Wearing of face masks in shops now mandatory

The head of Britain's biggest police force has today said her officers will not respond to calls about shoppers refusing to wear face coverings unless it is a 'last resort'.

Metropolitan Police chief Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped shoppers will instead be 'shamed' into wearing face masks in stores.

Her comments come as the government's new rule making the wearing of face masks mandatory in shops comes into play on Friday 24th July,2020. The wearing of face masks on public transport in England is already mandatory.

Speaking to LBC today, Dame Cressida urged shoppers to take the initiative and wear a mask, but said if shop keepers are concerned and 'have tried everything else', her officers will try to assist.

Call the Cops TV documentary

 A series which  started earlier this week showed the reality behind the challenges officers from Devon and Cornwall experience every day.

Channel 4’s ‘Call the Cops’ docu-series started on Monday, August 19th at 9.30pm and will consist of 6 weekly episodes.

It is set to cover a wide-range of jobs across the force area - the largest geographical policing area in England - such as armed robberies, sexual assaults, missing people searches and domestic incidents.
  
It is also set to highlight the challenges Devon and Cornwall Police’s staff and officers have to face on a daily basis, including being on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse.

Police amass 10,000 officers in preparation for no-deal unrest

Police chiefs have voiced fears that inflammatory rhetoric from politicians and activists could fuel Brexit tensions as they revealed they have amassed their biggest ever peacetime reserve of 10,000 officers to deal with potential unrest in the event of no deal.
The chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, Martin Hewitt, warned “prominent individuals” involved in the protracted Brexit debate should avoid inciting anger given the “febrile” and “emotive” atmosphere, amid concerns of violence and disorder.
Hewitt said: “This is highly emotive ... I think there is a responsibility on those individuals that have a platform, and have a voice, to communicate in a way that is temperate and is not in any way going to inflame people’s views or cause any actions out of there.

No-deal Brexit would make Britain less safe, says police chief

“I think we are in an incredibly febrile atmosphere. There is a lot of angry talk that you can pick up if you look across social media.”
He said it was “incumbent on anybody in a position of responsibility and who has a voice to just think carefully about the way they express their views” to avoid inciting unwanted behaviour.
The NPCC lead for Brexit planning, chief constable Charlie Hall, said at least 10,000 officers trained in quelling disorder were ready for deployment across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and trained in tactics to tackle looting in the event of shortages and violence if tensions spill over.
That was a greater contingent of officers, Hall said, than deployed to reinforce local forces during the 2011 riots across England, the worst since the end of the second world war.
Police have refreshed tactics in case they are pitched into conflicts between citizens triggered by Brexit, amid fears a no-deal could lead to shortages of medicines, some food and other key goods.
Hall said reinforcements to forces of at least 10,000 could start within an hour of a request and take eight hours to fully deliver. He stressed police had no intelligence of disorder but he insisted, given the uncertainty, forces had to plan for a worst-case scenario.
Some in policing fear regular services would be decimated if a national mobilisation was needed. Hall said: “We would easily run at that pace for the first seven days.”
But after that officers may have to work 12-hour shifts and “non-core” police activity could be cut, such as training, community work and crime prevention work.
The military could be used and police and army chiefs have held talks about how they could be used if needed.

Hall said police would not guard supply chains for medicines and food because those responsible had enough time to put plans into place and police feared being stretched too thin. Ports would be expected to “police” any queues themselves with uniformed police officers on standby if crimes were committed.

Hall said: “This is where our push has been back to those sectors, those parts of government and private sector. It’s your responsibility to look at your individual supply chains and you should not be looking to police to come in and supplement to keep your supply chains running.”
Officers are being trained in case Northern Ireland needs reinforcements, with up to 1,000 mainland officers being taught tactics needed in the region.
Hall said 15 out of 43 forces in England and Wales had put some restrictions on leave, and two forces, Kent and Hampshire, had requested mutual aid and discussions had been held with others in case they needed it.
He said there had been 37 Brexit-related crimes in the last fortnight, half of which were malicious communication, with other offences including verbal abuse and harassment.
Commander Adrian Usher said there was a direct link between Brexit events and increased threats received by MPs. Usher, who leads on protection for parliamentarians in Westminster, said: “We’ve seen a greater level of abuse reported to us. As we move towards key dates in the Brexit calendar, we have seen spikes in those numbers.”
The police chiefs also said that there was a hate crime spike after the 2016 referendum which fell, but never returned back to the levels before the vote. Last year there was a 17% increase in hate crimes, with 94,000 hate crimes recorded, and there are thought to have been considerably more.

