Search the Community

Aside from the obvious sites such as @polcomforum that you are all clearly already following, who else do you follow? I'm asking for those funny or poignant or informative or just plain silly and pretty feeds. Not interested in celebrities or footie teams and I'm not looking for any police related ones. So who do you follow that you can recommend? Here's a few I follow: @RealPhotoBombs - just silly photos @TheWorldOfFunny - Mostly funny but they have on occasion crossed the border and I've almost stopped following once or twice @HistoricalPics @HistoryInPics @History_Pics -Those three are obviously run by the same person but they all post slightly different pics, some quite good @ExcuseThePun - Terrible jokes @CRAlerts - Because everybody should follow this I have many many more so if I get some good ones in exchange I'll let you have more.

So like many I need to lose some weight. I generally just need to get a bit more active. My Dr has recommended I get a fitness wristband or fitness monitor. I'm fully aware they don't do much but count things and keep a record of things for you, it is ultimately up to me to do something, but my Dr recommends it as a slow starter to help you see what you are doing and what more you could do. So what does the forum recommend? I quite fancy a Jawbone but which one I'm not sure. The fitbit seems quite popular but this may because it is on the cheaper end. I'm not necessarily looking for cheapest and definitely not the most expensive but I do want one that will communicate with my BlackBerry, that said a lot of Android apps work on the BB now. Help!

Ever been wasting time on the internet and happened to fall into an odd page? The sort of page you decide to add into your bookmarks to analyse further at a later date? A later date that turns into a very long time ago and then you stumble across it and think "why did I bookmark that?" Now is you chance to share it. Have a root through your bookmarked pages for one you haven't accessed in a long long while and share it with us here. I have a lot but for now I shall share only a couple http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ http://thefabweb.com/ Enjoy!

What's the most times you've ever edited a post you made? Edited it because something was wrong or didn't look right? Maybe you added something thinking it would look brilliant but in the end it didn't so you edited it. Maybe you wanted to add something but thought it wouldn't look good so you didn't. We may have a solution for you. Another new feature we have added is our new Test Area. You need to be logged in to use it but that is about as far as the rules go (aside from normal forum rules). But what is it for I hear you ask. Well you can create a post in there and tinker with it all you like, you can add things and take things away, you can experiment and try new things all safe in the knowledge that the only people able to see it is you and the moderation team. On the front page it may show that there are many posts but rest assured you can only see your own entries. If you are having trouble with a post or with a new thread you can try it in here and then ask a question of the mod team for help. We can't guarantee a prompt reply here as it is only for test stuff and not a replacement for reporting problems. If you are having issues with the forum then they should be raised in the normal way via a support ticket. Here's some further information about the area: * The forum is not routinely monitored by our administrators or moderators. * Posts in this forum will not increase your account's post count. * You can only see your own topics in this forum. Other member topics will not be visible to you. So if you were ever in doubt about what a post or thread would look like then you can test it here first. Cheetah Here's the full URL http://forum.policecommunity.co.uk/forum/1168-test-area/

