POLICE CRITICISM

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A police officer left briefcase containing around 15 mock-up explosive devices on a train. He was returning home after using the "bombsî in a presentation to security staff and police. Among the items are believed to be mock-ups of the device that caused the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988 and of those used by the Animal Liberation Front.

One source said, "They are very realistic. If the briefcase went through an x-ray machine you would see fuses and what looks like explosives. This could cause a massive security panic and chaos if one of these was found on the Tube or someone smuggled one onto a plane."

The dummy "bombs" are used in police presentations to alert fellow officers or corporate security staff to what they should be looking out for during searches for explosives. Police hope that whoever has the case will return it intact, complete with dummy devices. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Nov/06)

Andrew Laird, of Hitchin, Herts, was held in a cell for eight hours and questioned for another hour and a half, because he bought a police cap on eBay. Two police officers arrived at his house to question him about a defence spray he had bought on the Internet auction site. While they were looking in his shed they spotted the obsolete traffic policeman's cap from the Cheshire force which Andrew had bought for £20. One officer said, "You can't buy police caps from eBay" and arrested him on suspicion of theft.

They took the cap in a plastic bag as evidence and drove him to the police station in a separate car for an interrogation. Andrew said, "It was as if I'd robbed a bank. They asked me loads of questions like how long I'd had the cap and did I have records of where I'd bought it. Haven't they got more important things to do? You risk getting a criminal record for buying an obsolete cap. It's ridiculous." A Hertfordshire police spokeswoman said, "We can confirm we found a police cap and we are investigating how he got it." (Source: The People, Mar/06)

Motorist Susan Gates, was given a £30 fixed penalty notice after being told that the softly glowing blue hair of a Marge Simpson figure mounted on her dashboard could be confused with an emergency vehicle's flashing lights. She was pulled over by a police patrol car after an officer noticed that the figures of Marge, Homer and Bart were illuminated by tiny blue lights. Nigel Humphries, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said, "It's barking mad. The police actions make Montgomery Burns look like Father Christmas. I can't believe anyone would mistake a lit-up model of Homer Simpson for an emergency vehicle light." A Hampshire Police spokesman said such lights were banned under regulation 13 of the 1989 Roads Vehicle Lighting Regulations. (Source: Daily Telegraph)

Police ignored 25 calls for help and left a terrified mum trapped in her home by a gang of 50 violent hoodies. They gathered on Jane Rowbotham's doorstep at midnight shouting, swearing, drinking, and taking drugs. She feared they'd break in and called police but was told officers were too busy to visit. Over the next two hours Jane, who is asthmatic, diabetic and walks with a frame, made three more emergency calls pleading for help but she was told there were no officers available. Neighbours then made 21 more 999 calls demanding help but still police failed to show. Supt Dave Horner, of Cleveland Police, said his officers were "particularly busy" at the time and added that they would look into the incident "as a matter of urgency". If they have the time of course.

Alan Hillsden quit his job as a police community service officer after witnessing a catalogue of corruption, incompetence and laziness. His allegations include:

* Full-time police officers stealing money, pot and electrical equipment from suspected drug dens.

* An off-duty Pc using his warrant card to intimidate a woman selling counterfeit DVDs in a pub before nicking three porno movies from her.

* Officers refusing to make arrests because the incidents took place close to the time they were due to clock off.

* PCSOs on £22,000 a year skiving in cafes and police canteens and patrolling the streets for less than a QUARTER of a shift.

Alan explained, "The police we are put to work alongside have no idea of what we are empowered to do. So they have no real idea how to deploy us and consider us to be more of a hindrance then a help. Most days we were more or less told to clear off, supposedly on patrol, to come back at the end of the shift and not to do anything very much while out on the street in case we created problems. The result was that most days PCSOs spend most of the day lounging about the police station. When they do go out they head straight to a cafe, hide out there for an hour or so, then go back to the station and hang around indoors shirking until it's time to go home."

He added, "I was on patrol with a colleague when we caught a teenager tampering with a front door. He refused to give his name and punched me hard in the neck and chest, but I hung on to him. A panda car arrived and I told the Pc I had been assaulted and the lad should be arrested. His response was, 'Look, you are not badly hurt and I am going off duty in half an hour and I don't want to be held up for ages writing this up'. So he let the boy go."

On another occasion two boys were arrested for riding a stolen motorbike. Alan said, "A sergeant told the Pc who made the arrests, 'It's not worth the trouble. Let them go, tell their parents what they have done, and tell the bloke who owns the motorbike we have got it back for him. But don't tell him we made the arrests'. I was dumbstruck. I thought we were supposed to be tackling this sort of thing."

The most serious of Alan's claims is routine thefts by officers. He said, "I was attached to a group for an operation over several days to raid houses where the owners were growing large quantities of cannabis. My job was to pack the plants into evidence bags. One of the Pc's spotted a £20 note on the floor. It should have been seized as evidence as well.

Instead the Pc tucked it in his pocket and said, 'The villains have just paid for our breakfasts'. At the next raid there were a lot of cannabis plants. A Pc grabbed one of the biggest and said, 'I've got a mate who enjoys a bit of puff'. He put it in the boot of a Panda car and took it home with him."

On another raid Alan said officers drank cans of lager they found in a fridge. The swoops also netted huge quantities of electrical goods, lighting equipment and gardening tools. "These were taken back to the nick," he said, "They should have been used as evidence. Instead we were all told, 'Help yourself to whatever you want'. There were police officers and PCSOs going home with armfuls of stuff worth hundreds of pounds."

One night Alan was having an off-duty beer with some of the cops when they spotted a woman selling counterfeit DVDs. He recalled, "One of the Pcs rummaged through her bag and selected three hard core porn ones. She said, 'They're £5 each'. The cop said, 'They're free for me'. When she protested he pulled out his warrant card and said, 'This says I get 'em for free'. The woman fled as he roared laughing." (Source: Daily Mirror)

Lee Wood was arrested for defending his home against burglars. When he returned from 21 hours in the cells, he found the thugs had looted his flat, smashed his windows and torched his car. Ex-soldier Lee was in bed when he heard two men trying to break in at midnight. He went to the front door and was attacked by one intruder as his girlfriend and two-year-old daughter screamed in terror.

He punched them to the floor then fought off a second attack when three friends of the intruders arrived armed with knives. Lee, a former lance-corporal in the Royal Regiment of Wales, was later charged with wounding a man who needed hospital treatment for facial injuries. The case was later dropped by prosecutors.

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