Monthly Archives: November 2010

The Thin Blue Line is a blog run by a former West Mids Police officer Steve Bennett whose bloggings have come to the attention of those in Government as well as those involved in today’s policing.  The Old & Bold blog is linked to The Thin Blue Line blog and vice versa as we both have an interest in supporting todays police officers with the hope that the best possible service is maintained.

The Police Federation has published an article by Steve which I have also published on this blog.

Steve has recently appeared on the BBC Politics Show, which aired on Sunday 21st November, discussing the cuts facing police forces in England and Wales. The Thin Blue Line was contacted by the BBC earlier in the week to ask if they would contribute to the program, which featured Chris Sims, the Chief Constable of the West Midlands Force, responding to questions about the cuts.

To see what was said, click play below.

To see The Thin Blue Line article about the program click here or the link below:

http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com/2010/11/thin-blue-line-on-bbc-today.html

The Thin Blue Line can also be accessed from the ‘Links From This Blog’ down the right-handside.

Police forces have to some extent been protected from the worst of the government reductions in public spending, an independent analyst has pointed out.

Service has been treated favourably compared to some other Home Office areas, says analyst…     

Richard Garside, Director of the London-based Centre for Crime and Justice Studies charity, said that Home Office funding for non-policing activities had been reduced by up to 30 per cent in some cases – compared to 19 per cent for law enforcement

He told delegates at the Policing and Crime Reduction for the Next Decade conference in Westminster: “There could be an argument for saying that the police have been a winner in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

“If police authorities choose to increase the Council Tax precept, the cuts could be reduced to 14 per cent, so the police have, generally speaking, been protected.”

Mr Garside said that police forces had been handed significantly more cash during the years that New Labour had been in power and, despite the cuts, would still be better resourced than they were during the 1990s.

However, Mr Garside pointed out that there was “no doubt” that implementing a package of savings would be challenging over a short period of time.

As well as officer numbers increasing by 12 per cent in the last decade, there had also been growth in the law enforcement family, including civilian staff – numbers of which had rocketed by 50 per cent – and PCSOs.

He emphasised that there was scope for reorganisation, although this would prove painful in many cases, and could require a re-focusing of policing priorities.

Mr Garside also stressed that plans to introduce changes to the governance regime, with the arrival of Directly Elected Police and Crime Commissioners, had also brought a new dimension to the rapid pace of change.

He believed that some question marks remained over how the new system will work. “At the moment police authorities are relatively invisible, which is one reason why the commissioner model has proved attractive,” he said. “But with it comes significant questions and there is still a lot of room for argument.”

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Police%2D%91Have%2DAvoided%2DWorst%2DOf%2DCuts%92%5F28543%2Ehtml

Two police forces have been warned they could face enforcement action over their “disproportionate” use of stop and search powers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has written to Thames Valley Police and Leicestershire Constabulary, claiming neither could justify their tactics.

John Wadham, legal director at EHRC, said: “Stop and search needs to be used fairly. The evidence is that it isn’t and the commission is acting to try to change this.”

The move follows the publication of the commission’s report Stop and Think earlier this year, which claimed some police forces were being discriminatory in their use of stop and search powers.

The review, looking at the use of stop and search powers across England and Wales over the past decade, showed black people are six times as likely to be stopped and searched as white people, with Asian people twice as likely to be stopped as white people.

Thames Valley Police and Leicestershire Constabulary were among five forces contacted by the EHRC in May and asked for detailed information after showing “significant and persistent race differences in their use of stop and search”, a spokesman for the commission said.

Of the other forces, the Metropolitan Police and Dorset Police have now embarked on the National Police Improvement Agency’s Next Steps programme on stop and search powers and are still being monitored by the EHRC. The commission is seeking more information from West Midlands Police before deciding whether to take further action.

The EHRC can exercise powers under the Equality Act 2006 to enforce equality and human rights legislation.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police takes this matter very seriously as we are aware of the impact that stop and search can have on diverse communities.

“The EHRC has invited Thames Valley Police to enter into an agreement to ensure steps are taken to avoid a recurrence in the future, and has requested that specific actions be undertaken or ceased.

“The force intends to engage fully with the EHRC in taking this matter forward.”

