The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin on Freemasonry

Clampdown On Rogue Clampers

Rogue firms face huge fines and even jail in a crackdown on wheel-clamping.

The Government will unveil plans this week to make it a criminal offence to clamp or tow away cars on private land.

Cowboy clampers rake in £55million a year from motorists.

The new law due to come in early next year will see them fined up to £5,000 by JPs.

Repeat offenders will be clobbered with unlimited crown court fines. If they refuse to pay they could be put behind bars.

Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone told The Sun: "For too long motorists have fallen victim to extortion and abuse from rogue clamping companies.

"I have been outraged by cases of drivers being frog-marched to cash points late at night or left stranded by rogue operators.

"This Government is committing rogue clampers to history and putting an end to intimidation and excessive charges once and for all."

Official figures show some 500,000 cars are clamped each year on private land. It costs drivers an average £112 to free their vehicle but some have been forced to fork out up to £500.

Ministers also plan to tighten up regulations for dishing out parking fines on private land to stop cowboys from simply switching tactics.

The measures will not affect the police or official bodies like the DVLA who will still have the power to clamp or tow away untaxed cars.

Last night a driver who beat car clampers with a 30-hour sit-in hailed the plans as "excellent news".

The Sun – which has exposed a string of rogue clampers – told last August how Haroon Zafaryab, 27, became the people's champion when he refused to budge from his clamped Toyota Prius for more than a day.

Clampers plastered his car with 40 orange "fine" stickers and the bill mushroomed to £4,000. But the stand-off ended when they caved in.

Mr Zafaryab – who had failed to spot a tiny "no parking" sign on private land in Wembley, North West London, said: "Mine was a single victory for the little man. This is a giant victory for the whole motoring nation.

"Drivers have been held to ransom by these parasites for years."

Article courtesy of and www.policeoracle.com

Deadly 'War On Cops' Sparks US Tactic Review

Dept of Justice reviews whether training, behaviour or budget cuts are responsible for massive rise in killing of police officers...

US government officials are set to review a spate of deadly attacks on police officers that has been dubbed a "War on Cops".

A series of shootings has left 15 officers dead in January alone - with 11 killed in one 24-hour period alone.

The US Department of Justice said it will study whether the behaviour of officers, deficits in training or financial cut-backs could have contributed to the number of fatalities.

The crisis has been highlighted by extraordinary CCTV footage from a police station in Detroit showing a man opening fire on officers, injuring four.

The gunman, who was subsequently killed, struck because he was angry at a search of his home.

The shootings have taken place across the US and follow a dramatic rise in the number of officers killed in the line of duty last year.

Officer David Moore died after being shot in the head during a routine traffic stop on one of his first day shifts with the Indianapolis police department.

His mother Jo said: "What he didn't realise is that the day shift is more hazardous because, when something happens on day shifts, it's usually pretty ugly. Unfortunately, he met evil."

She said her son's organs were being donated: "Someone's getting a darn good heart."

Craig Floyd, of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said: "I have never seen anything like it. These violent events have been detrimental to America's peace officers.

"We must do everything in our power to stop these senseless and heinous crimes against our law enforcement personnel."

The attacks, along with shootings earlier this month in Tucson, Arizona, have thrown the focus on the easy availability of firearms in the US.

It was noted that US President Barack Obama avoided the subject in his State of the Union address.

The right to bear arms, enshrined in the US constitution, remains an issue that divides Americans.

Some officers have voiced concerns that they are increasingly being "outgunned" by criminals desperate to avoid jail and armed with more high-power weapons - but unions point to a more familiar theme.

Rich Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations, said: "There's so much violence on entertainment media, internet, movies, TV, that people are less sensitive to it and more inclined to be confrontational."

Article courtesy of www.policeoracle.com