UK Policing News

More guns are being seized in cities across Britain as the number of firearms being smuggled into the country increases, Britain’s most senior police officer has said. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, told a hearing at London’s City Hall that a rise in gun crime in the capital was being put down to an increase in the number of weapons coming into the country. Rising number of guns being smuggled into UK, Metropolitan police say http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/28/rising-number-of-guns-being-smuggled-into-uk-metropolitan-police-say?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard Quite a worrying story if criminals can…

Police forces have been left without the latest Tasers because of ‘unbelievable’ delays by the Home Office in approving a new design. Full Story: Daily Mail A year since the contract ran out, no more new ones can be ordered.

A woman who passed out at the wheel of her car with her baby in the back seat was saved after a police officer managed to ram her vehicle off the motorway. Police officer saves unconscious driver and baby by ramming car off motorway - ITV News http://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-28/police-officer-saves-unconscious-driver-and-baby-by-ramming-car-off-motorway/ Fantastic work by officer concerned could have gone horribly wrong, brave and decisive action well done

Just read a cracking blog on Linked In written by a former Ops ACC from TVP located here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/futile-quest-brian-langston-qpm Was interested to see what other people thought on the issues raised? [Edit - see below where I tried to make the post easier to read. David] See below.

A fare-dodger swindled train companies out of more than £1,600 by using fake police ID and a student card to get cheaper fares. Ryan Farber, 37, from Barnet, was caught out on a Virgin train from Manchester to London after the train manager became suspicious. As he got off the train at Euston, Farber was met by British Transport Police officers who arrested him for possessing the fake police ID. Police also found him carrying the drug ketamine. Farber, of Temple Fortune Hill, had been vetted by a police force as part of his job and used the pass he was given to make up a fake warrant card. He pleaded guilty to fraud and possession of a class B drug. Being sentenced …

Met Police Officer Marcus Tyson is under investigation A police officer is under investigation after an apparently racist incident during a pro-Kurd demonstration in London. Police officer Marcus Tyson shouted ‘you don’t tell me what to do in my country’ at an activist who had told him to ‘get out of here’. He is now facing the prospect of losing his job for gross misconduct after a video was posted online. Mr Tyson has hit out at action being taken against him saying it was ‘oppressive political correctness’ that left officers ‘afraid to do their jobs properly’.Video also shows protesters shouting ‘**** the police’ by protesters as he walks along next to the group. H…

A north London police officer has been jailed for child porn offences. Nicholas Tweedie, a specialist constable based in Harrow, has been sentenced to two years after taking indecent images of children. He is now facing being dismissed from the Metropolitan Police force. Tweedie, 32, was arrested by Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse detectives in June. He was found guilty of three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of taking an indecent image of a child. Tweedie was suspended from the force on the day of his arrest and will now face misconduct proceedings. ​ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/north-london-police-officer-jailed-…

It is more than a year since the previous stun-gun deal expired New ones cannot be ordered from the US makers until the issue is resolved Police chiefs want thousands more officers to be armed with the devices One source said it was 'unbelievable' with the terror threat so high Police forces have been left without the latest Tasers because of ‘unbelievable’ delays by the Home Office in approving a new design. Ministers and civil servants are stalling over approving the next generation of electric stun-guns even though it is more than a year since the previous deal expired. It means police chiefs who want thousands more frontline officers to be armed with the devi…

The Metropolitan police is poaching firearms officers from the home counties and areas outside the capital to boost its numbers, it has been claimed. Figures show that – amid a heightened terror threat - the Met recruited eight times as many officers from regional forces in 2015, than in the previous year, The Times reported. Police forces near London warned that the recruitment tactics risk leaving them without the necessary capability, according to the newspaper. Firearms officers are reportedly being lured to join the Met with a London allowance of several thousand pounds a year. The problem has emerged after government plans to increase the number of armed polic…

They want officers to reflect the diversity of communities they serve Leicester Police have become the second force to state they might allow Muslim officers to wear full burka while on duty. It comes after the chief constable of West Midlands Police, David Thompson, said he would consider allowing female recruits to wear the face-covering burka, or the niqab which leaves only the eye area clear. Mr Thompson said it is important for the police to ‘reflect the community we serve’, and comes during a drive to get more diversity among PCs. Responding to his comments, Leicestershire Chief Constable Simon Cole said he would also consider Muslim officers’ wishes if they req…

A mentally ill man who was shot dead by Met Police officers at his home was lawfully killed, an inquest has concluded. James Fox, 43, was hit five times as he opened the door to his flat in Picardy House, Enfield in August 2015. The shooting happened hours after Mr Fox had threatened to kill his father and pointed a gun at a child's head. Jurors at North London Coroner's Court found officers believed they needed to use force to defend themselves. But Mr Fox's father said he was not happy with the verdict, describing his son's death as needless. 'Waking nightmare'He said: "I am disappointed. I am not happy with it... I never in my life felt threatened by him or in a…

Footage of a police officer smashing the windscreen of a car before cutting a hole through it with a knife - in what the driver claims is a case of mistaken identity - is being investigated. The video taken in Gospel Oak yesterday afternoon by the vehicle's occupant is now being looked into by the Metropolitan Police's Directorate of Professional Standards. It shows the policeman repeatedly yelling: “Get out the car.” He starts by hammering on the driver’s window before starting to smash the windscreen, after being told over the radio the driver is not qualified to drive. The officer then pulls out a knife and starts hacking through the glass with the blade as the dri…

Police found 16 suspected illegal immigrants in a truck which was stopped on the M1 at Dunstable Sixteen suspected illegal immigrants, including at least one child, have been removed from a lorry on the M1. Police across three counties tracked the vehicle before stopping it Junction 11 at Dunstable, Bedfordshire. The lorry, which is thought to have set out from Romania, was heading north from Essex when it was halted. The East of England Ambulance Service said it assessed all those who were found aboard, all of whom are in a stable condition. Bedfordshire Police said some were experiencing breathing difficulties and were taken to hospital as a precaution before being…