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SECURIZINE ISSUE 15 21st December 2005
Policing
Not For Sale - Says APA
The
APA has condemned what it calls the Home Secretary's attempt to bribe
police authorities into abolishing local police forces. The Home Secretary
has offered extra money to those police authorities who volunteer to merge
their police forces on 23rd December.
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on this Story]
University
of Teesside Wins £120,000 Training Contract
The
University of Teesside has picked up the £120,000 contract to train
West Mercia's new police recruits. The force's probationers, known as
student officers, will undertake the two-year foundation degree course
in Professional Policing, in partnership with the University's School
of Social Sciences and Law.
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on this Story]
New
£1.8m Police Station for Notts
Nottinghamshire
police has submitted a planning application to build a brand new Police
Station in Mansfield Woodhouse. The new station, expected to cost £1.8m,
will provide accommodation space for staff and should be completed by
Spring 2007.
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on this Story]
PSNI
Justified in Using AEP Impact Rounds and Water Cannons
Decisions taken by senior PSNI officers to use AEP
impact rounds and water cannons during the policing of the Ardoyne and
Whiterock parades this year were justified, an independent report has
found. The Police Commander in charge of policing this year's 12th of
July Ardoyne parade and the 10th of September Whiterock parade welcomed
the findings of the independent report published today by the Northern
Ireland Policing Board.
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on this Story]
Strathclyde
VRU Expands to Create 'Centre of Excellence'
Strathclyde
Police's Violence Reduction Unit is to be expanded to create a national
'centre of excellence', making the expertise of the unit available to
all Scottish police forces. Strathclyde Police established the Violence
Reduction Unit (VRU) in January 2005 to tackle violence and knife crime
in the west of Scotland. The VRU works closely with partner agencies to
develop long-term solutions to violent behaviour, as well as operational
initiatives and enforcement.
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on this Story]
Britten-Norman
Signs Aircraft Deal with Cirrus
UK
based aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman has signed a deal to re-assemble
the world's best selling small plane in its class for American manufacturer
Cirrus. Britten-Norman will start to put together the SR20 as well as
the SR22 for any orders the American company takes from Europe, starting
from January 2006.
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Fly
Tippers Fined
A couple from Birmingham who were among the first
in the country to be arrested for fly tipping after being caught by Solihull
Council have been prosecuted. Mandy Hale and Keith Smith from Moorfield
Road, Shard End in Birmingham appeared at Solihull Magistrates' Court.
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on this Story]
CLCS
Offers Free Lock Survey of Custody Suites
A free lock survey of all police custody suites
to ensure they are still working well is being offered by Chubb Locks
Custodial Services Ltd. The company says it is offering the service due
to the aggressive working environment.
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on this Story]
Police
get Claws into Cat Burglar
A
burglar has been jailed for four and a half years after cat hairs found
on his clothing linked him to the crime scene. Gary Sutcliffe, 43, of
Hammerton Green, Bacup, broke into a house in Bury, but escaped when he
was confronted. A police patrol car then spotted clothes being thrown
out of a vehicle that was being driven by Sutcliffe.
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Community
Support Officer Stationed at M62 Services
A
South Yorkshire police community support officer will be stationed at
a motorway service area on the M62, as part of a joint public-private
initiative.
Police Community Support Officer Elaine McGuinness, will work at the Hartshead
Moor service area after the service area's owners, Welcome Break, joined
forces with Calderdale Division, and Calderdale Safer Communities Partnership
to fund the full-time post.
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SECURIZINE ISSUE 14 14th December 2005
Four
Force Trial for Aurora's eGallery Facial Recognition System
Four
forces are looking to trial Aurora's eGallery facial recognition system
following the company's fourth conference held last week in Birmingham.
Chris Cross, a former senior officer and consultant to Aurora, welcomed
the news. ‘We always aim to have independent speakers at the conference
and spend the first day setting the scene in terms of biometric technology.
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on this Story]
Northgate
Hit by Buncefield Explosion
A
leading supplier of information solutions to the police service has been
hit by the explosion at the Buncefield oil refinery last weekend. Northgate
Information Solutions plc has announced that its head office building
in Hemel Hempstead has been seriously damaged as a result of the explosion.
