Police figures show more than 23,000 complaints (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Police figures show more than 23,000 complaints
2:30pm Saturday 4th July 2009 in
ROWDY behaviour is the biggest cause for complaint among people in Wiltshire, Government figures have revealed.
A Home Office file showed Wiltshire Police recorded 23,071 incidents of “rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour” across the county in 2007/8.
Since the figures cover reported incidents, and not offences, it is likely only a proportion would have resulted in further action such as cautions or prosecutions. But they provide an indication of the extent of concern over nuisance behaviour in the county.
The figures came as Home Secretary Alan Johnson admitted ministers had taken their eye off the ball when it came to sorting out anti-social behaviour.
Mr Johnson said: “We’ve followed intensive activity with a certain degree of complacency on the issue.”
He pledged new measures including fast-tracking yobs through courts and moves to cut the time it can take to give out Asbos.
The Home Office records suggested the number of ‘hate incidents’ reported in Wiltshire were 6,788 in 2007/8 – more than in any other part of the country, exceeding even London’s Metropolitan Police, which recorded 4,362, Greater Manchester (5,574), as well as neighbouring force areas such as Hampshire (2,116) and Thames Valley (441).
Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by an offender’s hatred of someone because of their race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality or national origins; religion; gender identity; sexual orientation or disability.
However, Wiltshire Police questioned the figures and said the true number of hate incidents for the year in question was much lower.
A spokesman said: “For some reason, there would appear to have been a reporting error of some kind. The unaudited figure for reports of hate incidents for the financial year 2007/8 is 365.
“Our crime rate is the seventh lowest in England and Wales for racially or religiously aggravated crimes and 39 per cent below the national average.”
If the hate crime figure is disregarded, the next largest group of public order incidents reported in Wiltshire, was malicious communications (2,277), according to the figures.
They were followed by nuisance neighbours (1,893), abandoned vehicles that were not stolen or causing an obstruction (1,690) and hoax calls to emergency services (714). At the other end of the scale, just 87 complaints were made about substance misuse, 111 about trespass and 194 about street drinking.
Other categories included the inappropriate use, sale or possession of fireworks, with 214 incidents reported, alongside 252 incidents of so-called “animal problems”, 277 of begging and 405 of noise.
The information came from the National Incident Category List, on which police are expected to record every incident, whether from victims, witnesses or third parties, and whether crime-related or not.
Most reports are received via telephone calls from the public or visits to police station front offices.
Mr Johnson, who provided the information in a Parliamentary written answer, said following a review of the burdens placed on police forces by the Home Office, the National Incident Category List had been simplified for 2009 with a 33 per cent “reduction in complexity”.
This would mean a “significant decrease in the data demand placed on forces”, he added.
Comments(10)
TGLP
says...
3:55pm Sat 4 Jul 09
Police Exam Stopped Over Cheating Allegations
03-Jul-09
Scotland Yard has scrapped part of its chief inspector promotion exam - over cheating allegations...
It is claimed that one candidate got advance information on the test from a pal who had already taken it.
Two assessment boards were cancelled this week - sparking uproar among other inspectors hoping to get a promotion - and a probe has been launched.
The controversy centres on the presentation part of the exam - and the claim that statistics and other details about it were passed on.
This has been scrapped - but a written test and interviews will go ahead. Former Flying Squad commander John O'Connor said: "It goes against the grain of what the police are supposed to stand for.
"It's unforgivable that the system has been breached like this." He added that all candidates should take the exam on the same day to avoid "potential unfairness".
A Yard spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that two assessments were cancelled this week owing to a potential incident concerning one area of the Chief Inspector process, specifically a presentation exercise."
Two years ago The Sun told how a Yard inspectors' exam descended into chaos with allegations that some of the 562 hopefuls swapped notes on loo breaks. It cost the London force £200,000 to re-sit.
tradesman
says...
8:29pm Sat 4 Jul 09
Captain Sensible
says...
9:34pm Sat 4 Jul 09
RFM
says...
8:05am Sun 5 Jul 09
TGLP
says...
