Police and Crime General
A police force has been told it requires improvement in two out of three areas in which it was assessed.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services gave the ratings to Thames Valley Police (TVP) for how it tackles corruption and upholds professional standards. The force's vetting was judged to be adequate.
Areas of concern identified by inspectors included the force not undertaking random drug testing for staff and the way it handled and referred complaints.
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Police and Crime General
The strikes against Iran by Israel and the US on Saturday have resulted in counterattacks by Tehran on Israel and cities in the Middle East. It has sparked concern that the Iranian regime may use terror to retaliate.
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Police and Crime General
When Jodie*, a police officer, was called into a meeting in 2022 and informed that everyone in her team would undergo new background checks, her heart “actually jumped for joy”.
The move, known as revetting, was one of a number of ad hoc responses by police forces across the UK to the kidnap and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer, in March 2021. The reforms were supposed to show that the force took police-perpetrated abuse seriously.
“I thought they were telling me they were finally getting my ex after all this time,” Jodie says. She had first submitted an abuse complaint against her ex-boyfriend, who is also a police officer, in 2020. For two years, she says, paperwork had been lost, emails had gone unanswered, and police bosses had accused her of imagining the abuse which had left her with bruises and scratches. But her excitement over the development quickly faded.
“It started to dawn on me: they were actually saying I was being removed from frontline duties because the vetting had flagged up an old? false complaint he’d made saying I was the real abuser,” she says.
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Police and Crime General
The UK's terror threat level is "absolutely" under review following US and Israel strikes on Iran, the defence secretary told Sky News.
Since the strikes on Saturday, Iran has carried out retaliatory attacks on Israel, US military installations around the Gulf, and Gulf Arab states, including the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, and the global business and tourist hub of Dubai.
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Police Reform
After 16 years working alongside and advising policing, witnessing numerous transformations, including the inception of police and crime commissioners in 2011, I approached the government’s white paper on police reforms with some scepticism. I was braced for that sinking feeling related to proposals that offer yet more change for change’s sake.
But to my surprise, I found myself slowly won over by the common sense, recognition of real issues facing modern policing, alongside well considered aims including the deployment of technology and artificial intelligence.
However, while the white paper is a welcome step forward, the critical question of timing cannot be overlooked.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Parents have voiced fears after a poster circulated online urging pupils from schools in Northamptonshire to take part in organised violence.
The poster, which promoted a 'Northampton War', listed multiple schools in the area and encouraged teenagers to gather and "be violent".
Northamptonshire Police said they were aware of the post and warned that "anyone seen fighting or wielding weapons of any kind will be arrested".
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Justice
Dozens of criminal trials will not take place for another four years, damning new figures reveal, as crime victims face “inhumane” delays for justice under Britain’s broken courts system.
Spiralling backlogs mean a shocking 29 cases – including violent crimes and drug offences – have been scheduled to start as far away as 2030, with victims left waiting at least four years to have their day in court.
In total, more than 2,600 Crown Court trials are not due to be heard until 2028, including 206 rape trials. A further 625 trials will not begin until 2029, including 14 for sexual offences – four of which are for alleged rape.
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Recruitment and Retention
Senior police leaders have urged ministers to back a 3.5% pay increase for officers from September 2026, warning that anything less, or any rise that is not fully funded, could put frontline policing at risk.
The submission, made by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB), sets out what chiefs describe as a “fair and affordable” pay uplift reflecting the rising complexity of modern policing. It also proposes updates to officer allowances alongside the headline pay increase.
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Technology
Scotland Yard is to equip front-line officers with facial recognition technology on their smartphones.
The Metropolitan Police is running a 100-officer trial of the technology, which enables instant checks of suspects’ identities and criminal histories.
It will be the first time the force has deployed handheld facial recognition technology so officers can check suspects against police databases of known criminals and wanted people while on the beat.
The trial will run for six months beginning this spring, and is expected to be used in stop and searches where officers suspect crime may have been committed.
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Technology
Metropolitan police officers are to start scanning citizens’ faces using automated facial recognition technology to check their identities, in a move backed by the mayor of London but described as “alarming” by opponents.
The pilot was revealed on Thursday when Sadiq Khan said 100 officers would use the roaming technology – commonly deployed on smartphones – for six months. The mayor was responding to questioning from an opposition politician amid rising concern about the rollout of AI-powered policing tools. The Met’s website still states it “does not presently use the so-called operator initiated facial recognition”.
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Justice
Justice chiefs almost had to shut down the country's magistrates' courts as prisons became overwhelmed in the wake of the 2024 riots, it has been revealed.
Hundreds of defendants were fast-tracked through the courts after six days of violence and disorder, fuelled by online misinformation that followed the Southport dance class murders of three schoolgirls.
Rioters who had attacked police, started fires, and besieged mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers were held in custody after their first court appearances.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force has been told it requires improvement in two out of three areas in which it was assessed.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services gave the ratings to Thames Valley Police (TVP) for how it tackles corruption and upholds professional standards. The force's vetting was judged to be adequate.
Areas of concern identified by inspectors included the force not undertaking random drug testing for staff and the way it handled and referred complaints.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Some mega police forces are likely to cover two or three mayoralities, writes the chief executive of Wyre Forest DC.
We might wonder whether the title of the police reform white paper ‘From local to national’ was deliberately ironic: there is a strong theme of centralisation running through it.
It is not only the creation of a National (sic) Police Service to “provide strategic leadership, set standards and provide education, equipment and technology to police forces” (with the exception of the work presently done by the National Crime Agency, the NPS will actually cover only England and Wales).
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Technology
Police arrested a man for a burglary in a city he had never visited after face scanning software deployed across the UK confused him with another person of south Asian heritage.
Alvi Choudhury, 26, a software engineer, was working at the home he shares with his parents in Southampton in January when police knocked on his door, handcuffed him and held him in custody for nearly 10 hours before releasing him at 2am.
Thames Valley police had used automated facial recognition software which matched him with footage of a suspect of a £3,000 burglary 100 miles away in Milton Keynes, according to documents shared with the Guardian by Liberty Investigates.
[ more...]
Police Reform
After 16 years working alongside and advising policing, witnessing numerous transformations, including the inception of police and crime commissioners in 2011, I approached the government’s white paper on police reforms with some scepticism. I was braced for that sinking feeling related to proposals that offer yet more change for change’s sake.
But to my surprise, I found myself slowly won over by the common sense, recognition of real issues facing modern policing, alongside well considered aims including the deployment of technology and artificial intelligence.
[ more...]
Justice
Faster and fairer justice for victims is at the heart of a new bill introduced in Parliament today (Wednesday 25 February), as the government delivers on its Plan for Change to repair the justice system after years of neglect.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill sets out a pragmatic reform of the criminal courts, and structural changes to the criminal justice system as a result of increasing charges, and a much greater volume of complex cases involving more digital evidence.
Currently 80,000 cases are waiting for justice, nearly 20,000 have been waiting for over a year, including around 2,000 rape cases. The average length of time to complete a Crown Court case is now 255 days, and for adult rape cases is 423 days.
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Police Demand
They call themselves a double act.
On a bitingly cold Monday afternoon, PC Stacey Mohammed and Tony Walgate, a police community support officer, are on patrol in Hull city centre, as they are most days.
The pair, who’ve worked together for more than four years, are part of the reason for Humberside Police’s astonishing recent success in tackling the scourge of shoplifting.
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Police Demand
Chocolate bars are being locked in plastic boxes in some UK shops as retailers and police forces warn thieves are stealing them to order.
Sainsbury's said it had begun using "boxes on products which are regularly targeted", with £2.60 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk locked up in one London branch.
Chocolate was more recently being "sold on by criminals and is now being targeted more frequently by prolific offenders," according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).
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Technology
At least 21 police forces across England are still using Copilot AI despite West Midlands Police (WMP) blocking Microsoft's tool after inaccurate evidence formed a decision to ban Israeli football fans, Sky News can reveal.
The Birmingham force turned off access to the software after admitting, following initial denials, that a Copilot "hallucination" was responsible for a match that never happened being included in an intelligence document justifying excluding Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Aston Villa in November.
[ more...]
Technology
A police chief has admitted artificial intelligence used to boost crime fighting will contain bias but pledged to combat the risks.
Labour wants a dramatic expansion of police use of AI within England and Wales, with police chiefs also believing it could help keep law enforcement up to date with new criminal threats.
Alex Murray told the Guardian that a new national police AI centre would recognise the risks of bias and minimise them.
[ more...]
Technology
It was fraud on a grand scale. The “Fuck the Police” criminal gang based in Luton and Romania stole £800,000 in more than 3,000 withdrawals from cash machines in dozens of locations throughout 2024.