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on this Story]
Police Restructuring Deadline Threatened
The
final deadline for police restructuring proposals is under threat from
local police authorities concerned over the costs of amalgamation. The
Home Office set a deadline of December 23rd for the merger plans to be
finalised, but Northamptonshire police authority is threatening not to
put forward its final proposal until the Government agrees to meet the
costs.
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on this Story]
Widespread
Disappointment at Government's Police Funding Settlement
Police
Authorities across the country have expressed disappointment at the Government's
police funding settlement, announced last week. Thames Valley Police Authority
warned it faces a significant funding shortfall while Derbyshire said
the settlement fell 'some way short' of what the force was hoping for.
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on this Story]
£5
Million Firearms Range Opened at Thames Valley
Home
Office minister Hazel Blears MP officially opened Thames Valley police's
£5 million firearms range this week at Sulhamstead. Set in the grounds
of the Force training centre, the range was constructed over a two year
period by Anglo Holt Construction and finished earlier this year.
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on this Story]
Training
Organisations Awarded Skillsmark Recognition
'Skillsmark'
recognition has been awarded to a number of training organisations this
week, including the Forensic Science Service, The Scottish Prison Service
and the Metropolitan Police Forensic Faculty. The new scheme has been
developed by Skills for Justice, the sector skills council for the justice
sector.
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on this Story]
John
Laing Sells Stakes in PFI Projects for £26.7m
John
Laing has sold stakes in four police PFI projects for £26.7 million
to invest in further PFI projects, the company has announced. The company
sold 50% of the equity in the Gravesend Firearms Training Centre, South
East London Police Stations and Greater Manchester Police Stations and,
subject to obtaining clearances, will also sell 50% of the equity in the
Durham & Cleveland Firearms Training Centre.
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Positive
Audit Report for Northants Police Authority
Independent
auditor KPMG has given a clean bill of health to Northamptonshire Police
Authority in its annual audit, saying that the organisation 'recognises
the importance of robust financial management and continues to manage
its resources effectively'.
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Three
Forces to Pilot FIND
Three
forces will pilot the Facial Images National Database (FIND) in the New
Year, according to PITO. Geraldine Pearson-Green, from PITO's police liaison
team said the pilots had been due to start in November, but had been delayed.
They were now scheduled to begin in January.
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Biodiesel
for GMP
Greater
Manchester Police is switching its diesel fleet to an environmentally-friendly
fuel at no extra cost. Biodiesel, a mixture of vegetable oil and fossil
diesel, emits lower levels of harmful emissions than traditional diesel
and will be used in all 1,275 of the force's diesel fleet from this week.
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Sexual
Orientation Monitoring at Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian
and Borders Police has become the first UK force to monitor the sexual
orientation of its staff. The move was just one of the topics discussed
in the first ever Scottish conference on policing for the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender community held last week.
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on this Story]
£70,000
Sexual Assault Referral Centre to Open in Cleveland
Work
is set to start on Cleveland police's first purpose-built £70,000
sexual assault referral centre. The complex, to be based at North Tees
Hospital in Stockton, should be operational early next year and will offer
examination rooms, video interviewing and counselling for victims.
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on this Story]
Experts
to Develop Guidance for Monitoring Young Sex Offenders in Scotland
A
team of experts will be appointed to develop national guidance to tighten
the monitoring and supervising of young sex offenders in Scotland, the
executive has announced. The group will work with national agencies and
local service providers to develop new measures to improve the identification,
risk assessment, and planning for young sex offenders
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on this Story]
South
Yorks Website Team Shortlisted for International Award
South
Yorkshire Police's website team has been shortlisted for an International
Award for its 'podcast' service which interviews different force members
and can be listened to through iTunes or from the website.
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on this Story]
SECURIZINE ISSUE 13 7th December 2005
Police
Grant Settlement 'Not Enough'
Chief Officers have expressed concern that the Government’s
police grant settlement announced this week is not enough to meet increasing
demands on police forces. Dr Tim Brain, Chairman of the ACPO Finance Business
Area and Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said the settlement
appeared, at first glance, to ‘create some real difficulties.’
