Search the Community

Anti-fraud police boasted of seizing a record £30million from scammer only to hand it back. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/anti-fraud-police-boasted-of-seizing-record-30m-from-scammer-but-told-to-hand-it-back/ar-AA16EDOp?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=637e0a18b5ee429b82456fe2f0c5eea2

Police patrolling pubs and clubs in the Square Mile are being used as "punchbags" with five injured in attacks on Thursday night, City of London Police said on Friday. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/five-police-injured-as-they-are-treated-as-punchbags-in-attacks-on-thursday-night-in-the-city/ar-AA155dRO?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=ccd51d96c5404588a466ed18bcbc4ae6

Police have raided a “significant” cannabis factory which had been set up next door to the Bank of England.https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/cannabis-factory-bank-of-england-b900452.html

AN Uber driver helped rescue six cops after their armoured police van flipped over on a 20mph roundabout. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13512201/cops-freed-from-van-by-uber-driver/

A gang who sold fake £50 notes to London criminals for as little as £12.50 have been jailed for 23 years. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/jailed-gang-counterfeit-50-notes-london-a4562116.html

A force will test a new approach to recruitment, roles and powers for people wanting to help it without getting paid. City of London Police specials at a recent attestation event A pilot scheme which will try to maximise the potential for volunteers to help the police service is about to begin. City of London Police will test a new approach where anyone who wants to give up time for law enforcement will be encouraged to do so – even if no roles exist for them at the moment. Under the Home Office-funded pilot the force, which leads on economic crime across the UK, is to introduce the system for trying to make the most of everyone who approaches it. Special Commander James Phipson told Police Oracle: “One of the biggest problems in the past is somebody walks into the front office of a police station anywhere in the country and says I want to help you, and the only thing that can be done is to direct them to HR. “Now HR doesn’t know what to do with them until it’s got a role description, risk assessment, you probably need vetting. Already you’ve probably derailed the police’s ability to use that person,” he said. Everyone “from the owner of an enormous accountancy firm” to a “pensioner who lives nearby” who approached the force will be sent to a recruitment event, to be held once a month. “Those events will be very different from events in the past, the role is really to evangelise, to say – if you want to help the police we want to help you to do so. “There’s lots of ways you can help us, we’ll use case studies that range from a barrister who might be prepared to take the odd phone call on a legal issue right the way through to an accountancy firm who will commit its fraud department to come in and assist us on a regular basis., or through to mucking out the stables.” He also gave examples of manning front desks and making tea in control rooms during crises. While the accounts of people being turned away from helping the police are anecdotal, researchers from the University of Northampton will be evaluating the pilot. The initiative will be launched next month with £25,000 from the police transformation fund going towards a fulltime coordinator and £10,000 for the evaluation. People in different departments across the force will have responsibility for helping to bring the would-be volunteers into their areas, though special constables are managing much of the programme “because they understand volunteers”. Those taking part may be assigned the new powers from the Police and Crime Act if it is thought useful. There is currently no guidance on how the powers can be used. S/Comm Phipson said an example of a volunteer the force is already about to use is an ex-soldier who ran ceremonies in the army who asked if he could help. “In the past we might have said you can be a special or a cadet otherwise we don’t know what to do with you, and he’s now going to be advising us on all of the state ceremonial occasions that we host. That’s gold dust.” Overall, he said: “The goal is to take away that ‘We don’t know you do for us therefore we can’t engage with you’ and reverse that to say ‘We now understand your skills, lets find out how we can use them’ because the answer will most always be ‘yes’." View On Police Oracle

'We welcome the considerable expertise City officers bring', force says. Scene of Thursday's attack in Mile End, east London. Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire Detectives from City of London Police are aiding the Met as frequent violent attacks continue in the capital. On Thursday, six youths were attacked within a 90-minute period, including a 13-year-old boy who was seriously wounded after being set upon in Newham, east London. Around an hour earlier, two 15-year-olds were seriously hurt after being stabbed in Grove Road, Mile End, east London. More than 50 people have been killed in the metropolis since the start of the year, more than 30 of whom were fatally knifed. It was announced on Thursday that City of London Police are helping with the caseload. The force has taken on the investigation of a man killed at a bookmakers in Clapton, east London, on Wednesday. A statement from the Met said: “The investigation will be led by Superintendent Lee Presland, from City of London Police and a former Met officer. “The Met routinely works closely with other forces, especially its neighbouring forces - which include City of London Police - on a variety of crime prevention initiatives such as Operation Sceptre to tackle knife crime, and we welcome the considerable expertise City officers bring.” Victor Olisa, the Met's former head of diversity and head of policing in Tottenham told the Guardian: "It appears to people I have spoken to as though the police have lost control of public spaces and the streets. "The silence from senior officers in the Met is deafening." Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the rising number of murders on the capital's streets was "heartbreaking" and criticised the government for cuts to the policing budget. He said: "Of course it concerns me, I think one murder is one too many. "Since 2014 we have seen an increase in violent crime in London and across the country. "Already in the last seven years we have lost £700 million from the policing budget. Over the next three years the government plans to cut another £300 million. That's a billion pounds worth of cuts. "So my message to the government is please work with us to solve this national problem." View On Police Oracle