POLICE PRIORITIES

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The DSCP are considering the option of "Driver speed awareness" courses in place of the usual NIP conviction. The problem being that the TRL has stated that these are not effective in reducing the speed or behaviour of such drivers and must therefore be considered a waste of time and expense. However, they will no doubt proceed with this idiotic idea. At an ACPO, meeting it was claimed that cameras should not take over the job of speed enforcement and yet stated that 85% of speeding fines were by cameras and 15% by officers. Driving without due care and attention fell by one third in 1997-2003 (I wonder why?). It was also claimed that random enforcement is a better option than cameras.

With regard to NIPs, the head of road policing, Mr Hughes (South Yorkshire), claims that the NIP is not a conviction but an alternative to a conviction (he also has two speeding cases). I now refer to our fully trained officers who can book drivers for the most minor of traffic offences and yet do not know when a vehicle contravenes traffic regulations. We also have officers who cannot even contol a footbal match (the recently reported incident when a football was not returned). Honesty, Integrity - we have officers who supply information for criminals and others, also officers with many years of service, who try every trick in the book to deceive when detected on a speed camera. So much for honesty and integrity claimed by Mr Coleman.

Democracy - Chesterfield had a petition for the removal of speed humps which was put to the council and has never been made public in any way. I have pursued this matter and have been informed that it is a democratic decision to retain them. This is with 9,000 signatures against them. No number has been given for those requesting them but I am assured that there are many (but how many?). The petition on speed hump removal was also supported by the Chesterfield-North Derbyshire Royal Hospital. Councillors know better.

Speed humps - Chesterfield is a fortress of these unacceptable lumps and on one bus route alone the drivers must have serious medical problems and even mental ones. We are advised by DCC to use these buses as often as possible and yet my challenge to those responsible for speed hump installation is to accompany me on one such route have not taken my challenge and would suggest that they do not know just what the situation is like or are afraid of the outcome.

I note that Butterley have a 5% precept but wonder just why they need such finance when they have claimed such vast reductions in all areas of crime. They claim a reduction to around 28,000 cases and yet the CPS claim an increase in convictions of around 34,000. Seems I need to go back to school again. I would advise any driver to access the following web sites which give a more acceptable coverage of road safety and policing and they are the ABD, Safe Speed, and Pepipoo also those on motorcycles go to MCF. When senior officers, including the Chief Constable, refuse to respond to matters raised then it reflects on the quality, integrity, and also democracy in our systems and needs rectification.

Our roads need policing and not photographing. There are many other points which have never been addressed and those in office are reluctant to respond on such matters but if I were addicted to drugs, a mugger, burglar, or other felon then I would no doubt receive finance and resources to overcome my problems which would have been brought about by myself. I note that Mr Coleman is about to retire and I would like to welcome him as a possible member of the largest and fastest growing photographic club in the UK. The joining fee being only £60 and three points to become a member. Alienated

Derbyshire police failed to investigate properly the violent robbery of a showjumper which led to murder because its officers were busy inquiring into stolen chickens. The force assigned only one detective to investigate the brutal beating and robbery of riding instructor Tania Moore. She was attacked by a pair of thugs wielding baseball bats who had been recruited by her former boyfriend Mark Dyche. He went on to shoot her dead nine months later.

By contrast, the force deployed up to 40 officers, including an undercover team disguised as painters and decorators, to investigate the theft of chickens by staff from a poultry processing plant owned by a prominent businessman and former councillor. A police source said, “The ‘chicken job’ came down from ‘on high’ to the officers who had to investigate, they were told to do it and give it the emphasis it got.”

The police failed to devote proper resources to the robbery and beating of Moore even though many clues pointed to Dyche, who had previously been arrested for harassing her and also had a conviction for making death threats against his ex-wife. The force even returned his guns which had been seized after an assault on Moore.

Until now the lapses by police which allowed Dyche to murder Moore were thought to have been down to incompetence. But the documents show that much of the reason for the failure was because of manpower being diverted to search for the missing chickens. Police sources said that Operation Function had been considered a “CV job”, meaning it was likely to result in a significant number of convictions, making it an attractive addition to an officer’s record. (Source: Times Online, Dec/06)

Muslim PC Amjad Farooq is claiming religious discrimination after being removed from guarding Tony Blair because of fears he has links to extremists. He was dropped from an elite firearms unit after it emerged his children had attended a Mosque associated with an Islamic preacher linked to a suspected terrorist group. PC Farooq was a firearms specialist working for the Wiltshire Constabulary when he was transferred to the protection group, whose main role is to guard government, diplomatic and Metropolitan Police sites.