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on this Story]
Merseyside Officers to be Trained in Dealing
with Gypsies and Travellers
Merseyside
officers are to be trained in dealing with Gypsies and Travellers as part
of a new policy launched by the force. The policy was developed with the
Independent Advisory Group (IAG) who acknowledge it as best practice after
its authors sought advice and input from the Gypsy and Traveller communities.
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on this Story]
Northumbria
Police Use FIDO Camera System
Northumbria police have trained two specialist firearm’s
dogs to be fitted with the FIDO camera system to search buildings and
relay information to officers. Three-year-old Zara, who was bred in force,
and five-year-old Sammy have both qualified to become specialist firearms
dogs.
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ACPO
Responds to Criticisms on Sex Offenders in the Community
ACPO has responded to criticisms that police and
probation are failing to monitor sex offenders in the community adequately.
The Association said it was aware of the concerns regarding the level
of training needed to manage sex offenders and that an ACPO manual on
Public Protection, due out next year, would help combat the problem.
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Croydon
Family Justice Centre First in Europe
Victims of domestic violence will be able to access
services under one roof in Croydon following the opening of Europe's first
Family Justice Centre. The centre has been developed in partnership with
the San Diego Family Justice Centre, the international model of excellence
on domestic violence, as well as the New York Family Justice Centre.
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Drug
Driving Tests Target Universities
Students have been targeted by PSNI and the Department
of the Environment in a bid to cut the levels of drug driving. Posters
have gone up in nineteen Universities and Colleges of Further Education
in
Northern Ireland warning that police are
testing for evidence of driving while on drugs.
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North
Cumbria Improves Custody Facilities
Cumbria’s assistant chief constable says he
is happy that North Cumbria is making progress after it was criticised
by the HMIC for having inadequate custody facilities. Assistant Chief
Constable (Operations) Graham Sunderland made his comments following the
latest HMIC review of the BCU which found it had made demonstrable improvements.
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Durham
Opens New £1m Riot Training Centre
Durham opened the doors of its new £1million
riot training centre to the media last week.The facility has been adapted
by the force from a newly acquired former plastics factory at Meadowfield
on the outskirts of the city.
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on this Story]
South
Yorks Drives Over the Limit
South Yorkshire police have released its figures
from the European Drink Drive weekend which show a sharp increase in drink-driving.
Static roadside checks were carried out over the weekend across the region
- in addition to the normal work of mobile officers.
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on this Story]
New
Reactive Policing Model Launched in Doncaster
Doncaster is set to see the biggest change in policing
in over 25 years, according to the force. South Yorkshire police will
introduce what it calls a ‘new reactive policing model’ in January
2006 to meet public demands for a faster police response and greater visibility.
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UK
Shows New Zealand Centralised Call System
Thames Valley police have traveled down under to
advise their New Zealand counterparts how to centralise the way they handle
calls. At present in New Zealand, callers call their local station for
assistance, a station which particularly in the rural locations could
be unmanned at times resulting in a poor service to the caller.
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Binge
Drinking Bus Launched in Essex
A bus to help binge-drinkers recover from alcoholic
excess has been launched in Essex. The 'SOS’ bus project went on
trial this month and will operate between 9pm and 3 am in the morning
in Southend to help people who ‘fall foul of the night-time economy’,
according to Essex police.
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on this Story]
Boom
in Extremist and Illegal Websites
Bombing, extremist and illegal
websites have nearly doubled in one year, according to Internet Security
Systems, who reported a 40 per cent increase in extremist and illegal
content on the World Wide Web.
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on this Story]
Thieves
to be Tested for Drugs
Police are now able to test for drugs on arrest
due to new powers aimed at reducing drug-related crime by getting offenders
into treatment. The scheme will initially be targeted in areas with the
highest drug-linked crime rates such as Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire
and Nottinghamshire. The powers are likely to be expanded into other areas
from 31 March 2006.
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