Thames Valley Officer 'Missing' after Shift
Thames Valley Police are appealing for help from the public to trace a police officer who has been missing since last Wednesday.
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First Joint Custody Suite Launched
Hertfordshire Constabulary and Essex Police have joined forces to use a custody suite in Bishop's Stortford. The initiative, which is the first of its kind in the country, has been warmly welcomed by both forces and police authorities.
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Top Cop the Voice of 'Talking Signs'
Psst.....heard the one about the top cop on South Tyneside being the voice of festive talking road signs? No, you're not imagining it, if a disembodied road sign suddenly speaks to you and reminds you to lock your car, it's likely to be the voice of Chief Superintendent Kevin Lambert.
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IPCC to Investigate Death in Custody
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is to manage an investigation into the death of a man in police custody in Derbyshire.
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IPCC Manages Fatal Road Crash Investigation
The Independent Police Complaints Commission will manage an investigation into an incident in which a Hull man died after being in collision with a Humberside Police van.
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IPCC Praises Officers' Bravery
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has called on Gwent force to recognise the courage of officers that attempted to save a man trapped in a burning building.
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Faith, Language and Culture (FLAC) Project Launched
Officers and staff with specialist knowledge of particular faiths, communities, languages or cultures, will be asked to volunteer for a brand new database which was launched by ACPO this week.
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Custody Care Commended
Dumfries and Galloway has been highly praised for its custody care treatment. Scotland's Independent Custody Visiting Scheme has recently published its national findings and Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary has walked away with high pass marks.
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Force Acted 'Unlawfully', says Law Lords
Gloucestershire police says it is disappointed by a House of Lords ruling which says that it acted unlawfully when it turned away coach loads of anti-war protestors travelling to RAF Fairford.
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Force Must Save Millions to Fund Neighbourhood Policing
Thames Valley police must shave £7 million from its budget in order to fund neighbourhood policing and protective services, the police authority has said. As things stand at the moment the proposed net budget requirement is £343.986m, which represents an increase in expenditure of 4.51 per cent.
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North Wales Procurement Achieves CIPS Certification
The Procurement team at North Wales Police has something to celebrate - after becoming only the second force in the UK to achieve CIPS certification. The Chartered Institute of Purchase Supplies (CIPS) assessed the day to day running of the unit and awarded the team the standard of excellence for purchasing policies and procedures.
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Chief 'Disappointed' at Refurbishment Costs
North Yorkshire's chief constable has said she is disappointed that the cost of refurbishing her bathroom at Headquarters was allowed to spiral out of control. Della Cannings, in a statement, said she had not been kept informed regarding the rising cost of the work.
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Serious Complaints Take too Long to Investigate, says IPCC
The Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission has called for greater cooperation among justice agencies to cut the time it takes to investigate police complaints.
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Sex Offenders' Register Expanded
The Sex offenders' register is to expand to include more offenders convicted of a wider range of crimes with sexual motives. These sexually motivated offences will be added to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
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AND FINALLY...

Ex-Offender Turns to Rhyme
A poem written by a former offender while in prison has formed part of a West Midlands Police seasonal campaign, aimed at prolific and priority offenders. Vern Miller, who was recently jailed for five months at HMP Winson Green, wrote the four-page poem - which describes his feelings as a prolific priority offender (PPO) - to offender managers at Wednesfield police station while serving his sentence.
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Man Charged with Attempted Murder
A 63-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after a Police Community Support Officer was stabbed in Stalybridge on Monday 4th December 2006.
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Kent Disappointed over PCSO Recruitment Funds Cut
Kent Police and the Kent Police Authority have spoken of their shock and disappointment at the Home Office decision to cut recruitment funds for police community support officers (PCSOs) from April next year.
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Northants gets New CJ Centre
The go-ahead has been given for the construction of a new Criminal Justice Centre in Northamptonshire. At a Police Authority meeting members endorsed the recommendation of the Resources Committee to allocate up to £13.2million for the purchase of land and the construction of the centre.
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Response Teams 'Understaffed and Overworked'
Forces regularly operate with shifts with half the number of officers needed, despite record numbers recruited in the last five years, according to a new study.
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Police Pay Set Up to Change
Two reviews of police pay are to be undertaken, with any changes being implemented by 2007, it has been revealed. In a letter to the Scottish Police Federation, Sir Clive Booth, who is to conduct the first review said: ‘I will be considering options for replacing the current arrangements.
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Authority Calls for Fair Deal on Funding
Lincolnshire police authority has lobbied Parliament in a bid to secure improved funding for Lincolnshire Police. The meeting with representatives from across the East Midlands aimed to gain the support of local MPs and raise the profile of the debate on police funding in the region.
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Sir John Bourn to Qualify Home Office 2005-06 Resource Accounts
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, has reported to Parliament that he is qualifying the Home Office 2005-06 Resource Accounts because Accounting Standards require these accounts to include the 2004-05 results.
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First RCPO Prosecution Results in almost 60 Years Prison Sentences
Five men were were sentenced to a total of almost 60 years at Isleworth Crown Court for conspiracy to supply and possession with intent to supply heroin. The sentencing comes at the conclusion of the first ever case prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO).
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Terrorism Stop and Search Powers Damage Community Relations
Stop and search powers contained in the 2000 Terrorism Act could be doing more harm than good. The Metropolitan Police Authority has called for the Met to review its use of Section 44, contained in the 2000 Terrorism Act.
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Road Kill Prosecutions to be Reviewed
A major review of the way dangerous drivers who kill on the roads are prosecuted is to be unveiled. Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC is launching a study of the way the Crown Prosecution Service handles ‘bad driving’ cases.
