UK Policing News

POLICE ARMOUR FAILS SAFETY TEST BY CIARAN FAGAN SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT 10:30 - 29 January 2008 The body armour vests worn by police officers are set to be replaced after tests showed they can be pierced by knives. Forces across the country have now been advised to replace the equipment. The vests, which are worn by officers on routine patrols as well as in potentially hazardous situations, failed a test because in some cases the garments were punctured by a knife. Leicestershire Police Authority will be asked on Thursday to agree to spend £232,000 to replace 950 vests. A report to the authority notes: "The Home Office Scientific Development Board stated t…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/feb...rss&feed=11 Nice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7231907.stm

Hello forumites... I've been looking over the payscales in the wake of THAT decison from the Home Secretary, and it seems that I (and several colleagues) are currently on the wrong rung of the pay ladder, according to our service. I have consulted payroll, who obviously looked slightly baffled before saying "Oh, we're sure its right" and giving me some convoluted explanation that made no sense. What I need is somewhere that details the police payscales (for constables) since 1998, showing how they increased each year with the annual payrise. I know that the old 14-point payscale was reduced to a 10-point scale around 2003, and I think it was also at an 11-point scale …

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770

http://www.thecnj.com/camden/2008/013108/news013108_09.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...ll&offset=0 Quite long, but I found it interesting.

An extra 1,000 police will be recruited to police London next year, the London Mayor Ken Livingstone has said. In a budget speech, the mayor said this was in addition to the 10,000 officers and police community support officers recruited since he was elected in 2000. He said there were now 35,000 police officers in London. But the London Assembly Conservatives said the Mayor's budget was "miserable and old-fashioned" and proposed 500 more police for London in its budget. Mr Livingstone said: "I am able to confirm that with this budget London will gain an extra 1,000 uniformed police, a major contribution to making our city safer and more secure. "The results of …

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 …

http://www.hoovers.com/free/co/news/detail...ce_type%5B%5D=n