The police investigation matched the crime in its complexity. When detectives in Bedfordshire seized the suspects’ two dozen smartphones, they were faced with a mountain of potential digital evidence – 1.4 terabytes of information, according to the authorities, connecting co-conspirators across eastern England and the Bacau region of Romania.
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Justice
Fewer knife offenders are being sent to jail than at any time in the past decade, official data show.
Less than one in three criminals convicted of knife offences were handed an immediate custodial sentence between July and September last year.
The rate of 28.9 per cent is the lowest since the end of 2014, figures from the Ministry of Justice show.
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Economy & Public Finance
A significant increase in capital gains tax, National Insurance contributions, and income tax receipts contributed to a record £30.4 billion surplus for the UK Government in January. This surplus, the highest since records began in 1993, reflects a positive trend in government finances, although economists caution that the overall public finances remain precarious due to slow economic growth
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Justice
Mental health professionals decided not to detain the Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane despite a violent incident in 2020, after they considered research that addressed the over-representation of young black men in custody, a public inquiry has been told.
Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, fatally stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old Ian Coates, and severely injured three others on 13 June 2023.
He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder.
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Police Reform
A councillor has raised concerns that Staffordshire Police could be merged with a larger force under government plans.
Councillor Joe Porter has submitted a motion to debate the matter at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, in which he urged the authority to call on the government to rethink the plans.
"Staffordshire Police will almost certainly be pulled into either the West Midlands or Greater Manchester, which would result in resources rarely leaving the larger cities and rural areas being left behind," Porter said.
[ more...]
Police Demand
E-bikes, drones and live facial recognition are the latest tools the Metropolitan Police is using to cut the number of mobile phone thefts in London.
A phone is stolen in the capital every seven to eight minutes - and the force warns that children as young as 14 are being targeted over social media and paid up to £100 to steal phones for organised crime gangs.
New figures show that between 2017 and 27 February 2024, out of a total of 587,498 phones stolen in London, excluding the City, just 13,998 were recovered.
But the number of recorded mobile phone thefts in London fell to 71,391 last year, compared to 81,365 in 2024 - a drop of 12% - Met figures show.
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Justice
The head of Britain’s largest police force has urged courts to stop granting bail to repeat phone thieves, arguing that such decisions enable them to continue their criminal activities.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also called on phone manufacturers and telecoms companies to implement measures that would make it more difficult for criminals to reset and re-sell stolen devices.
His comments coincide with figures from the force indicating that recorded phone thefts in London went from 81,365 in 2024 to 71,391 last year.
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Justice
Sarah is a survivor of sexual assault. It happened when she was a child, and when she finally plucked up the courage to tell her family, they encouraged her to report it to the police.
She had years of messages from the perpetrator to support her story and police told her she had a good chance of a charge.
But two years later, they called to tell her they had lost the evidence.
"In that moment I felt like a child that I wanted to cry. In that moment I felt like all hope was gone," she told ITV News, using the fake name 'Sarah' for anonymity.
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Police Demand
Gangs are recruiting children to go out to steal smartphones before they head to school, using Snapchat to offer rewards of up to £380 for the latest Apple iPhones, police have revealed.
The Metropolitan police said they were deploying new resources including drones and Surron ebikes to chase suspects as they step up their fight against phone snatching.
London is the area in Britain most plagued by phone theft and the Met has been criticised for its response.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC) hopes young people could be the key to improving the use of stop and search powers by officers in the region.
According to Simon Foster, the elected official who scrutinises the force, just 34% of the 2,339 stop and searches conducted in January 2026 resulted in some form of further police action.
The PCC said the force would launch youth scrutiny panels, with 14 to 24-year-olds asked to review anonymised body-worn video footage and data and provide feedback to police bosses.
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Recruitment and Retention
An attempt by Freemasons to stop the Metropolitan Police from forcing staff to declare whether they are or have been members of the organisation has been thrown out by the High Court despite claims it breaches human rights.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said the policy was a lawful and proportionate way for Scotland Yard to maintain and enhance public trust in policing.
Three bodies representing Freemasons in England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, as well as two serving police officers who are members of the organisation, had sought to overturn the rule.
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Police and Crime General
Child sexual abuse in the UK is soaring, police have said, with 1,000 paedophile suspects being arrested each month and the number of children being rescued from harm rising by 50% in the last five years.
The National Crime Agency said the growth in offending across the UK was driven by technology and linked to the radicalisation of offenders in online forums, encouraging people to view images of child sexual abuse by reassuring them it was normal.
Most contact with children happened on mainstream social media platforms, with algorithms pushing paedophilic material to people who have shown a previous interest in it.
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Police Reform
A Norfolk council leader has accused the government of “bullying” her local authority into postponing elections in return for extra funding and powers, as she pulled out of long-awaited devolution deal for the county.
Kay Mason Billig, the Conservative leader of Norfolk county council, said she would no longer take part in local government reorganisation (LGR) or devolution plans in the area, saying the council could not participate in that and simultaneously hold elections.
Her announcement came after the government scrapped plans to postpone local elections at 30 councils in England undergoing reorganisation, in the face of a legal challenge from Reform UK.
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Technology
There is not much that surprises Darren Hughen these days. A Trading Standards officer for 20 years, he’s dealt with his fair share of rogue traders and cowboy builders.
So when he was called out to help an elderly lady who’d been fleeced of £15,000 for a dodgy garage conversion, he knew the routine. Identify the workman responsible, track him down, make the botched construction safe and take action to recover the money. It seemed like a simple job – but it proved to be anything but...
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Police Demand
Hate crimes which target people on the grounds of their sexuality or gender identity, or a disability, are set to become aggravated offences under a proposed new law.
An amendment to the Crimes and Policing Bill will mean a crime is aggravated if a victim is targeted because of those characteristics, and will carry a higher penalty.
The LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop described the amendment as a "landmark moment" for equality.
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Economy & Public Finance
The economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the last three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics said, which was slightly slower than economists had expected. The ONS said the overall picture for growth towards the end of the year remained “subdued”.
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Police Mergers
Labour's plan to merge police forces will damage officers' local knowledge and lead to slower response times, a majority of voters fear.
Research conducted by Ipsos for the Daily Mail exposed serious concerns among the public over Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's proposals to create much larger regional police forces.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Lincolnshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said plans to merge police forces could be a "threat to our safety".
Marc Jones said the government's proposals to reduce the 43 existing forces in England and Wales to as few as 12 would "not make Lincolnshire better".
The changes could see Lincolnshire merge with neighbouring counties to form an East Midlands force.
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Police Finances
Essex Police is looking to cut 110 full-time roles to reduce costs, despite getting an extra £21m over the next year.
In a letter to the chief constable, Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Roger Hirst said: "The government funding settlement for Essex Police is insufficient to cover the rising costs of policing the county."
Previously, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Since taking office, this government has increased police funding by nearly £2bn."
[ more...]
Police Finances
A police and crime commissioner (PCC) has defied calls from concerned councillors and approved a 6% increase to the policing precept on council tax bills.
Durham PCC Joy Allen was allowed by the government to add a £3.50 "exceptional flexibility" increase to the proposed £15 police precept increase for Band D properties in 2026-27 - with other bands increasing in proportion.
Cross-party members of the Durham County Council's police and crime panel urged her to reconsider and limit the precept increase to £15, warning the extra rise would be too much for residents.
[ more...]
Police Finances
On a wintry evening at Essex Police's headquarters in Chelmsford about a dozen people aged from their late teens to their seventies arrive to scrutinise officers' actions while on duty.
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Police Finances
Planned recruitment of 70 frontline officers cannot go ahead due to lower than expected funding from central government, police chiefs say.
Avon and Somerset Police said it was expecting a grant of £275.3m this year, but funding confirmed by government is more than £4m less than that.
Increased costs and inflation mean that growth in officer numbers would not be achievable, a force spokesperson added.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The decision to scrap a grant dedicated to tackling anti-social behaviour in Warwickshire could have safety implications, councillors fear.
Op Resolve was rolled out in 2024 through a £1m annual government grant to target problem areas with increased patrols by police and partner organisations.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Phillip Seccombe said it would be tough to maintain the current level of police presence without government funding for the scheme.
[ more...]
Technology
Deepfake fraud has gone “industrial”, an analysis published by AI experts has said.
Tools to create tailored, even personalised, scams – leveraging, for example, deepfake videos of Swedish journalists or the president of Cyprus – are no longer niche, but inexpensive and easy to deploy at scale, said the analysis from the AI Incident Database.
It catalogued more than a dozen recent examples of “impersonation for profit”, including a deepfake video of Western Australia’s premier, Robert Cook, hawking an investment scheme, and deepfake doctors promoting skin creams.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A new type of taser with double the range of previous devices has been rolled out across the West Midlands Police force.