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Celebrity Backs Anti-Vehicle Crime Initiative
Motoring expert and television personality Quentin Willson is backing Warwickshire Police's campaign to crack down on vehicle crime. The former host of BBC's Top Gear and Channel Five's Fifth Gear, reveals that he has been a victim of vehicle crime twice.
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Limousines Linked to Organised Crime
Chief Officers have announced a national crackdown on stretch Limos that flout road safety law. More than 6000 Limos are currently in the UK, the overwhelming majority of which are imported from the USA.
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Northants Publishes Disabled Scheme
The needs of the disabled are at the heart of Northamptonshire Police’s Diversity Equality Scheme, which has been published this week. The Force has declared a commitment to giving full consideration to those with disabilities.
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Surrey Police Publishes Disability Equality Scheme
Surrey Police has published its Disability Equality Scheme, under new legislation which requires public organisations to set out exactly how they will ensure fair and equal treatment for disabled people.
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Home Office Moves to Cut Red-Tape
A Home Office simplification Plan has been launched to cut bureaucracy as part of a government-wide initiative. Key initiatives include reducing unnecessary paperwork from frontline policing and standardising national offender assessment computer systems.
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CBI Calls for Public Sector to be Overhauled
Major changes to pay and rewards systems in the public sector are necessary to get the most out of staff and achieve a step change in service delivery, according to a new CBI report.
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Bob’s Anti-Truancy Technology Helps in Scotland
Anti-truancy technology developed by a company co-founded by Bob Geldof has helped some education authorities in Scotland reduce truancy levels in their secondary schools by as much as 27% according to figures just released.
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Mixed Results for ASBOs
Most people who received an anti-social behaviour intervention, in a sample of cases examined by the National Audit Office, did not re-engage in anti-social behaviour. But, for a number of perpetrators interventions had limited impact.
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Increase in Police Complaints
Complaints against the police have risen by 15 per cent because people are more confident in the complaints process, according to the IPCC. A total of 26,268 complaint cases were recorded during 2005/06, an increase of more than 3,300 on the previous year (15%).
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'Disappointment' over PSCO Funding
Senior officers from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary have expressed disappointment at the Home Office decision to withdraw funding for the planned recruitment of 179 police community support officers next year. The Home Office has announced that it will now only fund 16,000 PCSO posts nationally, rather than the original 24,000.
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Stabbed PCSO Undergoes Surgery
A Police Community Support Officer from Greater Manchester Police had been stabbed in the neck. The 47 year-old officer was helping a housing association carry out an eviction on Monday morning at Elizabeth Avenue in Stalybridge when the incident happened. The officer arrived before his police colleagues.
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Officers in Shooting
Two GMP officers have been shot at during a robbery in Bolton. Police were called to reports of an armed robbery last Wednesday at Barclays Bank Bolton. As a marked police van followed the suspect making their getaway in a Ford Mondeo, the vehicle stopped and one of the men got out, armed with a shot gun.
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Service Mourns Chief's Death
Tributes have flooded in for Colin Cramphorn, former chief constable of West Yorkshire police. Mr Cramphorn died of prostate cancer just three months after announcing his retirement from the force. He was diagnosed two years ago.
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Herts Pays Tribute to Officer
Hertfordshire Police has announced the sudden death of a much loved, much respected police officer who spent 25 years in service, firstly with the Metropolitan Police and latterly with Hertfordshire Constabulary.
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New Facilities put Cleveland Ahead
The first phase of the multi-million pound project to provide Cleveland Police with some of the best facilities in the country has gone live. The new Redcar and Cleveland district headquarters at Kirkleatham Business Park will replace Redcar's 24-hour front desk service and provide much improved facilities for the public.
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Met in £10m Confiscation Order
The London Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART), in support of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) prosecution, has obtained a confiscation order for £10 million. Carlton Cushnie, former chairman and chief executive of the Versailles Group, was convicted in 2004 of defrauding investors in Versailles Traders Ltd/Trading partners Ltd.
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Anti Knife-Crime Ads Launched
The Met has launched two new radio adverts to discourage young people from carrying knives. Building on the success of Operation Blunt's 'Knife City', the radio adverts target young people aged from 11-19.
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Scottish Policing 'Out of Date'
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andrew Brown recently questioned whether the role and purpose of the police as set out in the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 needs to be updated in the light of policing in the 21st Century.
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Tough Sentencing Measures For NI
Automatic 50 per cent remission is to end in Northern Ireland under new sentencing measures announced by Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson MP. Unveiling a new range of proposals, the Minister also confirmed that dangerous sexual and violent offenders could be detained in custody for the full term of their sentence.
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Robbery Response Car Launched
A dedicated robbery response car is the latest tool being used by Police to prevent and detect robberies in Northampton. Following a recent increase in robberies in the town, an unmarked police car is now being deployed with the intention of getting to victims of robbery as soon as possible.
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Officers Reprimanded over Racist Email
Fifteen Hertfordshire officers have been disciplined for misusing the force email system. Eight police officers received a formal reprimand after an internal hearing, whilst seven police staff received final written warnings.
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Notts Gets Funding for Rape Centre
Nottinghamshire Police has announced the Home Office is to provide £70,000 towards the creation of a state-of-the-art Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).
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Invisible Ink Tackles Teen Drinkers
Edinburgh shopkeepers are to mark cheap alcohol with invisible ink in a bid to cut underage drinking. Lothian and Borders police have signed 26 licensed retailers up to the scheme. They have agreed to mark a selection of bottles, particularly cheap wine, vodka and alcopops with invisible ink.
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Housing Increase will Impact on Policing
Hampshire Constabulary and Hampshire Police Authority have made representations about the proposed South East Plan. The Government has appointed an independent panel to conduct an Examination in Public (EiP) into the draft of the South East Plan which details the level of housing development in the South East region to 2026.
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