1:01pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Bet the dont get invited to the policemans ball....s
Lesbian policewomen guilty of lying over car insurance
Two policewomen's careers are facing ruin after they were found guilty of lying about who was driving when they crashed following an argument.
Published: 7:00AM BST 04 Jul 2009
The crash caused more than £3,000 damage and they told insurers that Reeves-Emery had been at the wheel but Eccles (pictured) later confessed she had been driving Photo: PAGE ONE
Former lovers Diane Reeves-Emery, 38, and Charlotte Eccles, 23, lied on car insurance papers to cut the cost of the excess payment following the off-duty crash, a court heard.
During a week-long trial, the court heard that the former couple, who both worked for Derbyshire Police and got together late in 2005, were both in Eccles' Renault Clio when it struck a kerb on April 25 2006.
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Driver killed grandmother and left baby trapped beneath the wheels of his carThe crash caused more than £3,000 damage and they told insurers that Reeves-Emery had been at the wheel but Eccles later confessed she had been driving.
Naming Reeves-Emery as the driver cut the excess cost from £500 to £250, because of Eccles' youth and inexperience, the court heard.
Eccles, who was a special constable at the time of the crash, claimed that Reeves-Emery lied to the insurance company and she went along with the claim because she was "petrified" of her.
Reeves-Emery denied being emotionally and physically abusive towards Eccles and maintained throughout the trial that she had been driving, telling jurors yesterday: "I've got no reason to lie."
A jury at Stafford Crown Court took 90 minutes to find them both guilty of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Reeves-Emery was found guilty of a second count of deception for not notifying her own insurers of the crash when she renewed her policy with them just days later.
Eccles received a six-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
Reeves-Emery was fined £2,000 in addition to costs of £1,500.
Sentencing, Recorder David Jones told Reeves-Emery she had been "very dishonest". He said: "You were undoubtedly, in my view, the leading light in this.
"You sought to brazen it out with a series of lies."
He added: "I'm afraid I think you told a number of lies in this case, everyone was to blame except yourself."
The judge told her that her previous good character had helped to spare her from a custodial sentence but added: "As a serving police officer involved in two acts of dishonesty you couldn't really complain if you had gone to prison."
He told Eccles he believed she had been motivated by "misguided loyalty", adding: "It was a very foolish thing you did in going along with this story. "
Reeves-Emery and Eccles met when they shared a shift in Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
Eccles, of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, told the court she quickly fell for Reeves-Emery and left a long-term boyfriend and successful doughnut van business to be with her.
The couple married in a civil ceremony in August 2006, but split less than a year later.
Eccles told the court that the relationship quickly soured, claiming that Reeves-Emery, of Swadlincote, had problems with alcohol and depression.
In the aftermath of the break-up, Eccles accused Reeves-Emery of harassment and reported her to the professional standards department at Derbyshire Constabulary.
It was during a meeting about the alleged harassment that Eccles confessed to police that the couple had lied on the insurance documents.
After the verdict, a spokesman for Derbyshire Constabulary said: "I can confirm that both officers are both currently suspended from duty.
"The force will reflect on the court's verdict and consider the need for disciplinary action."
TGLP
says...
2:59pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Imigrants are going to Britain, come hell or high water
Gazing across the Channel in the direction of the white cliffs of Dover, Amir Gul stood on Calais beach and imagined himself on the other side - and living the dream that has brought him 3,500 miles from Afghanistan.
By Nick Meo in Calais
Published: 8:30AM BST 05 Jul 2009
Illegal migrants live in appalling conditions as they await the chance to enter the UK Photo: AFP
"A hundred times in the past month I have tried to get into lorries," the 15-year-old said in fluent English. "The police or drivers always throw me off and sometimes they beat me. But I will not stop until I reach London, unless I am killed trying, even if it takes me a year."
In the sand dunes and scraps of waste ground around Calais, a ragged army of migrants desperate to breach British border controls is slowly growing in number, and they are as determined as ever.
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Jealous husband 'killed' wife over suspected online affairNobody is sure how many live in the squatter camps or sleep rough in parks, but the United Nations estimates that there are now around 1,500 in the Calais area alone – a figure steadily approaching the 2,500 who were to be found at Sangatte refugee camp before it was closed in 2002.
