car was found abandoned in the same area hours later. No one has been arrested…