The Axon Taser 10 (T10) can fire up to 10 single-shot cartridges without reloading and operates at a range of up to 45ft (13.7m).
The new technology, which has replaced an older model, allows officers to be more precise and manage threats from a safer distance, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said.
It was introduced after receiving approval from the Home Secretary last October, with West Midlands Police said to be one of the first forces in the country to deploy it.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Many officers may experience hate crime but feel unwilling or unable to report it to their force. Claire Sweeting and Minia Bennie report on some startling FoI findings.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to UK forces found that there were 10,922 reported hate crimes against officers from 27 forces from 2022 to 2025. However, the true figure is likely to be much higher – even close to double – as another 21 forces were not able to provide the information.
In the most recent figures, collected in the financial year 2024-2025, there were 3,648 reported hate crimes with police officer victims – 1,407 of those were against Metropolitan Police officers.
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Police Finances
Kent's police and crime commissioner says he wants to increase council tax to fund policing services after a new survey showed more than half of people who responded had experienced anti-social behaviour (ASB).
The study revealed 2,546 residents, out of 5,401 who replied, said they had experienced rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour, littering, vehicle nuisance, street drinking and drug use.
The survey showed 32% had contacted the authorities, and of those who did report their concerns, more than 67% said they were unhappy with how their cases were handled.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The police have been left "undermined" by growing court backlogs, West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has claimed.
It comes after it was revealed the West Mercia force area had 1,583 outstanding crown court cases in November 2025, with hearings listed as far ahead as 2029.
John Campion said West Mercia Police was "playing its part by investigating crime", but "without a properly funded and functioning criminal justice system beyond the police, those efforts are being undermined".
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Justice
The court system is "on the brink of collapse" as the backlogs for trials reach unprecedented levels, the head of a major review has said.
Sir Brian Leveson, a retired senior judge, warned ministers, the police and others that there could not be a "pick and mix" response to solving the crisis.
Last year, in the first stage of the review, Sir Brian called for the right to a jury trial to be scaled back and many intermediate crimes to be dealt with by a judge alone.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Cheshire Police has been given permission for a higher than usual increase in its share of the council tax, after a request from the area's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
Labour PCC Dan Price is proposing to increase the police element of council tax - the precept by 6.7%, which is £18.50 more per year for a Band D property.
The increase is usually capped at £15 a year for a Band D property.
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Police Finances
Plans to increase council tax by £15 a year on average to help fund police services have been approved.
The Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel agreed to a 5.2% rise from April following a proposal by Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Alison Hernandez.
It equates to £1.50 a month on a Band D property over 10 months, which is the maximum the government allows PCCs to raise council tax.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
There needs to be a "system change" on drugs policy, Green Party leader Zack Polanksi has said as he reiterated his backing for the legalisation of drugs.
Speaking on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, he called for a "public health approach" that would ensure that someone who had a "problematic relationship with drugs" could get help from a medical professional.
Earlier in the week, Sir Keir Starmer accused Polanski of being "high on drugs, soft on Putin", a comment Polanski said was "disgraceful" and "a cheap joke".
[ more...]
Police Reform
The thrilling storylines of anti-corruption unit AC-12 made the award-winning police drama Line of Duty one of the BBC's most successful recent hits.
Eagle-eyed fans of the series, starring Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston, will have spotted references to a fictional East Midlands Constabulary.
In reality, the five million people who live in England's East Midlands are policed by five different county forces.
[ more...]
Justice
Almost 50,000 prisoners have been granted early release in England and Wales as part of a government initiative aimed at alleviating overcrowding in jails. The scheme, which allows eligible inmates to be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, was introduced in September 2024 following a record prison population. The Ministry of Justice has also reported a significant increase in recalls to custody.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A police force headed by a chief constable with a “back to basics” philosophy is the best at bringing shoplifters to justice, figures show.
Humberside is the best-performing force in England and Wales for catching and prosecuting shoplifters, with a charging rate more than four times that of the bottom-ranked Metropolitan Police.
Some 31.1 per cent of shop thefts in Humberside result in a charge. A further 12 per cent lead to cautions, penalty notices or other sanctions. That compares with a charge rate of just 7.1 per cent at the Met.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Plans to increase council tax by £15 a year on average to help fund police services have been approved.
The Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel agreed to a 5.2% rise from April following a proposal by Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Alison Hernandez.
It equates to £1.50 a month on a Band D property over 10 months, which is the maximum the government allows PCCs to raise council tax.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Durham Constabulary was established 187 years ago in 1839, when it became one of England’s first county police forces. Its boundaries ones included Hartlepool, Sunderland, Gateshead, and South Shields.
These boundaries changed in the 1970s, when parts of the county became part of Northumbria and Cleveland. But those changes followed legislation, scrutiny, and public debate in recognition that policing is about place, identity, and trust.
To date there has been no consultation whatsoever on these proposals, apart from lots of column inches given the opinions of London based Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Chair of National Police Chief Council, no published research, no impact assessment, and no sense that the public has been asked what they think of creating large centrally controlled forces.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Sarah Jones said this represents a cash funding increase of 6.7 per cent and a real terms increase of 4.4 per cent.
She said this will provide forces with the “certainty and investment needed to strengthen neighbourhood policing, modernise frontline capability, and ensure policing can meet the demands of today and the future”.
In her ministerial statement, Ms Jones said: “The priority of the 2026/27 settlement is to boost visible policing and ensure forces can shape their workforce to meet modern crime demands. Every community deserves visible, proactive and accessible neighbourhood policing, with officers focused on the issues that matter most locally.”
[ more...]
Justice
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the government is pushing ahead with plans to halve the number of jury trials in England and Wales because he had given his word to crime victims that he would tackle delays to justice.
The government is facing a rebellion by Labour MPs over the proposals, which are aimed at cutting the huge backlog in cases that built up during the Covid pandemic.
Opponents argue that judge-only trials for less serious cases would undermine public trust and have little impact on the backlog.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Almost half of urban motorists have fallen victim to vehicle crime in the past year, a survey reveals.
RAC research carried out in April 2025 with nearly 2,400 motorists found 26 per cent of drivers across Britain have been the target of vehicle crime, with significant differences seen between urban and rural areas.
Almost half (45 per cent) of drivers in towns and city centres said they have experienced vehicle crime in the past 12 months, compared with just 20 per cent in the suburbs or the outskirts of towns and 15 per cent in rural areas.
[ more...]
Prisons
Record numbers of offenders are being recalled to prison in England and Wales with union officials claiming that some are deliberately breaking the terms of their probation in order to deal drugs in prison.
Prison sources said that after the implementation of early release schemes, as many as 5,000 men were recalled in December alone – more than a third of the total number released in the year to June 2025.
The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) claimed many were deliberately breaking the terms of their licence so they could profit from a lucrative drugs market in jail.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Leicestershire's top police officer has refused to support budget plans set out by the county's police and crime commissioner (PCC), which he said would leave the force with a £4.7m budget shortfall.
Rupert Matthews, the country's only Reform UK PCC, plans to increase Leicestershire Police's share of the council tax bill by £11 for a Band D property from April - below the £15 allowable under government capping rules.
However, temporary Chief Constable David Sandall said the proposal would leave the force without the resources to keep the public safe.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A new report predicts crime rates and unemployment will rise in England’s 613 most deprived neighbourhoods by the end of the parliament, despite current regeneration funding. The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods said existing investment, including the Pride in Place scheme, is unlikely to offset longer-term pressures facing councils and local economies.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police officer numbers have suffered their biggest fall in almost a decade, official figures show.
The number has dropped by more than 1,300 officers in 12 months, a decline of almost 1 per cent.
Home Office data show there are now 2,000 fewer police officers in England and Wales than the peak in 2024 of 147,098, which was driven by Boris Johnson’s surge to recruit 20,000 bobbies.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police forces will be able to consider even unproved allegations when vetting potential officers in the recruitment process.
The Met Police won a legal battle that saw the Court of Appeal overturn a High Court judgement from February last year that prevented forces from doing so.
The initial case arose when an officer accused of three rapes was removed and sought a judicial review.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called the latest judgement "common sense" and aligned with expectations that "officers should not carry a back catalogue of alarming allegations".
[ more...]
Police Reform
Police officers in England and Wales would spend more time on the streets under sweeping reform plans to be outlined by the Home Secretary today. Shabana Mahmood will pledge to cut “red tape” and “unnecessary admin” which she says prevents officers from leaving their stations, while also promising faster response times for emergencies by setting a national standard for 999 calls.
[ more...]
Police Reform
A “British FBI” will be created to fight the most serious crime and help local police forces focus on tackling everyday offences. The National Police Service (NPS) will be established in England and Wales to tackle crimes such as terrorism, fraud and organised crime that are not constrained by areas, the Home Secretary announced.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Statement from APCC Chair, Emily Spurrell, on plans for police reform:
“We welcome the commitment in the White Paper to focus on protecting local communities and neighbourhood policing, and support the introduction of a National Police Service to enable consistency and drive performance.