Security has been tightened at the port and far fewer illegal migrants get through to Britain now, according to the UK's Border Control Agency. It told The Sunday Telegraph that effective control of Calais port and the routes across the Channel was a success story.
But the fact that it is harder to reach Britain merely means that the migrants - almost all of them men and boys - hang around in Calais for even longer, months instead of weeks, as they attempt to stow away on lorries or in cars.
Meanwhile they live in conditions which are so appalling that last week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened an office in the town, only the second in Europe for an agency which is more typically found in troublespots like Congo or Pakistan.
UN officials feel they must do something for the inhabitants of the stinking "jungles" where desperate men and boys fight each other with knives and suffer diseases like scabies and TB, as the filth, frustration and violence take their toll.
The UNHCR works with hard-pressed charities that try to help the migrants and encourages them to apply for asylum in France. But only 120 enquiries have been made in the past month.
"France is no good. I want to get into London because I will get a house and money, and I can work there," said an Afghan man who was killing time in a park until nightfall, when he was going to look for a lorry to hide in.
On the beach, French families in swimming trunks and bikinis were enjoying themselves in the sunshine apparently oblivious to the young Afghans and Iraqis washing their grimy clothes in the surf.
Mr Gul knows it could be months before he successfully stows away in a lorry - or even in the boot of an unwary motorist - and sneak across the Channel to his promised land, now so tantalisingly close.
Until then he will have to sleep rough in a filthy camp, hidden in a thicket of thorn bushes behind the beach. He sleeps under a plastic tarpaulin donated by a charity, trying to ignore the stench from the surrounding bushes which are used as a lavatory.
Every day at noon he walks through the suburbs of Calais to a soup kitchen in a car park, where gangs of Africans, Iraqis and Afghans jostle and argue in the queue. Tribal and ethnic differences rankle, and knives are pulled when tempers fray.
Caroline Nazanin, a nurse who has worked in the camps, said: "The frustration drives some of them crazy - they become violent and fight each other when arguments get out of control."
Yet despite all this, Mr Gul had no interest in seeking asylum in France. He was determined to stay in Calais for as long as it takes for him to stow away succesfully and get to Britain.
Marie-Ange Lascure, UNHCR's spokeswoman, said migrants were arriving in bigger numbers than a few years ago. "They want to go to England because the people smugglers tell them it is a beautiful place, where they can easily earn money to send home to their families," she said.
Persuading them to instead claim asylum in France was a struggle, she admitted.
Under an EU rule whereby an asylum claim must be made in the first safe port of entry, if the migrants have already been fingerprinted on arrival in Greece or Italy the French authorities can deport them back there.
So some migrants scar their fingertips by heating up a plate until it is hot, then pressing their fingers to it. For several weeks the fingers are too blistered for prints to be taken, providing temporary relief from the risk of deportation if they are arrested or checked.
Residents of Calais have become increasingly worried by the growing desperation of migrants, and last year elected a conservative-minded mayor, Natacha Bouchart, who blames the temptation of Britain's generous welfare state for attracting migrants to their town. "Calais is a hostage to the British," she complained earlier this year.
Jean-Lou Hereng, 46, who owns a café near the biggest camp, known as the "jungle", said: "The problem is as bad as it has ever been. They are aggressive and dirty, and there are fights between them."
Other Frenchmen are more sympathetic. "It is difficult for us, and it is difficult for them," said Jonathan Corbeau, 22, a welder who lived almost opposite an encampment of Afghans. Nevertheless, he had put up a strong fence and bought a dog after his wife was molested by migrants a few weeks ago.
French police frequently raid the camps, and sometimes destroy them. Sixteen vanloads of CRS riot police arrived on Thursday as bulldozers levelled a derelict warehouse which 30 Sudanese from the war-torn province of Darfur had been using as a temporary home.
"My money and clothes are now buried under there," one of them said, gesturing at a pile of tons of debris. He had simply moved with his friends a few yards to a take over a small park.