Assistant Chief Constable Steph Morgan, of Leicestershire Constabulary, said: “We are absolutely committed to working towards the elimination of discrimination in the exercise of any of our powers and will work with the EHRC.

“The force is committed to fairness and equality in delivering a policing service to all our communities. Everyone within Leicestershire Constabulary places great importance on these relationships and is aware of the impact that stop and search may have.

“As part of our ongoing aim to deliver the best possible service we have a long history of conducting significant research into the use of stop and search and its impact on the community.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-warned-over-stop-and-search-powers-2147268.html

Police have warned there is “only so much they can do” to protect schoolchildren who take part in tuition fee protests that turn violent.

Speaking ahead of a second day of national action planned for tomorrow, Commander Bob Broadhurst, of the Metropolitan Police, urged parents to discuss the risks with children.

“We would ask parents to talk to their children and make sure they’re aware of the potential dangers.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/police-warn-schoolchildren-over-tuition-fee-protests-2146226.html

The Deputy Mayor of London has accused opposition politicians of scaremongering following reports that the Met will not hit a target to recruit thousands of extra Special Constables in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

In an interview with PoliceOracle.com, Kit Malthouse said that the Service is on course to achieve the required contribution from volunteers in the next 18 months – and reiterated that the event would be properly policed.

The Deputy Mayor was speaking after Shadow Policing Minister Vernon Coaker claimed that the Met’s failure to hit a target of some 10,000 Specials would raise “serious questions” about law enforcement at the Olympics.

He also accused the government of taking “big risks with national security” in the wake of cuts to police funding and stressed that the London Mayor and Home Secretary needed to explain how security would not be compromised.

Mr Coaker emphasised: “Cutting police funding by eight per cent in the year we are hosting the Olympics and six per cent the year before beggars belief.

“It will mean fewer police officers at a time when resources will already be overstretched – the Mayor and Home Secretary need to explain whether they are confident there will be enough police not only to keep the Olympics safe but also continue to provide a good service away from the games.”

But Mr Malthouse maintained that the Met target was to recruit 6,700 Specials – around 4,000 had already been accepted and he said he is confident that they would be able to achieve targets of 10,000 shifts per month by 2012.

The Deputy Mayor added: “Around 900 applications to join are being received every month and they have been making a massive difference here in London.”

He accused Labour politicians of attempting to “frighten the public into supporting them”, claiming that the Olympics would be properly and professionally policed.

Mr Malthouse was also optimistic that the Met would be able to retain numbers of personnel despite the challenges posed by cuts to funding from central government. But he said the scale of the challenge would not be known until firm figures on the scale of the reductions had been supplied to forces.

He added: “We are working hard on the budget and I am optimistic that we can retain numbers but obviously we do not know for certain which way the wind is blowing.

“We will largely only be recruiting Specials and PCSOs if and when we turn the recruiting tap back on – Regular officers are the first to recognise the value of the volunteers.”

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Deputy%2DMayor%2DAttacks%2DSpecials%92%2D%91Scaremongering%92%5F28550%2Ehtml

A senior officer at Tayside Police wants police on the beat to engage with the public online.   But is “tweeting from the beat” the best way to reassure the public that the police are doing all they can to tackle crime and keep people safe?

Gordon Scobbie wants to kickstart a revolution in Scottish policing.

DCC Scobbie says we should trust police officers to use social media tools

The deputy chief constable of Tayside says officers should be talking to communities using social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook – and he is willing to push hard for the changes.

“In Tayside I’ve had a conversation with information security and said that my view is – like it or not – we’re going to open up and encourage people to do this,” he says.

“Be prepared for it. Because there’s going to be a shift in emphasis and we’re going to trust people to use it. I think that’s just common sense.”

DCC Scobbie admits there are risks in allowing officers to use social media for work, essentially unsupervised, but he says the potential benefits make it worth it.

And he argues that when forces are bracing themselves for savage cuts to their budgets, it makes sense to use any tools that make policing more efficient.

The public are using social media in increasing numbers – almost 29 million people in the UK are on Facebook – so the police should be there too, he says.

“Visibility is more than seeing a cop in a yellow jacket walking down the street. Visibility and accessibility is about people feeling confident that somebody is out there doing their job – tackling problems, dealing with local issues,” the officer argues.