Article courtesy of  Vikram Dodd. Police and crime correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/police

Homicide rate in England and Wales highest since 2008

Police at the scene of a shooting in north London in April. There were 719 homicides in the year to June. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA 

 

The murder and manslaughter rate in England and Wales has risen to the highest in a decade, official figures show.There were 719 homicides – murder and manslaughter – in the year to June, a 14% increase from 630 in the previous year excluding exceptional incidents in 2017 such as the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the Office for National Statistics said. It was the highest number since 775 homicides were recorded in the year to March 2008.There were 39,332 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, up 12% on the previous year, according to police-recorded data. The figure excludes data from Greater Manchester police after a review identified undercounting of crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument due to a technical issue.

There were also jumps in the numbers of recorded robberies (up 22%), sexual offences (up 18%), vehicle-related theft (up 7%) and burglaries (2%).

Total police-recorded crime rose by 9% as forces in England and Wales registered a total of 5.6m offences in the year to June, the ONS said.

But the crime survey of England and Wales – a face-to-face survey of people’s experiences of crime, which differs from police-recorded data – showed no change at 10.7m offences during the period.

Joe Traynor, of the ONS centre for crime and justice, said: “Over recent decades we’ve seen continued falls in overall levels of crime but in the last year the trend has been more stable. The latest figures show no change in the total level of crime but variation by crime types.

“We saw rises in some types of theft and in some lower-volume but higher-harm types of violence, balanced by a fall in the high-volume offence of computer misuse. There was no change in other high-volume offences such as overall violence, criminal damage and fraud.

'Sleepwalking into a nightmare': surge in crime paints a bleak picture

“To put today’s crime survey figures into context, only two out of 10 adults experienced crime in the latest year.”

The crime survey showed a 6% rise in offences when excluding fraud and computer misuse, to 6.2m in the period. New victimisation questions on fraud and computer misuse were introduced into the survey in October 2015 and the ONS said they were excluded when looking at changes in crime over the longer term.

John Apter, the chair of the Police Federation, which represents tens of thousands of rank and file officers, said: “It didn’t take a crystal ball to predict these shocking increases because they only reflect what we have been telling government for years – we need more boots on the ground.

“We can’t let the government get away with launching a serious violence strategy which fails to make one single mention of the falling numbers of police officers keeping the public safe. We have lost nearly 22,000 officers since 2010, and there are now only 122,404 across the whole of England and Wales tasked with trying to stem the rising tide of violent crime. It’s not enough.”

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, said: “These figures are truly shocking and must put an end to Tory austerity and police cuts.

“You can’t keep the public safe on the cheap. The Tories … have now cut over 21,000 police officers since 2010, leaving forces across the country understaffed and overstretched.”

The policing minister, Nick Hurd, said: “Although the chance of being a victim remains low, we are taking decisive action in a number of areas.

“To combat serious violence our strategy addresses the root causes of crime with a focus on early intervention and we have announced a new £200m youth endowment fund to support young people at risk of involvement in crime.

“We are consulting on a public health approach to serious violence and giving police extra powers to tackle knife crime through our offensive weapons bill.

Article courtesy of www.theguardian.com

 

Crimestoppers launches a campaign to raise awareness of 'county lines'

Crimestoppers

A national campaign aimed at raising public awareness of ‘county lines’ has been launched by Crimestoppers. Social media advertising will show the signs to spot and encourage the public to report concerns anonymously to Crimestoppers.
County lines refers to gangs and organised criminal networks which export illegal drugs into suburban, rural and coastal areas, using dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal line”. These gangs move into a rural or suburban area where they set up base, and exploit children and vulnerable adults to move drugs and money. Many of those exploited by these gangs have been forced to carry out criminal activity by threats, grooming and extortion and can be described as modern day slaves.
Increasing awareness
To help the public understand what county lines is and encourage reporting to Crimestoppers, the charity has launched a national campaign. Social media advertising will help raise awareness of the issue. During the campaign, an ad van will be present in key cities across Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands, Wales, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex during the campaign, to inform the public of county lines and how they can help.
Crimestoppers are working closely with the Home Office, who are running a campaign which targets staff who may encounter young people who are being exploited by county lines gangs. The Home Office campaign targets staff in the transport, private security and accommodation sector and provides them with information on how to identify if a young person may be being exploited by county lines gangs and how to safeguard that vulnerable young person. The Home Office’s campaign is just part of a wider range of work, set out in the Serious Violence Strategy (opens in a new window), to tackle county lines.
Spot the signs and report concerns
Crimestopppers’ campaign shows the signs to spot which might indicate a child or vulnerable person is being exploited by a county lines gang. The signs which you might see are:

• A child or young person (sometimes as young as 12) in a shopping centre or high street, or on public transport during school hours or unusual hours (e.g. early in the morning, late at night.
  