Many of the Afghans, who are now the majority of migrants at Calais, said they had fled the Taliban. Samim Siddique, 24, from Khost, rolled up his trouser leg to show a bayonet scar where he had been tortured by terrorists who wanted him to carry a bomb into the university where he was studying.
"The Taliban don't like education, and there was no place where I would be safe from them in Afghanistan," he said. "We all want to go to England, we speak the language and we can work there. I want to study IT, and then set up a print business.
"We hate being in this camp, it is the life of an animal here. We have to wait for months to get into a lorry, but every week a couple of boys don't come back in the morning - they have caught a lorry across the sea.
"I will keep trying. One day I will get to England."
TGLP
says...
3:08pm Sun 5 Jul 09
TGLP
says...
7:06pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Officer under investigation over Ian Tomlinson's death 'should not have been working for Met'
The policeman being questioned over the death of passer-by Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in April had been wrongly re-employed by the Metropolitan Police after leaving while facing a serious disciplinary charge.
By Ian Johnston
Published: 2:45PM BST 05 Jul 2009
Ian Tomlinson, 47, a newspaper seller who was not part of the protests, died shortly after he was pushed to the ground by the officer as he attempted to walk home from work.
The officer left the force several years ago under a cloud, only to be re-employed once again because of failures in the vetting process.
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G20 protests: third post-mortem examination due on Ian TomlinsonHe had faced a misconduct hearing in connection with an alleged off-duty road rage incident during his earlier term of employment, but instead retired on medical grounds, according to the reports.
However he rejoined the Met as a civilian computer worker despatching officers to calls and later applied to work as a constable with Surrey Police, where he worked for some time. He then successfully reapplied to transfer to the Met.
The force's vetting process appears to have failed to pick up on the unresolved disciplinary matter, which should have prevented him from becoming a uniformed officer.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the officer's actions and also allegations that they may have contributed to Mr Tomlinson's death.
Both the IPCC and the Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the reports about his previous employment.
However a spokesman for the Met stressed: "We are fully co-operating with the IPCC and have proactively provided them with the information they require."
The police pathologist who performed the initial post mortem examination on Mr Tomlinson and concluded that he had died from natural causes has been suspended from the official government register, pending an inquiry.
This means Dr Freddy Patel is unable to to carry out post mortems on people who have died in suspicious circumstances.
Dr Patel found Mr Tomlinson died from a heart attack, but another pathologist in a second post mortem found the cause of death was internal bleeding in the stomach.
The second examination was only completed after a public outcry when video footage emerged of Mr Tomlinson being hit and pushed to the ground as he walked calmly away from police with his hands in his pockets.
The Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor, is due to reveal the preliminary findings of his investigation into the G20 police operation this week.
And later this week we will see how they intend to cover their ars*s.
swindonistani
says...
1:59pm Mon 6 Jul 09
why not fine those caught making noises and disturbing people lives/sleep etc?
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TGLP says...
3:36pm Sat 4 Jul 09
Here is some footage showing how rowdy the the people who are supposed to stop it can be..
This was deemed legal to carry out.
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/england/notti
nghamshire/8101763.s
tm
Aparently they ddint remember the following..
The ACC can refer to IPCC as above (From Force policy)
Taser discharges are only required to be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) if the discharge:
◦Resulted in death or serious injury,
◦Caused danger to the public, or
◦Revealed failings in command
This does not preclude the force referring discharges in other circumstances if they think it appropriate. This might include, for example, where Tasers are used outside current policy guidelines. The referral decision will be that of the Head of PSD.
In respect of this incident it looked appalling and unprofessional in my humble opinion. Numerous activations of taser with very little attempts of cuffing the offender. This looked more like the american way of compliance rather than our control methods. I agree with the majority of the comments above from IveToldYouOnce but suggest that this is simply about excessive use by the officer(s) in these circ's. Yes I accept that we couldn't see the offenders hands at all times etc etc or that it was appropriate for the officer to seemingly punch the offender in the head area on numerous occasions. Review the incident an learn from it to ensure the officers do better next time if indeed they need to do better.
One gang of "legalsied" thugs assulting a drunk on his way home.
No futher comment needed..