UK Policing News

A police officer endured a six month wait to find out he was HIV free after a man spat into his mouth shouting ‘I have Aids - I hope you get Aids’. Martyn Lyndon Williams, 42, of Raingate Street, Bury St Edmunds, pleaded guilty to assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. At 1am on August 11 Sergeant Mark Beirne was arresting Williams for being drunk and disorderly, in Bury, when he was spat at. The court heard Williams shouted abuse at the officer such as ‘I have got Aids - I hope you get Aids and die’. Police records showed Williams to be HIV positive which Colette Griffiths, prosecuting, said caused ‘gre…

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Police+IT+and+Technology/2013/Feb/19/Feature-Airwave-Could-Be-Replaced_61319.html Interesting comments to read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279789/I-chase-I-bite--crime-report-dog--Police-investigate-completing-witness-statement-written-force-dog.html 'I chase him, I bite him'... the crime report written by a DOG: Officer investigated after submitting witness statement in character as animal Police are under investigation for jokingly filling in a witness statement in the name of a force dog. Officers became exasperated when prosecutors asked for an account of a crime from a ‘PC Peach’, not realising Peach was the name of a police dog. So they completed the form as if it had been written by the alsatian, and signed it with a paw print. The dog’s…

So Sad, thoughts are with his friends and family in this tough time. May he Rest in Peace.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21480648

In the news today that Lord Hanningfield, a disgraced and jailed expenses fraud peer, has won £3500 from Essex Police after they arrested him and searched his house shortly after he was released from prison during another investigation from when he was a local councillor some years before. The case turned on the PACE 'necessity' rule. The peer claimed that if the police had looked at his record of co-operation under the expenses matter it would have been obvious to them that if they had sought his co-operation regarding this older enquiry they would have had it. The judge ruled that his arrest and early morning house search did not meet the 'necessity' part of PACE and …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21448496

The best way for the Met to recover from recent bad publicity is for its officers to reconnect with LondonersWho would be a London policeman? We are cutting 25 per cent of their budget, reducing their numbers and cutting their starting pay. We are closing 65 London police stations and dumping staff “in post offices and cafés”. We accuse the police of corruption, racism and undercover sex. Yesterday, the police minister, Damian Green, even suggested they may soon be held in lower esteem “than politicians, journalists and bankers”. You can’t get lower than that. The Metropolitan Police has long been dubbed “the last unreformed public service in the land”, surely a calumny …

A bit of humour - but not appreciated by the CPS: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279789/I-chase-I-bite--crime-report-dog--Police-investigate-completing-witness-statement-written-force-dog.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21487266 I agree with this, and have thought so for a long time. The spokesman from Rape Crisis seems to assume that accused is the same as guilty from her comments. But it does present a problem where someone might be suspected of multiple rapes and the victims all too shy to come forward until one does. On the other hand, now that hearsay and previous convictions can be brought in as evidence, perhaps this is less important than when each case had to be tried in isolation. Another advantage of keeping the defendant's name confidential is that it helps to maintain the anonymity of the victim. Friends of an accused might have a pretty shr…

Award-winning police special quits after misusing force Twitter account to contact gay men James Horton quit his West Midlands Police role after 10 years He resigned just six months after winning a long service award Mr Horton quit before disciplinary proceedings could begin An award winning police special who allegedly used a force Twitter account to contact gay men has resigned after volunteering for more than a decade. Head of Dudley District Special Constabulary James Horton, 34, quit following allegations that he had misused the account which was linked to West Midlands Police. Mr Horton, who was head of a team of 70 special constables, resigned before …

PCC budget reveals extra police jobs for Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Police (GMP) will recruit up to 250 new staff, including 50 police officers over the next year, causing council tax to rise.The move was announced by Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd as part of his budget spending plans for GMP. Mr Lloyd said the "modest increase" would cost the average household slightly over an extra penny a day. GMP had its budget reduced by 20% between 2010-15 by central government, forcing about 3,000 posts to be lost. Mr Lloyd said: "I've tried to do what we can to protect the service to make sure that we can maintain policing standards and to make sure that w…

From the BBC local news the other night: Eighty per cent of Wiltshire's fast response officers say they want to be equipped with Tasers on a routine basis. The county's Police Federation says officers often respond to emergencies alone and regard the stun guns as an effective way to deal with violent suspects. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-21481273 (This could be integrated with the firearms thread, or moved to Wiltshire, but I thought it was an interesting stand alone point)