• A child or young person who seems unfamiliar with the local area
  
• A child or young person being approached or intimidated by a controlling peer or group
  
• A child or vulnerable person who is deliberately avoiding authority figures such as police officers or security guards
  
• More people calling at a local address than normal, sometimes at unsociable hours
  
• Suspicious vehicles or people at an address
  
• A neighbour who has not been seen for a while
  

If you see something that doesn’t feel right, or looks suspicious, you can report your concerns anonymously to Crimestoppers. You can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or send an untraceable online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org (opens in a new window).

Article courtesy of www.police.uk 

Prince Louis: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reveal name of baby son

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their baby son Louis Arthur Charles.
In a statement, Kensington Palace said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son Louis Arthur Charles.
“The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.”
The prince is the duke and duchess’s third child, the younger brother of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s sixth great-grandchild.
Lord Louis Mountbatten was Prince Charles’s beloved great-uncle who was assassinated by the IRA in 1979. Prince Louis of Battenberg was the Duke of Edinburgh’s grandfather.

The three names are popular choices recycled by the royal family. Prince Charles is Charles Philip Arthur George, while Prince William is William Arthur Philip Louis. Prince George’s full name is George Alexander Louis.
Bookmakers had Arthur as the favourite for some time, then Alexander.
It has taken four days for the prince’s name to be released. He is fifth in line to the throne, and was born on Monday weighing 3.8kg (8lbs 7oz).

Both Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s names were revealed two days after their births. But Prince William’s name was not made public for seven days.
Historically, royal names are not usually announced for several days. Prince Harry was a recent exception. It was confirmed on the day he left hospital that he would be called Henry, though would be known as Harry. Prince Charles’s name was revealed one month after he was born, only being declared ahead of his christening in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace in December 1948.
The Queen is told, as a courtesy, before the name is announced.

Bookmakers celebrated the news. Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said Louis had been 10th in terms of bets placed, with odds as long as 20/1.
“Prince Louis has caught both bookies and punters by surprise. With it being one of Prince George’s middle names, fans didn’t see it as an obvious frontrunner for Kate and Wills’ second son,” he said.
The announcement is likely to prompt a revival in popularity of the name. While more common in the early 2000s, it had dropped to 71st place in the most popular name ranking in England and Wales, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures.

Blackpool Zoo immediately announced a baby Louis of its own in celebration, bestowing the name upon a newborn double-humped Bactrian camel calf also born on Monday morning.

Article courtesy of https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/27/duke-and-duchess-of-cambridge-name-their-baby-son-louis-arthur-charles

 

New Mobile Fingerprint Device lets Police identify suspects in less than a minute

A new mobile fingerprint scanning system allows police to identify a potential suspect in under a minute at the scene of an incident, according to officers testing the technology.

The system involves a small device which connects to smartphones already used by frontline officers and then uses the new Biometric Services Gateway to search records held on both police and immigration databases.

West Yorkshire Police is working with the Home Office on a trial of the system and the force is rolling out 250 of the scanners to officers in the next few weeks.

The Home Office said it expects another 20 forces to be using it by the end of the year.

Demonstrating the device, which looks like a small mobile wifi dongle, Chief Inspector Ian Williams said: "For the first time we can now identify somebody on the street through their fingerprints, through those databases.
"We can get photographs back of the individual, we can get a full PNC (Police National Computer) record of the individual as well which gives us a really thorough identification.
"From the moment we take the fingerprint we're getting results right through to the PNC check and the photograph in less than a minute."

Mr Williams said the speed of the process meant people could sometimes be dealt with on the street without having to be taken to a police station.

An armed response unit using the device - which costs under £300 - took 10 minutes to identify a driver and issue a summons - a process which previously would have detained the team for four hours.

Mr Williams said fingerprints taken by the device will not be added to any database as it does not record and store this data.

 Article by Dave Higgens. Courtesy of www.independent.co.uk