“We are also pleased that the government has listened to us and highlighted the need to deliver a strong system of police governance and accountability.
“However, policing must be rooted in the local communities it serves, and this planned structure will place unprecedented power in the hands of just two people at the centre – the Home Secretary and the Commissioner of the new National Police Service. This concentration of policing power in England and Wales is constitutionally alien and brings enormous risks. It must be balanced by robust scrutiny and oversight, involving both local operational leaders and those who are the public’s voice in policing – Deputy Mayors and the successor to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).
[ more...]
Police Reform
Non-crime hate incidents are to be scrapped in their current form because they have distracted police from fighting everyday crime, Shabana Mahmood has said.
Ms Mahmood, the Home Secretary, told The Telegraph she wanted officers to focus on “catching criminals, cutting crime, making sure that people in our neighbourhoods feel safe”.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Police in England and Wales will be given targets to respond to emergencies within 15 minutes in urban areas, and 20 minutes in rural areas, as part of a major overhaul to be outlined later.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will also pledge to get officers to spend more time on the streets, cutting "red tape" and "unnecessary admin" she says prevents them leaving their stations.
Mahmood said it was a response to an epidemic of "everyday crime", such as shoplifting and phone theft, which she said was going "unpunished".
[ more...]
Police Reform
There's a lot in the announcement, though none of the proposals are exactly new.
There have been calls for merging our 43 local police forces into bigger regional constabularies for two decades at least, almost as long as I've been a crime reporter.
The government argument - difficult to counter - is that it's a waste of money to have so many police fiefdoms with their own headquarters and management teams and different methods of procuring technology and equipment.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The government must stop burdening police officers with unsafe workloads and improve police pay and training if they want “professional” policing, the Police Federation has said, in response to sweeping Home Office changes to improve standards in the police.
Under the new plans, to be unveiled in a white paper on Monday, police officers in England and Wales will be required to hold and renew a “licence to practise” throughout their career in the future.
This will ensure officers “stay at the top of their game” by keeping up to date with the latest “problem solving and technological skills they need to catch more criminals”, the Home Office said.
[ more...]
Police Reform
A new National Police Service (NPS) will free up local forces to tackle everyday crime by taking over responsibility for counter-terror, fraud and organised crime investigations, the home secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood told the BBC the NPS, which she has dubbed a "British FBI", was "absolutely not" about saving money but about designing a new policing model for England and Wales.
It will bring the work of existing agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and regional organised crime units under the same organisation, buying new technology such as facial recognition on behalf of all forces.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
The government is to radically reduce the number of police forces in England and Wales as part of what sources have called the largest reform of policing in decades.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce plans for police reform next week.
She will pledge to "significantly" cut the number of forces from its current level of 43, and tell them to focus on serious and organised crime. Police chiefs have been calling, external for the creation of 12 "mega forces" to save money and boost crime-fighting efforts.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Plans to increase council tax will help protect frontline officer numbers, a police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.
Residents in Gloucestershire are facing a £25 increase in the section of their tax bills that covers policing, to help plug Gloucestershire Constabulary's £20m shortfall over the next four years.
PCC for the force, Chris Nelson, is waiting to hear if government will allow him to carry out the hike without a referendum. If approved, an average Band D household will pay £347 towards the force from April.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
UK inflation rose in December to 3.4 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent in November, driven in part by higher prices for items such as tobacco and transport. The increase was slightly above expectations but analysts note inflation is still expected to ease later in 2026 as earlier rises in energy and regulated prices drop out of annual comparisons.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
South Yorkshire Police became the first force to go live with NMPP, marking the start of a national rollout that will modernise public contact.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council Public Contact portfolio, through its Digital Public Contact (DPC) programme, has launched the National My Police Portal (NMPP) – the first nationally delivered online portal built by policing designed to transform how the public connects with their local force.
Building on successful proof-of-concept work by several forces and partners, NMPP creates a consistent, secure, and trusted way for the public to access updates and communicate with officers. For the first time, policing has developed and deployed a single, national capability under NPCC governance, ensuring a standardised experience across England and Wales.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Derbyshire's police force has been fined £60,000 after officers were burned by petrol bombs thrown at them during riot training.
Four out of the 13 taking part suffered lower body injuries during the exercise in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on 2 February 2021.
Three needed hospital treatment but all returned to work.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The IOPC said it has decided to use its ‘power of initiative’ to call-in the matter and independently investigate to determine if any officer or staff member may have a case to answer for misconduct.
“We have examined a wealth of evidence relating to the force’s planning for the match at Aston Villa on 6 November last year,” the IOPC said.
“As questions remain about individual roles, duties and planning for the game, we have determined an independent investigation is warranted.”
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Accordiing to the Home Office a recruitment boost in neighbourhood policing is on track to meet its target of an extra 3,000 officers by the spring.
Some 2,383 police and community support officers were in neighbourhood posts by the end of September last year, the Home Office said.
Last April, ministers set a target to recruit 3,000 officers into community policing in 12 months.
This is part of a wider pledge of an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers by the end of this Parliament.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Britain’s most senior police chief fighting financial crime has said that securing a conviction for scams may not be the best way to tackle fraud.
Millions of people are scammed by fraudsters every year, with more than £1bn lost, but there are just a few thousand convictions for fraud and forgery annually.
Pete O’Doherty, City of London Commissioner, said: “From an efficiency point of view, a conviction may not be ideal.”
[ more...]
Police Finances
Local police forces are not equipped to fight crime, government sources have told Sky News, with thousands of officers pulled off the street into desk jobs in the past decade.
"Crimes on our streets are going unpunished" and are "plaguing communities", a senior source warned, as the government prepares to announce significant reforms to policing this month.
Home Office figures shared with Sky News show the number of trained uniformed police officers in back-office roles like HR and IT support has surged by 40% in the past six years to more than 12,600.
[ more...]
Police Finances
New police officers should be put on the beat, not behind desks, Shabana Mahmood has told forces after a surge in bobbies doing backroom jobs.
The Home Secretary has scrapped a grant for police forces that provides additional funding if they meet officer headcount targets.
Ms Mahmood will replace the so-called officer maintenance grant with ring-fenced funding for neighbourhood officers.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Following the official launch of Report Fraud, a new, improved service for the reporting of incidents of fraud, APCC Joint Leads for Economic and Cyber crime Tijs Broeke and Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said:
“Cyber crime and fraud are the most common crimes in the UK, costing the economy billions every year, so we are pleased to support the launch of Report Fraud. This one-stop shop where victims can report crimes will transform the way law enforcement and industry are able to respond, using a multi-sector, intelligence-based approach. Importantly, it also offers specialist support to those impacted by these devastating crimes and provides information on ways to stay safe in cyberspace.
“Increasingly committed online, fraud is growing in scale and sophistication, targeting individuals, small businesses and major organisations alike, so it is vital policing has the tools required to tackle it. Despite fraud and cyber crime accounting for more than half of all crime in England and Wales, it receives just 1% of police funding. Given the size of the problem, we are determined to ensure fighting fraud is given the priority it deserves – too many people’s lives are shattered by criminals operating online whose sole motivation is greed.
“The creation of Report Fraud demonstrates a commitment across policing and other law enforcement agencies to respond more effectively to fraud. On behalf of the public, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Deputy Mayors will hold our chief constables to account so that more people are protected from fraudulent activity online.
“We encourage anyone who thinks they may be a victim of fraud to inform Report Fraud. By building the best possible intelligence picture, we have the greatest chance of catching those committing and directing these crimes.”
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Writing for the Mail, the two chiefs argued for a reduction of police forces south of the border to anything between '10 to 15', amid fears the current 43 operating in England and Wales are regularly duplicating work.
They wrote: 'We run 43 forces, overlaid with regional collaborations and a thicket of national units and bodies creating inefficiency.
'We need around 10 to 15 fully capable forces, large enough to sustain vital specialist functions like murder investigations, firearms operations and serious and organised crime work.'
[ more...]
Police Finances
The mayor plans to increase the policing precept part of council tax by £15 per year – the equivalent of £1.25 a month for an average Band D household. This is expected to raise an additional £60m.
The funds raised will pay for measures that will help tackle phone theft, including more enforcement blitzes and pro-active targeting of known offenders.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Ministers will consult on a social media ban for the under-16s and toughen up rules on mobile phones in schools in an attempt to see off a backbench rebellion by more than 60 Labour MPs.
In the latest Downing Street climbdown, the government has dropped its objections to imposing age restrictions on social media use and will also look at banning children from accessing addictive features such as ‘infinite scrolling’.