All officers undergo security vetting including a counter-terrorism check, but PC Farooq had already been working for the group for six weeks in 2003 before he found out he had failed to get clearance. He lodged an appeal with the Security Vetting Appeal Panel, which is administered by the Cabinet Office, headed by the Prime Minister. Meanwhile he was put back on the beat and claims that when he returned to the protection group to collect his belongings he was taken to a basement and searched in front of other officers. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Nov/06)

The largest ever public survey by Derbyshire police has revealed most people want to see more bobbies on the beat. Since November 2003, residents have been given the chance to tell Derbyshire police how the force should spend its cash at its Have Your Say roadshows. At the roadshow, which visited 15 venues, people were given £100 of fake money. The 2,814 people who took part were then asked to allocate the money to six different categories of policing, to reflect their own priorities and top of the list, with 24.5% of the allocated cash, was community policing. Jo Thornton, chairwoman of the county police authority, said, "It came across very clearly that visible policing in the community is of major importance to the public."

Derbyshire Chief Constable David Coleman publicly pledged to put more officers on the streets when he took the job as head of Derbyshire police on January 1, 2001. When he took over there were about 115 beat bobbies in the county. Three years on the county has 178, 120 short of Mr Coleman's target. Mr Coleman said, "The overall results indicate very clearly that the public understands the need to finance and maintain a broad range of policing services. However, the overwhelming support for community policing shows that people recognise, as I do, the value of having a local bobby."

The roadshows were designed to help Derbyshire Police Authority, which oversees Derbyshire police, decide how to spend its budget for the following year. Apart from community policing, the consultation gave participants five other areas to allocate cash. Investigating crime came second, with 20.5% of the allocated money; emergency calls came third, with 19.2%, investigating major crime came fourth, with 18.6%, road policing came fifth, with 10.2%, and better telephone access came sixth, with 7%.

Roadshow participants were also asked to allocate a "special" £20 to give to their highest police priority. Community policing came top again, with 36.4%. Emergency response came second, with 21.6%, investigating major crime came third, with 17.2%, investigating crime came fourth, with 16.2%, roads policing came fifth, with 5.9%, and telephones came sixth, with 2.7%.The roadshow visited Matlock, Buxton, Belper, Ilkeston, Ripley, Ashbourne, Normanton, Long Eaton, Mickleover, Derby, Bakewell, Chesterfield, Staveley, Bolsover and Swadlincote.

Police left Diana Turner in the lurch after a yob vandalised her £25,000 BMW. The mum of two phoned South Yorkshire Police but it was 35 minutes before anyone answered at the Sheffield HQ. Then an officer put the phone down after saying there was interference on the line. The furious admin worker stormed off to local Attercliffe nick three miles away, to find the station closed because of staff shortages. Diana dialled the main number on her mobile and got a taped message after 40 minutes saying staff were busy and unable to deal with her call. She buzzed the emergency intercom, reserved for public use, but nobody responded.

Diana beckoned a civilian working inside the locked building to come to the front door, and he told her to go away. An inspector eventually promised to send an officer to meet Diana after she lodged a formal complaint, but she was still waiting for someone to turn up. She said, “The police tried to tell me that it’s the fault of their new telephone system but that’s no excuse at all. All we ask of the police is that they’re there when you need them.”

She added, “I know who did it. He’s been a nuisance in the neighbourhood for years. My silver BMW is only 10 months old. He went through my windscreen with a hammer and cut my tyres and damaged my paintwork with a knife.” Police said, “We have had difficulties with our new phone system. We have spoken to the woman concerned and have apologised.”

Police officers who chase suspects over roofs, railway lines and busy roads could be sacked for putting the health and safety of criminals at risk. New Home Office proposals say that any officer who knowingly flouts guidelines designed to protect themselves and the public could face dismissal for "gross misconduct".

A police source said, "This is madness. It will leave officers in two minds when they are embarking on a potentially dangerous chase. The last thing officers need is to be worrying about their job when they are out on the front line tackling potentially violent criminals."

Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said, "Policing is a dangerous business. You simply cannot eliminate risk. If a suspect jumps into a river flowing faster than they realised and subsequently drowns, is that an officer's fault?" (Source: Mail on Sunday, Sep/06)