“I’m committed to public meetings. I’m committed to face-to-face stuff. But if you add up the cost of that, sometimes for very small numbers, that’s quite an expensive way of doing business.”

He says that forces in Scotland should adopt “virtual community policing”, with officers going online and directly engaging with the public about local issues.

“I see this as expanding our reach into communities and becoming better problem-solvers and better listeners,” he says.

He points out that many problems in local communities rumble on for years without progress, “trapping up resources”, while the public think that no-one is listening to them.

“Why aren’t we using social networks to put some of this stuff out into the public domain and saying: ‘Here’s what we’re thinking of doing, what do you think?’” he says.

But would the public really want officers chatting to them online or friending them on Facebook? Would a community genuinely be happy with “virtual policing”?

DCC Scobbie says online conversations should be followed up with traditional face-to-face policing when necessary.

“We’re not doing this to be trendy. We’re not doing this to say ‘look at us’. We should be very focused on the public benefit,” he says.

“And if you can improve service and reduce your costs then that’s got to be good – particularly where public services have very finite resources.”

One officer who has integrated social media into his daily police work is Pc Ed Rogerson – or @hotelalpha9 as he is known on Twitter – who until recently worked the Starbeck beat in Harrogate.

He has been using social media tools as part of his job regularly since he set up a Facebook group that solved a graffiti problem on his beat two years ago.

Pc Rogerson uploaded pictures and videos of the tags to Facebook and made a direct appeal to the town’s youngsters, who he believed would know who was responsible.

“It worked and within a couple of weeks we’d got these taggers arrested,” he says.

“It wasn’t a major crime, but the community was concerned about the graffiti. It was free, it was quick and it worked.”

‘Reassurance’

For the past year, he has been telling the community about his daily movements through Twitter – including any arrests he makes.

He says the idea was borne out of frustration that most of the people on his beat wouldn’t see him, even though he was out on the streets every day.

“Even if I’m sat in a court room waiting to give evidence, people know I exist and what I’m doing.

“I hope that when they see me dealing with the issues they say are important to them – like speeding or anti-social behaviour – it reassures them,” he says.

“And I’m hoping that if criminals see that I’m arresting the burglar or the graffiti tagger, they might think twice before coming to my beat to commit a crime.”

It is this approach that DCC Scobbie wants to bring to Scotland once he has settled into his new post at Tayside Police.

Trust in officers

He has returned to Scotland after a stint as assistant chief constable at West Midlands Police, where officers are trained and actively encouraged to tweet from the beat, or use sites like Facebook and YouTube.

The officer says there is currently “far greater” use of social media by police in England and Wales than in Scotland and wants this to change.

“Some forces have opened up their systems and are quite happy, some forces have closed their systems down and said you can’t do this,” he says.

“You’ve got to have a bit of trust in people in your own organisation – that if they’re going to use this stuff, they’ll use it responsibly.

“We trust them to go to public meetings and not to say something stupid and show the organisation up in a bad light.

“So why are we so afraid to give people access to things like Facebook and Twitter and other social media tools or the web?”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11828502

The number of Authorised Firearms Officers on Britain’s streets to combat the threat of a Mumbai massacre has been increased in the run-up to Christmas.

Mumbai style assault on civilians feared as Christmas approaches…

Armed patrols have been stepped up as Christmas approaches especially to protect popular shopping centres, among them Westfield mall in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, and Kent’s Bluewater complex.

In the capital, the Met Police’s CO19 firearms unit have been ordered to keep within a three-minute drive of possible targets including Canary Wharf.

The alert comes after growing fears that fanatics inspired by al-Qaeda plan a copy of the Mumbai attacks in India two years ago, when commando-style gunmen killed 175 and injured hundreds.

The Sun newspaper has reported civilian staff at the Met’s three 999 emergency call centres have been briefed on how to deal with a “mass shooting”.

The strategy has been codenamed Operation Plato.

Last week Met chief Sir Paul Stephenson warned that “terrorists search for weaknesses and vulnerabilities”.

A security source said: “The threat just hasn’t gone away.”

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Police-Continue-To-Plan-For-Gun-Attack_28504.html