Starmer has previously said he would “personally” be opposed to a social media ban, arguing that “it’s more about how you control the content that children can see”.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
West Mercia Police is to restructure how it delivers policing by moving from away from five local policing areas to two.
From Monday, the new structure sees one local policing area (LPA) cover Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, with the other for Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Prior to the changes, the force had separate LPAs covering Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, North Worcestershire, South Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
[ more...]
Police Reform
The number of police forces should be reduced by three-quarters to free up more money for bobbies on the beat, two of the most senior police officers have said.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said the 43 forces in England and Wales were wasting hundreds of millions of pounds duplicating services.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called for a dramatic overhaul of the policing system as he said the current model is "so out of date".
Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Sir Mark said he believed there should be a reduction in the 43 police forces across England and Wales as a shake-up of the system is "overdue".
"The current policing model is a tweaked and bastardised version of what was designed in a 1962 royal commission.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
What is wrong with senior policemen, whose personal standards of conduct are now so dismal that the public finds it increasingly hard to trust them? The list of errors made by the ex-chief constable of the West Midlands, Craig Guildford, was breathtaking, yet he felt no need to go until the near-universality of official contempt for him made his position untenable.
Mr Guildford will be remembered as the policeman who used a fantasy football match, invented by artificial intelligence, to inform key operational decisions about a match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv last November. He banned the Israeli club’s fans from Birmingham, which was interpreted as anti-Semitic. His justification was a match Maccabi had played against West Ham: only it never happened.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A former chief inspector who won a discrimination payout from West Midlands police says she warned officials not to reappoint its chief constable, who retired in disgrace on Friday having resisted calls to resign over the Maccabi Tel Aviv row.
Khizra Bano accused Craig Guildford of bullying and handed over a dossier of complaints about him but said she realised his reappointment was a “done deal”.
Guildford, who had secretly resigned and taken a period of leave to protect his pension, was rehired by Simon Foster, the police and crime commissioner. The decision was rubber-stamped by a local police and crime panel.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The chief constable of West Midlands Police has retired after damning criticism of a decision to ban Israeli fans from a match against Aston Villa.
Craig Guildford's retirement was confirmed on Friday after both Downing Street and the home secretary said this week they had lost confidence in his leadership.
He faced numerous calls to resign after apologising for providing incorrect evidence to MPs, which included the denial that AI was used in a report which led to the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the game on 6 November.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Figures show the UK economy grew by a faster-than-expected 0.3% in November after car production rebounded and the services sector got a boost.
[ more...]
Police Reform
The new laws will hand Home Secretaries statutory powers to force the retirement, resignation or suspension of chief constables on performance grounds.
Currently, it is only police and crime commissioners who hold the power to dismiss a chief constable.
This comes after His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary found significant failings among the leadership of West Midlands Police after it recommended banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “When a chief constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act. And I intend to restore their ability to do so.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Metropolitan Police staff have suspended their strike ahead of a vote on a new pay offer.
The planned strike from 19 to 24 January was due to involve 175 members of the Unite union, including call handlers who record crime reports and technicians and office staff who help service and dispatch police vehicles.
The union said talks with the force had resulted in "an improved pay offer" and members would be invited to vote on it.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A police and crime commissioner has said she is unable to remove the pension of a chief constable facing a gross misconduct hearing over alleged workplace relationships.
Scott Chilton led Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and retired from the force last year while under investigation.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, while in the Hot Seat on BBC Radio Solent, said because there were no criminal proceedings it was "not legally permissible to do that".
[ more...]
Justice
The courts minister has been accused of contradicting David Lammy over Labour’s plans to curb jury trials.
Sarah Sackman, the courts minister, told MPs on the commons justice committee that the changes will be retrospective for some defendants who have already chosen to have their cases heard in the Crown Court.
This would mean that even though defendants had chosen to have their case heard by a jury, they could fall foul of the changes and their case will be switched to the new judge-only courts.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
More than 300 Metropolitan Police officers and staff have declared their involvement in the Freemasons or other "hierarchical associations" after the force required them to do so last month, a High Court judge has said.
The Met announced in December that membership of the Freemasons or similar organisations would be added to its declarable associations policy.
Officers and staff were required to declare membership "past or present" of any organisation that was "hierarchical, has confidential membership and requires members to support and protect each other".
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Two male police officers were discriminated against on the basis of their gender when they were removed from their team and replaced by two female officers, a judge has ruled.
Suffolk constabulary was attempting to “rebalance” the proactive policing team, which was made up entirely of male officers at the time.
Before the men’s removal from the team, a female officer had decided to leave to pursue an alternative role. The vacant position was not filled.
[ more...]
Police Finances
South Yorkshire Police will use money from its reserves to meet day-to-day expenses after financial errors left the force with a £65m hole in its budget.
The mistakes were discovered in 2024 after the former functions and responsibilities of the police and crime commissioner (PCC) role were transferred to the region's mayor, Oliver Coppard.
Policing minister Sarah Jones MP gave the force permission to use up to £17m from long-term capital reserves, and said that without the exception, it would have been unable to police effectively.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A police and crime commissioner has warned a rise of £15 per year, per home, in police precept is needed to protect police services from a £4.6m funding gap.
The Wiltshire police and crime commissioner's office has said rising costs, including pay awards, National Insurance, fuel, utilities, essential equipment and increasing demand, has left Wiltshire Police with "no easy options left".
Ahead of inviting the public to share their views on the plan in a survey, PCC Philip Wilkinson stressed: "A smaller – or no – increase would put frontline services at risk".
[ more...]
Police Reform
Cheshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has told the BBC he would "relish" the chance to become the county's first mayor.
Labour's Dan Price was elected as PCC in May 2024 but the government has decided to scrap the roles in England and Wales by 2028.
All three councils in Cheshire have backed plans to create a new combined authority - the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority - which will be overseen by a directly elected mayor.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Homicide in London has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, new figures released by the Metropolitan Police show.
The force said 97 homicides were recorded in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014, at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people, lower than New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2) and Milan (1.6).
It is the lowest homicide figure in London on record, once population is taken into account, the Met said.
[ more...]
Justice
The backlog of nearly 80,000 trials clogging up the court system could be cleared within a decade if parliament agrees to slash the number of jury trials, David Lammy, the lord chancellor, has claimed.
In an interview with the Guardian, the deputy prime minister, who is facing a backbench rebellion over the proposals, has urged Labour MPs and the public to back a version of Canada’s judge-only trials in thousands of criminal cases in England and Wales.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Senior MPs are preparing to tell the home secretary to sack the chief constable of West Midlands police after concluding that he “misled parliament” over the decision to ban Israeli football fans from a match in Birmingham.
Members of the home affairs select committee are understood to be “unanimous in their disappointment” at the evidence given by the force, with several believing it had “retrospectively gathered evidence to suit their decision making” rather than basing the ban on genuine intelligence at the time.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Plans to merge a police force into a regional constabulary would "dilute local policing", according to a body that represents rank-and-file officers.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to be considering reforms, which could see the number of forces in England and Wales cut from 43 mainly county-based forces to 12 regional ones, as reported by The Times.
Durham Police Federation chair Louise Guest said Durham Police was a "community-led force" and the link with local officers would be "eroded" if it became a region-wide operation with Cleveland and Northumbria.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Home Office has had to rescue a police force from going bankrupt for the first time over a £65million black hole in finances.
South Yorkshire Police has become the first force in the UK to issue a ‘114 notice’ asking the Government to step in to help.
It blamed a major ‘accounting error’ which went unnoticed for five years, plunging the force £65million in the red and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
About 4,000 offenders in England will get targeted healthcare sessions during their probation appointments as part of a new pilot scheme.
Offenders are far more likely to have poor physical or mental health or addiction issues, which increases the likelihood of reoffending.
A recent report by the chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, found that half of offenders on probation smoked, many had drug or alcohol addiction issues and a majority had poor mental health. They were also less likely to receive screening for prostate, breast, lung or cervical cancers.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Women who are victims of domestic abuse and stalking will be put at “serious risk” by Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to scrap prison sentences of less than a year, the victims’ commissioner has warned.
In her first statement as official watchdog, Claire Waxman said the law change undermined Sir Keir’s claim to be serious about protecting women and girls from violence.
Before Christmas, the Government unveiled its strategy for halving violence against women and girls in the next decade, a centrepiece of Labour’s general election manifesto.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Two serial rapists were among 131 officers and staff in the Metropolitan Police who committed crimes or misconduct after they were not properly vetted, a review has found.
David Carrick, one of the UK's worst sex offenders, and Cliff Mitchell, who carried out a "campaign of rape" on two victims, were among the police officers who were not properly checked.
The cases were revealed in a vetting review of the 10 years up to the end of March 2023. Other serious crimes committed by officers and staff included drug use, violent attacks and affray.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is aiming to avoid "over-burdening the taxpayer" with the rising cost of policing.