Police will be forced to adopt a “paramilitary” style of enforcement if the government inflicts big budget cuts on them, the head of the police officers’ organisation has warned. Steve White, chair of the Police Federation, said his 123,000 members, from police constables to inspectors, fear a move towards a more violent style of policing as they try to keep law and order with even fewer officers than now. White told the Guardian that more cuts would be devastating: “You get a style of policing where the first options are teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon, which are the last options in the UK.” White said cuts would see the bedrock principle of British law enforcement, policing by consent, ripped apart. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation. Photograph: Police Federation/PA The week ahead sees the federation stage its annual conference, which starts on Tuesday 19 May. The key day will be Wednesday when the home secretary, Theresa May, will address rank-and-file officers. Last year May stunned delegates with a speech telling them to reform or be taken over by government, and telling them policing was failing too often. Police leaders have a fine line to walk in opposing cuts. Rank-and-file members are furious at the effects of austerity on their terms and conditions, as well as falling officer numbers nationally. But May and her advisers believe some members of the police force use over-the-top rhetoric in predictions that cuts would lead to chaos on the streets, and instead believe they should squeeze maximum value out of the public money given. White said police had already endured five years of austerity and were braced for more “swingeing cuts” after the election of a Conservative government with a majority. White said that since 2010, when the Conservative-led coalition started slashing its funding to police by 20%, the service had been cut by 17,000 officers and 17,000 civilian staff, but had managed to limit the effect on the public. He said the service was now “on its knees”, with some internal projections within policing of a further 20% to 25% of cuts by the end of the next parliament in 2020. This would lead to more than 15,000 officers disappearing off the streets, only being seen when responding to crime or serious events such as disorder on the streets. White said: “You are left with a police service who you only speak to in the direst of circumstances, a police service almost paramilitary in style.” “You police by consent by having a relationship with local communities. “If you don’t have a relationship, because the officers have been cut, you will lose the consent which means the face and style of policing changes. “The whole service, from top to bottom, is deeply concerned about the ability to provide the service that the public have come to expect over the next five years.” After the Conservative election win, May was reappointed to the Home Office. The party’s manifesto promised further reforms to police. There is no sign the Conservatives, emboldened by an electoral mandate, will reduce the size of cuts in government funding the police face. Related: Theresa May stuns Police Federation with vow to break its power White said: “The concept of the British bobby at the heart of policing will be coming to an end.” He said crucial parts of policing which help prevent crime are under threat, including prevention, reassurance patrols and neighbourhood policing. “The police officers we represent are telling is, day in and day out, that they are close to being on their knees,”the Federation chair said. The burgeoning stress on officers has led to increased mental health problems, increased sick leave and plunging morale, he claimed. White said policing needed longer-term planning, and less political turmoil, about how it is structured and what it continues to do and what it stops doing. He said political parties were too short term and big reforms could save money and limit the damage to policing. White said: “I’m saying give us more money or let us radically reform.” Some chiefs have talked privately about cuts so large their forces are reduced to 1980s-style policing, responding to crises only, with heavy cuts to prevention and building relationships with communities. West Midlands police is planning ending the bobby on the beat in some areas, and expects its funding from government to be cut by 40% by 2020, compared to the money it received from central government in 2010. Unlike the National Health Service, policing was not protected from cuts. The Conservatives point to the fact that official figures show crime has fallen, while police numbers have been cut and the service reformed. The Conservative manifesto for the general election pledged to “finish the job of police reform”, vowing that would boost confidence in the police. On Thursday Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer, assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, said he would fight for police to be kept on the beat, amid fears budget cuts will see fewer officers gathering potentially crucial intelligence needed to thwart a growing tide of terrorism. Rowley said he would stress in upcoming budget talks the “essential” role played by uniformed officers in neighbourhood teams. White won the top job in the embattled Police Federation last year on a promise to reform the organisation whose reputation had been tarnished. He beat his rival on the toss of a coin after the committee supposed to make the decision was evenly split. View the full article

Ever wondered how you are doing with regards to your contribution and post count compared to others? Well now you can wonder no longer as I introduce to you the Member Leader Board. This can be found in the links bar on the top of all pages under the 'Members' heading. It can be seen by all members but not by guests. The bottom row will show what your contribution is and is only view-able to you so that you can compare your figures against the highest scoring 25 members by week, month, year and for all time. The 'Top Contributors' is calculated from how many likes you have received and the 'Top Posters' is from your countable posts. Hope you enjoy it.

As you should all hopefully now have noticed our communities set up in the force specific areas are beginning to grow very nicely. This is in no small part thanks to the brilliant community leads we have that are running and managing those communities. In total we have 49 communities on the forum but so far only 20 of them have a community lead. We really want the other 29 areas to have a community lead of their own so if you want to be a part of the team managing the forum then this is your opportunity. The communities are there for the community lead to run pretty much how they like. They have quite sweeping powers in their own communities including the ability to create new areas, create password protected areas, manage other members in their community and promote others to assist them with moderation of their community along with many more. Traditionally the starting point for future full modship on the site has started with being one of our mini mods and now that opportunity starts with being a community lead. Below is a list of the areas that still have a vacancy for a community lead so if you are interested and want to help grow the forum and to have a say in how the forum is run then please raise a support ticket selecting 'Community Lead Application' as the department and don't forget to tell us which area you want to run. If you have any questions at all then feel free to ask here or send me a PM City of London Police -- Vacancy Civil Nuclear Constabulary -- Vacancy Cleveland Police -- Vacancy Cumbria Constabulary -- Vacancy Derbyshire Constabulary -- Vacancy Devon & Cornwall Police -- Vacancy Dorset Police -- Vacancy Durham Constabulary -- Vacancy Essex Police -- Vacancy Gloucestershire Constabulary -- Vacancy Gwent Police / Heddlu Gwent -- Vacancy Hampshire Constabulary -- Vacancy Isle of Man Constabulary -- Vacancy Leicestershire Police -- Vacancy Lincolnshire Police -- Vacancy Norfolk Constabulary -- Vacancy North Wales Police / Heddlu Gogledd Cymru -- Vacancy North Yorkshire Police -- Vacancy Northamptonshire Police -- Vacancy Northumbria Police -- Vacancy Nottinghamshire Police -- Vacancy Police Service of Northern Ireland -- Vacancy South Wales Police / Heddlu De Cymru -- Vacancy Staffordshire Police -- Vacancy Suffolk Constabulary -- Vacancy Sussex Police -- Vacancy Warwickshire Police -- Vacancy Miscellaneous Forces -- Vacancy Cheetah

Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who had been brought in for the event as freelance referee, introduced the contenders: “Please welcome the home secretary Theresa May and the chair of the Police Federation, Steve White.” There was a long pause before either appeared and some in the audience began to wonder if the two had come to blows before they had even made it to the stage. When May addressed the Police Federation last year she had been received in total silence, after calling them out as a bunch of reactionary jobsworths who had lost the trust of the public. Expectations were high for the re-match. White was certainly in no mood to forgive or forget. He has the build of a bruiser and his speech was equally combative. The home secretary had been wrong about Plebgate and wrong about everything else. The country was now a less safe place, police morale was at rock-bottom and the public would be shocked if they really knew what was going on. “It would appear that the cuts have been nothing more than a smokescreen for ideological change,” he declared. This must be the first time a chair of the Police Federation has sounded like a firebrand neo-Marxist. Certainly well to the left of any of the likely contenders for the leadership of the Labour party. And how would White’s revolution be won? With Tasers. “We have called for a greater rollout of Taser, because we know it works,” he added, giving May a glare that suggested he would be happy to give her a practical demonstration. May briefly looked up to return the compliment with a “bring it on if you think you’re hard enough” stare of her own. With a final appeal to the home secretary’s conscience, White sat down to a rather reluctant standing ovation. Related: Stop scaremongering and prepare for further cuts, Theresa May tells police Conscience is something that seldom bothers the home secretary. Nor was she in the mood to give an inch. The conference slogan had been #cutshaveconsequences but for May they don’t. The electorate had just given her free rein to do whatever she liked without any of the touchy-feely Lib Dem nonsense and she intended to spend the next five years doing just that. There were plenty more reforms and cuts to the police that were needed and the federation could choose to work with her or not. On balance, she would rather they did, but she wasn’t that bothered either way. The police had been scaremongering and crying wolf for too long, she said. Moan, moan, moan, that’s all they did. How about catching some crims instead? “I want police cars to become mobile police stations.” Presumably that will mean using the boot as a holding cell. If only the police had the same conviction rate as May; the home secretary is so sure of herself she doesn’t even notice the contradictions in her own arguments. Having gone on at length about how the police needed to become less target driven, she introduced one of her own: Crime is falling. I am right and you are wrong. You can’t fight that kind of self-belief and much to White’s dismay the audience buckled and gave her a polite round of applause. She even took a few questions from members of the Old Bill. “Please don’t talk down to us,” one pleaded. May looked confused. How else was she meant to talk to a bunch of idiots? Once or twice, she tried to appear placatory. “I will go away and think about what you’ve said,” she promised (and then forget all about it, she didn’t add). The hardest question came from Guru-Murthy. “Wasn’t the whole point about the boy who cried wolf,” he asked, “that there was a wolf and the boy died?” If looks could kill. May smiled wanly, making a mental note to sack her speech-writer. And to remind the new culture secretary to make life as difficult for Channel 4 as for the BBC. View the full article

Love reading these blogs, all very interesting and informative. Did you know we have a blogs section, dedicated to blogs of all sorts? http://forum.policecommunity.co.uk/blogs/ If you have a thread/blog running in here then feel free to copy and paste all of your entries into the blog section then we can keep them in their rightful place. As with all blogging sites folks can comment on the blog entries and these comments are then kept with that blog entry instead of being spread randomly about a thread. If you want a hand moving them over then drop me a PM and we'll sort something.

I think we may have discussed this over in the old place one or twice, can't really remember. Anyway, if my memory is good then I think David used to love discussing this so here it is again. Switch or not?