The size of the police tax precept paid by Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire residents has gone up by 54% since John Campion was elected in 2016, he says.
The Conservative PCC has now said "enough is enough," and while he had "no choice" about asking for a another tax rise this year, he also wanted the government to contribute more.
[ more...]
Police Reform
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall has quit the Conservative Party.
Alison Hernandez was first elected in 2016 as a Conservative to take up the role overseeing Devon and Cornwall Police and was re-elected in May 2024 with a majority of almost 24,000 over her Labour rival.
The government announced the abolition of all police and crime commissioners (PCC) in November with the roles due to come to an end in May 2028.
Hernandez said she would continue in the role as an independent and had no plans to join any other party.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Lincolnshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) says he will leave the Conservative Party and serve out the remainder of his term as an Independent.
Marc Jones, who stood in three successful PCC elections and as a candidate for Parliament on behalf of the Tories, said his fight for fairer funding for Lincolnshire Police would be better served by stepping away from party politics.
It comes after the government announced it would abolish the PCC role and hand policing matters to local councils or elected mayors.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police officers have been told not to arrest people for cannabis possession if they can show that the drug is for medicinal use.
Officers will be told to treat people with “medicinal” cannabis as patients until proven otherwise, according to guidance endorsed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Novice motorists will face a stricter drink-drive limit, meaning they will not be able to risk having a single pint or small glass of wine before getting behind the wheel.
The effective ban on driving after drinking alcohol for recently qualified drivers will make the UK one of the strictest countries in Europe.
Ministers will announce that the limit of 80mg per 100ml of blood will be cut to just 20mg for learners and those in their two-year probationary period.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Police and crime commissioners to be abolished as part of sweeping reforms, but critics warn ‘upheaval’ will do more harm than good.
Emily Spurrell, the PCC for Merseyside and chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said: “We fear that the best elements of the model, which is still evolving, will be lost in the name of police reform.”
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that the spring statement will take place on 3 March. The Treasury has requested the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare forecasts, as concerns grow over the impact of tax speculation on consumer spending and business investment.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Elected police chiefs have accused the government of relying on “insubstantial evidence” after the home secretary announced plans to scrap the roles.
Shabana Mahmood said directly elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs), introduced under the Conservatives in 2012, were a “failed experiment”. Their powers will ?be handed to elected mayors or new “local police and crime boards”.
PCCs have long been accused of being irrelevant, expensive and ineffective. Early on they came under heavy criticism over expenses: the PCC of Cumbria was forced to repay ?£700 spent on chauffeurs in 2013. ?Elections were apathetic affairs: Staffordshire recorded a turnout of ?11.6% in 2012.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Racial and religious hate crime on public transport is on the rise, according to new data obtained by the Guardian, as community groups report how people are restricting their daily journeys because they fear abuse or assault.
Police forces across the country have recorded an increase in hate crimes over the past year, with a significant rise in racially motivated offences in Scotland as well as religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in England and Wales.
But public transport creates a particular dynamic where aggressors are often emboldened by alcohol, can isolate their targets and then exit at the next stop.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Labour's soft justice reforms will unleash a crimewave, pushing some forces to the brink of bankruptcy, warn police chiefs.
Top brass are bracing for reoffending 'horror stories' when resources become so stretched that predatory criminals are left roaming free.
Forces are preparing for a surge in all crime types across the country next year when the Government goes ahead with plans to jail fewer offenders by ditching shorter prison sentences and releasing inmates earlier.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Putting more bobbies on the beat will not curb petty crime, one of the country’s most senior officers has warned.
Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said it was time to stop the “mini-arms race” of increasing officer numbers and instead invest in technology to keep people safe.
The former chief constable of Surrey Police said technology such as retrospective facial recognition was now the most effective way to fight crime, relying on a smaller number of well-trained officers who could use it.
[ more...]
Justice
It is a midweek morning at Snaresbrook crown court, east London, and already there is fury and farce in court 9. The fury belongs to Judge Sandy Canavan; the farce comes courtesy of what should have been a straightforward sentencing hearing.
In the dock, William Pack, a slight, nervy 59-year-old man, is awaiting sentencing for having caused actual bodily harm to Misbah Sadique, 38, who was “run over by both wheels” of Pack’s car as he drove to the supermarket in Walthamstow in February last year.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Cheshire Police is to go ahead with plans to cut 60 police community support officers (PCSOs) roles.
The force will reduce the number of the officers from 87 to 27 across the county, as part of plans to save £13m.
The decision has been criticised by local MPs and the police and crime commissioner Dan Price, who said he had put forward a proposal which he believed could potentially save 10 of the roles.
The proposals were first announced last month, with an internal consultation ending last week.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Christmas period is upon us, and goods are flying off the shelves, but for some reason, the tills are not ringing as loudly as they should be.
Across the country, the five-finger discount is being used with such frequency that retailers are taking action into their own hands.
With concerns about the police response to shoplifting, many are now resorting to controversial facial recognition technology to catch culprits before they strike.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Shoplifters are getting away with a store theft nearly every minute, analysis of police data has revealed.
More than 800 shoplifting offences a day are going unsolved and are closed without a suspect being identified, according to the figures.
That is equivalent to nearly one every minute for the 14 hours that major stores are open – or 295,589 offences for the current year.
[ more...]
Prisons
Hundreds of foreign prison staff who could have faced deportation and the sack have been offered an emergency extension to their visa in order to stop the prison system collapsing, Sky News understands.
Changes to visa rules made in July had meant thousands of prison staff, many from Nigeria, had faced deportation once their visa expired.
Following lobbying from the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, and conversations with the Home Secretary and former justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, an agreement has been reached to temporarily extend some of them by a year.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Emergency call handlers say they "love helping" those in need as they celebrate topping police performance tables.
Sussex Police has topped league tables for 999 call response times for the past four months, answering 98% of calls within 10 seconds with an average pick-up time of four seconds in November.
Force bosses have hailed the record as a "phenomenal achievement" and said it showed a "passion and desire to do the right thing".
[ more...]
Police Reform
The police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has pledged to fight for a directly elected mayor for the region to protect it from losing out on government investment.
Conservative Alison Hernandez said she was concerned that without it the region would "get left behind" when her role comes to an end in 2028.
Last month, the government announced it was going to scrap the role of PCCs to save money and that it would reinvest £20m a year in police forces.
[ more...]
Police Finances
In response to today’s provisional grant settlement for policing for 2026/27, APCC Joint Finance Leads, Roger Hirst and Joy Allen, said:
“We recognise the significant pressures on the public finances, but the lack of detail in today’s funding settlement is disappointing. It fails to explain the next steps on the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and how they will be funded and makes no provision for the capital investment needed to support modern, efficient and resilient police forces at a time when demand continues to rise.
“Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) fully support the Government’s ambitions to halve knife crime and tackle violence against women and girls. However, these are national priorities that require sustainable national funding and today’s announcement doesn’t make clear how these will be paid for. They cannot be treated as business as usual, nor should the burden of delivering them continue to be passed disproportionately to local communities through increases in the Council Tax precept.
“PCCs remain committed to ensuring public money is used efficiently and effectively. But if policing is to remain viable in the long term, the Government must commit to a fairer and properly funded settlement, alongside an updated police funding model that is genuinely fit for the future.”
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
UK inflation fell by more than expected in November amid a slowdown in food prices, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics said the rate as measured by the consumer prices index eased to 3.2 per cent last month from 3.6 per cent in October, while economists had forecast a modest drop to 3.5 per cent.
[ more...]
Justice
This week, Deng Chol Majek ought to be starting a lengthy prison term for murder.
But the sentencing hearing for the asylum seeker from Sudan – who attacked 27-year-old hotel worker, Rhiannon Whyte, with a screwdriver, stabbing her 23 times – has been postponed.
Experts are still trying to resolve a bitter legal dispute over the killer’s age. It will have a strong bearing on how many years he will have to spend in prison, as the judge is likely to pass a more lenient sentence if he is younger.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The Freemasons have launched legal action against the Metropolitan police after the force ruled officers must declare any links to the organisation, amid fears membership could be linked to corruption.
The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) has sent the Met a letter before claim, signalling its intention to seek a judicial review unless what it describes as the “unlawful, unfair and discriminatory” policy is suspended.
The decision follows the Met’s announcement that Freemasonry would join its list of “declarable associations”, requiring both serving and prospective staff to disclose membership.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police are being prevented from cracking down on anti-Semitic protests because of gaps in Britain’s laws, the country’s most senior police chief has warned.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said he was “concerned” that protesters could “stir up racial hatred” in the UK without facing sanctions as long as they avoided a direct terror threat and steered clear of supporting a proscribed group.
He believes that new laws to target “hateful extremism” could plug the gap in tackling behaviour that falls short of counter-terror legislation.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
South Yorkshire CA has been granted £17m of exceptional financial support in principle to cover “specific financial pressures relating to historic accounting errors” in 2024-25.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has confirmed that these errors occurred during the transfer of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) functions to the mayor of South Yorkshire CA in May 2024.
The approval for a capitalisation direction to fund revenue expenditure from its police fund due to income losses in 2024-25 was outlined in a letter to executive director of resources at South Yorkshire CA Gareth Sutton, dated today.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he favours reducing the number of police forces in England and Wales.
The Government is expected to publish a delayed white paper early next year aimed at overhauling the 43 police forces in England and Wales.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has already signalled she believes the way police are organised is “irrational” and warned of disparities in how they carry out their services.
Recent reports have suggested that the number of forces could be cut from the current 43 to somewhere between 12 and 15 -a model favoured by some senior police figures including Sir Mark Rowley – though Home Office sources have steered away from the suggestions.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said he "does not agree" with the force's proposal to reduce the number of police community support officers (PCSOs).
Cheshire Police is looking to cut the number of PCSOs from 87 to 27 as part of plans to save £13m, with consultation on the proposal running until Wednesday.
PCC Dan Price said while he had not previously shared a view, the public should "not mistake my silence for indifference".
[ more...]
Police Demand
The case of two teenage Afghan asylum seekers jailed for raping a 15-year-old British schoolgirl shocked the nation in recent days.
But the attack, by small-boat migrants Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal in a park in Leamington Spa, also shone a spotlight on the increasingly lawless state of our asylum system.
The gang rape by the two 17-year-olds was merely the latest in a long line of sex crimes committed by those migrants who have entered Britain illegally in ever-increasing numbers often in small boats.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A host of faulty speed cameras on English motorways could prove to be a “very expensive mistake” for the authorities and lead to substantial compensation payouts for drivers, a leading motoring law company has warned.
National Highways, the government body that manages the road network, has apologised after identifying a defect in its Hadecs 3 speed camera.
The camera is used on all smart motorway networks, including the M25, M1 and M6, as well as some A-roads. The fault had not been picked up for four years and affected about 10 per cent of the strategic road network.
[ more...]
Technology
Convicted sex offenders will be forced to notify police with the details of any dating app and social media accounts or face up to five years in jail, under plans announced by Shabana Mahmood.
In a move intended to help curb the explosion in targeted attacks using websites, the home secretary said “the full power of the state” would be used to bear down on online abusers.
There were 70,052 registered sex offenders living in police force areas in England and Wales at the end of March 2024 – equivalent to one offender for every 763 people aged 10 and over.
[ more...]
Justice
Violence against women and girls is a "national emergency", the home secretary has said, as she announced plans to set up specialist rape and sexual offence investigation teams in every police force in England and Wales by 2029.
It is part of a long-delayed plan aimed at halving violence against women and girls within a decade.
The strategy - which will include funding for undercover units operating online, and a roll out of domestic abuse protection orders - is due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The Christmas shoppers were out in force in Northampton’s market square last week, with the smell of churros in the air and the ice rink glistening in the sunshine. Meanwhile, Sergeant Rodney Williams and Inspector Nicola Davis-Lyons were on the hunt for shoplifters. Bucking the trend of dilapidated town, boarded-up shops and tumbleweed high streets, Northampton is thriving.
“We’ve still got work to do,” admits Davis-Lyons. “But I do feel like we’re finally turning a bit of a corner.”
What’s behind this transformation? It is, shopkeepers say, largely down to a radical new system pioneered by police with Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership to crack down on shoplifters. It is called Operation Elegance.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Official figures show the UK economy contracted by 0.1 per cent in October.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
It is easy to see why Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is tempted by the idea of cutting the number of police forces in England and Wales from 43 to 12. She has previously called the present structure “irrational”, prone to inconsistencies that reduce policing to a “postcode lottery”. What better than a mega-reorganisation, a “generational shift” in how crime is tackled? There is just one problem: where is the evidence that bigger is better when it comes to serving the public?
[ more...]
Justice
Leading organisations have criticised the development of the government’s flagship violence against women and girls strategy, calling the process chaotic, haphazard and “worse than under the Tories”.
Ministers are gearing up for a policy announcement blitz before the publication of the long-awaited plan next week.
Important voices in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector have privately accused ministers of sidelining first-hand expertise and expressed concern that the strategy will not be sufficiently radical to achieve the government’s flagship manifesto promise to halve the rate of VAWG in the UK in a decade.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Councils are being encouraged to join a class action that could see them win compensation for overcharging in relation to contracts for the emergency communications network.
The claim is being funded by the Home Office but is open to all organisations that paid for access to the Airwave Network run by Motorola between 1 January 2020 and 31 July 2023.
Commonly known as the ‘999 network’, as well as the emergency services it is used by some local authorities to deliver services including community safety.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The force said it was stepping up in its fight against spiking as the capital enters the festive season, with a 125 percent increase in charges compared to last year.
Spiking, where substances are surreptitiously introduced into someone’s body without consent, through drink, food or vape, remains a serious concern, particularly during Christmas celebrations where nightlife peaks.
Between December 2024 and November 2025, the Met received more than 2,700 allegations of spiking – around 230 every month – though the true scale is believed to be higher.
[ more...]
Technology
Online child sexual abuse in England and Wales has surged by a quarter within a year, figures show, prompting police to call for social media platforms to do more to protect young people.
Becky Riggs, the acting chief constable of Staffordshire police, called for tech companies to use AI tools to automatically prevent indecent pictures from being uploaded and shared on their sites.
Riggs, who is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection and abuse, said: “I know that these platforms, with the technology that’s out there, could prevent these harms from occurring in the first instance.”
[ more...]
Technology
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood previously indicated she wants forces to record the information in the wake of the grooming gangs scandals.
But police chiefs have warned that forces are "never going to get to 100 per cent completion rate."
Speaking as new police data on child sexual abuse and exploitation was published on Thursday, Gareth Edwards, head of the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, cast doubt on the move.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Reported government proposals to merge and reduce the number of forces would "weaken local policing", one of the region's police and crime commissioners says.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to be considering reforms which could see the number of forces in England and Wales cut from 43 mainly county-based forces to 12 regional ones, according to a report in The Times.
Mahmood hinted at sweeping changes at a conference of police leaders last month.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Bigger is not better, Labour’s most senior policing chief has warned Shabana Mahmood over moves to merge forces.
Emily Spurrell, the Labour chairman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), said the Home Secretary needed to be careful in “assuming big is necessarily better when it comes to the size of forces”.
“Significantly larger forces could become disconnected from the communities they serve, and those who pay for them through local taxes. Holding larger forces to account and deliver cultural change can also be more difficult to achieve,” she said.
[ more...]
Technology
Police forces successfully lobbied to use a facial recognition system known to be biased against women, young people, and members of ethnic minority groups, after complaining that another version produced fewer potential suspects.
UK forces use the police national database (PND) to conduct retrospective facial recognition searches, whereby a “probe image” of a suspect is compared to a database of more than 19 million custody photos for potential matches.
The Home Office admitted last week that the technology was biased, after a review by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) found it misidentified Black and Asian people and women at significantly higher rates than white men, and said it “had acted on the findings”.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
In response to reports that the Home Secretary is considering significantly reducing the number of police forces in England and Wales as part of the police reform programme, APCC Chair Emily Spurrell said:
“While we support the police reform agenda, we urge caution about how much structural change can be achieved simultaneously, especially when police finances are so tight. We would also suggest caution in assuming big is necessarily better when it comes to the size of forces. Significantly larger forces could become disconnected from the communities they serve, and those who pay for them through local taxes. Holding larger forces to account and deliver cultural change can also be more difficult to achieve.
“A force mergers programme would be slow and expensive to deliver and could prove an unwelcome distraction from other much needed reforms such as improved efficiency, workforce change, investment in technology and neighbourhood policing and from delivering on the government’s pledges to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls. It is worth noting that previous attempts at enforced, large-scale force mergers have been protracted and difficult.”
[ more...]
Police Mergers
Reported government proposals to merge and reduce the number of forces would "weaken local policing", one of the region's police and crime commissioners says.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to be considering reforms which could see the number of forces in England and Wales cut from 43 mainly county-based forces to 12 regional ones, according to a report in The Times.
Mahmood hinted at sweeping changes at a conference of police leaders last month.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Half of people recently arrested by Met police may have undiagnosed ADHD, study finds
Research by Cambridge University and Met calls for better neurodivergence screening for vulnerable people
Rachel Hall
Wed 10 Dec 2025 15.00 GMT
Share
Half of people arrested recently in London were found to potentially have undiagnosed ADHD, according to a study calling for better neurodivergence screening for vulnerable individuals.