Baby P's mother sent back to jail for allegedly selling porn images Baby P's mother, Tracey Connelly, who was released from jail in October 2013, is sent back to prison for breaching the terms of her licence Tracey Connelly and Peter Connelly Photo: METROPOLITAN POLICE By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent 10:53AM GMT 15 Feb 2015 Baby’s P’s mother, Tracey Connelly is back in prison after she breached the terms of her licence by allegedly selling pornographic images of herself to people turned on by her notoriety. The 34-year-old, who was jailed for a minimum of five years for allowing her partner and his brother to torture her 17-month-old son, Peter, to death, was released on parole in October 2013. But she was returned to prison after the authorities suspected she had been uploading images of herself and trying to sell them online to people fascinated by her appalling crime. Rollover for sound She was arrested and recalled to prison for breaching the terms of her licence and will now have to appear before a new parole board hearing. It is understood she is being held at HMP Styal, a women’s prison in Cheshire. A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Authorities believe she was uploading images of herself and trying to flog them – possibly to sick perverts getting a kick out of her notoriety. “It doesn't get any more depraved that this. She clearly wasn't ready to be released into the community.” At the time of her initial release 18 months ago, even Connelly's own father, Richard Johnson said he believed his daughter should stay in prison for life. He said at the time: “Who in their right mind would allow her out? It’s a crazy, stupid decision. She hasn’t served nearly enough time. “She allowed her own son, my beautiful baby grandson, to be tortured to death. She’s evil and should never ever be freed.” Following her release from Durham’s Low Newton jail, Connelly was given a new name and a change of image in order to conceal her identity. A spokesman for The Ministry of Justice said: “Offenders on licence are subject to strict controls and conditions and are liable to be recalled to prison if they breach them.” Connelly was indefinitely in 2009 and was ordered to be detained for a minimum of five years until “deemed no longer a risk to the public and in particular to small children”. Peter, or Baby P, as he was known initially, was just 17 months old when he was found dead in his cot at his mother’s flat in Tottenham, north London. He had suffered 50 separate injuries, including a broken back. His abuse and injuries had been repeatedly missed by social workers and medical staff. Connelly’s boyfriend, Steven Barker, 41, was jailed for life for the Baby P and for raping a two-year-old girl. His paedophile brother Jason Owen, 37, was also jailed indefinitely and ordered to serve three years minimum. He was paroled in 2011 but sent back to jail after breaching conditions. He was then released again last year. Source: Telegraph How can this even be a thing? I am lost for words.

What's not to like about this place? It is but just a few months old and almost un-discernible from from how it looked on 31st October 2014. With this latest addition, the blogs section, we once again have something that our competitors don't have. We have the membership, we have the Admin and mod team to support the forum and we have the desire to see it improve constantly. It's not been without its trials. We've had a few stumbling blocks and some things simply haven't worked. Despite what you all may see this forum has a lot of work going into it in the background and the Admin and mod team give hundreds of hours between them every week to ensure it stays fresh and working properly for you all. So what's not to like about this place? Get your friends and colleagues to sign up and we can continue to develop and grow the forum. Cheetah

Can't seem to get my TVLink devices to work. I had standard Sky+ up to a few days agao. This old grey box had the RF in and outs on the back. This fed into a powered splitter that then fed two other TV's, one in the bedroom and one in the office. The bedroom TV we shall call TV2 and the office TV3, TV1 is the downstairs TV directly connected to the box. Both TV2 and TV3 had a TVLink device manufactured by Global Communications attached. Everthing worked fine. Now received a SKY+HD box. This is the newest type with integrated WiFi. There is no RF In and Out on the rear but it does have a I/O port. I have connected a Triax RF I/O device ( http://cpc.farnell.com/triax/370419/io-link-triax/dp/AP02859?crosssellid=AP02859&crosssell=true&in_merch=true& ) with dual RF out. I have also enabled the RF2 output in the settings on the box. I have retuned the TV's 2 and 3. I can receive pictures and Sound on TV2 and TV3 but I am having trouble changing the channels with the TVLinks. When I first connected it TV2 TVLink worked, then I connected TV3 but the TVLink wouldn't work. I unplugged the TVLink for TV2 and then TV3 worked. Wow. I assumed it was a lack of power in the Triax RF I/O so I connected the power supply to it (bear in mind both these TV's go through a splitter that is powered from the mains). I then unplugged TV3 TVLink and tried TV2 TVLink again but it didn't work. Now I can't get the TVLink on TV2 to work at all no matter what configuration I use. Anyone any ideas? I have read up on decoupled patch cables and shielding as well as moving it away from the main device and have yet to try these things but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience and what you did. I hope all of the above makes sense. It's massively frustrating. P.S. Sky refuse to help as they don't want you attaching two TV's to the box as they want you to pay for multiroom, they don't even like you attaching a second if they are honest but they have begrudgingly added the RF I/O socket for this. Thanks in advance.

From time to time users will post a request to our members to complete a survey or questionnaire for them, usually related to some university or college work. If you have a survey that you'd like users of PoliceCommunity.co.uk to complete, then please submit a request along with a link to the survey to the email address [email protected] Requests for forum users to complete surveys that are posted elsewhere will be deleted without consultation. Please also note, not that it makes too much difference, that any surveys mentioned in this thread are not officially sanctioned or hosted by PoliceCommunity.co.uk, and participation and any information you provide to the recipient is entirely at your own risk Please leave this thread purely for the posting of surveys. Any discussion of them should take place in The Locker Room. Once you have gathered the data that you require, please PM any of the Mod team to have your survey removed, this is so that users aren't left posting data to a survey that's no longer needed.