Research by the University of Cambridge found that one in two individuals arrested and detained over an eight-week period in London in 2024 may have undiagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and one in 20 may have undiagnosed autism.
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Police and Crime General
The home secretary’s ambitions for the biggest reforms to policing since the 1960s are being threatened by a lack of money, with plans being considered for the creation of Britain’s FBI and slashing the number of forces.
Shabana Mahmood believes a radical reshaping of policing in England and Wales is needed, with the number of forces covering local areas being reduced from 43 to as low as the “mid teens” over time.
She has also told police chiefs, multiple sources said, that a planned new national operations centre for policing needs to contain the ability to boost the fight against the most serious crimes.
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Police Reform
Sir Sadiq Khan should be stripped of responsibility for overseeing the Metropolitan Police after a slump in public confidence in the force, a report has recommended.
Only 45 per cent of Londoners believe the Met is doing a good job in their local area, down from 69 per cent in 2016, according to the study by the Policy Exchange think tank.
The report, led by a former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector, blamed the decline in confidence on the force’s failure to detect high-volume crime such as thefts, its poor handling of large-scale protests and not strengthening neighbourhood policing.
[ more...]
Police Reform
A Labour Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) says she does not agree with the government's decision to scrap her job from 2028.
In November, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said scrapping the roles across England and Wales would save £100m over this parliament's term. She added most voters did not know who their PCC was.
Asked about the move, Avon and Somerset PCC Clare Moody said: "You will not be surprised to know that I regret the fact the decision has been made...there wasn't a full understanding of what we do."
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Justice
I understand the main argument for reducing the number of cases tried by jury: they take longer and are significantly more expensive (‘A move towards an authoritarian state’: what those with trial experience think of removing juries, 7 December). But two further points deserve emphasis.
First, most countries do not use juries. We are one of very few European nations that still do. During the imperial period we exported our system widely, yet even some former colonies have since abandoned it. The main countries retaining juries are the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. To insist that juries are essential to justice is, implicitly, to claim that the many modern democracies that do without them operate inadequate systems.
Second – and more importantly – the jury system conflicts with a fundamental principle of justice: that important decisions must be accompanied by reasons. Parties are entitled to know why a decision has been reached, and appellate courts can only review a decision by examining whether its reasons are legally sound and supported by the evidence. Juries alone deliver the most serious outcomes in our system while giving no reasons at all. Their decisions may be correct – or entirely mistaken – but we have no way of knowing. As a result, criminal appeals become artificial exercises focused on the judge’s conduct or directions, not on the reasoning behind the verdict itself. Some say the age of the jury system is its justification. But we have abandoned most medieval practices for good reason.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The ethnicity of all offenders should be recorded and published by police in the wake of the grooming gang scandal, Shabana Mahmood has indicated.
The Home Secretary said full disclosure of the ethnicity of suspects was the “best way” to tackle conspiracy theories as she announced that Dame Anne Longfield, a former children’s commissioner, would head the national inquiry into grooming gangs after months of delays.
Announcing its terms of reference, she said the inquiry would “explicitly” consider the ethnicity, religious and cultural background of grooming gang suspects. She added that the Home Office would legislate to make it mandatory for police to collect good quality data on the ethnicity of such offenders.
[ more...]
Police Mergers
The number of police forces in England and Wales could be reduced to as few as 12 under “generational” reforms being considered by the home secretary.
Shabana Mahmood has delayed the publication of a long-awaited blueprint for police reform until the new year because she wants to make bolder changes than previously planned, sources have told The Times.
The merging of forces is part of wider structural reforms designed to make the police more efficient and cost-effective.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Last week, the growing outcry over a mountain of waste in Oxfordshire shone a spotlight on the murky world of organised waste crime.
As lucrative as narcotics and people trafficking, waste is illegally dumped, and often left for years before it’s cleaned up.
People living near a large illegal dump in Kent that’s known to the Environment Agency say they feel abandoned by the authorities, and intimidated by those who run the site.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The long awaited white paper was originally expected to be published before Christmas and set out a 'bold and ambitious' vision for policing reform.
The Home Office has told Police Oracle that the Police Reform White Paper (PRWP) will now be published next year, after it was set to be released before the end of 2025.
It will now be published in early 2026.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Elections for newly-created mayors will be delayed in four more areas of England, the BBC has confirmed, pushing back regional devolution plans.
New mayors were expected to be elected in Greater Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & the Solent, and Sussex & Brighton in May next year, but will now have to wait until May 2028.
The government is arguing that more time is needed to reorganise local government in these areas, but stressed more homes, better high streets and support for business were "all on the way".
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said plans to modernise a county's CCTV network are at risk because several councils have not signed up to the plan.
Matthew Barber, who is in charge of the Thames Valley, has warned that without the backing of local authorities the upgrade cannot go ahead, with West Oxfordshire District Council currently the only one on board.
He told the BBC: "We've had some money on the table, councils have missed deadlines, and we really need to know by Christmas if they're in or out."
[ more...]
Technology
Live facial recognition cameras will make town centres no-go areas for many black and ethnic minority people, according to research carried out by the Home Office.
Ministers have published plans for adoption of the technology by every police force to ensure they can catch wanted criminals as they walk past cameras in every city, town and village.
Detailed surveys of public attitudes towards live facial recognition have revealed concern and scepticism about the accuracy of the technology among some demographic groups. The findings show this will influence their behaviour when cameras are installed.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism laws has criticised the government’s latest national security strategy for failing to take online threats more seriously, despite Keir Starmer claiming it would result in “a hardening and sharpening of our approach” in the face of Russian menace.
Jonathan Hall KC said it was “a very surprising omission” that the 2025 national security strategy did not focus more on online risks, including from terrorists and hostile states, which he said were now a “major vector of threat”.
[ more...]
Justice
The police watchdog will today publish its report into the actions of officers during and after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
The Independent Office for Police Misconduct (IOPC) has been investigating South Yorkshire Police since 2012.
It is the largest independent investigation into alleged police misconduct and criminality ever carried out in England and Wales.
[ more...]
Justice
Changes to the justice system are expected to be announced today by David Lammy. The justice secretary has also revealed two prisoners are at large. Officials from the OBR are appearing before the Commons Treasury committee.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Sport faces being forced to pay tens of millions towards policing under plans being drawn up by the Government.
The Premier League and other leading sports organisations have been summoned to a series of meetings at the Home Office as part of a consultation on proposals to let police forces charge them more for keeping major events safe.
Currently, football clubs are only required to foot the bill for the policing of their own land but senior officers, including Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, want them to pay the £70m per season they say it takes to maintain match-day law and order over a much wider area.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A life-saving spray which reverses the effect of opioid drug overdoses has been used by North Yorkshire Police "a lot more" than expected, the force said.
Since introducing it in April 2024, 337 police officers and police community support officers have been trained to use and carry naloxone in the county.
It has been used 37 times, officers said, with 17 incidents recorded where a drug-user's life was saved or their health improved, according to force harm reduction officer Danny Stannard.
[ more...]
Technology
The UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism laws has criticised the government’s latest national security strategy for failing to take online threats more seriously, despite Keir Starmer claiming it would result in “a hardening and sharpening of our approach” in the face of Russian menace.
Jonathan Hall KC said it was “a very surprising omission” that the 2025 national security strategy did not focus more on online risks, including from terrorists and hostile states, which he said were now a “major vector of threat”.
[ more...]
Justice
Jury trials in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years will be scrapped, the justice secretary has announced.
The reforms to the justice system include creating "swift courts" under the government's plan to tackle unprecedented delays in the court system.
Serious offences including murder, robbery and rape will still go before a jury, and volunteer community magistrates, who deal with the majority of all criminal cases, will take on even more work.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences, a report has found, four years after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
Lady Elish Angiolini KC's latest report, looking at the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public, said the crimes remained widespread, criticised limited data on them and called for urgent action to prevent predators from offending.
"This report should mark a turning point. In the wake of tragic cases like Sarah Everard's and many others, the need for change is pressing and the evidence is clear."
[ more...]
Police Reform
PCC says he has been 'modernising how the role of the PCC works.'
Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner says he has reduced the size of his office by 18%, delivering savings of over £300,000 that will be reinvested back into community safety and in improvements to policing locally.
He says the restructure predates the recent Government announcement on the future of PCCs.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A new report from The Police Foundation, supported by Cityforum and Accenture, captures key messages from a national event on the future of policing held in October 2025. The event involved more than 200 leaders from policing, government and the industry and focused on the operational and structural changes needed to modernise police services in England and Wales.
[ more...]
Justice
Justice Secretary David Lammy is set to unveil major reforms to the criminal justice system this week, aiming to prioritise victims and tackle the record-high backlog in crown courts.
The proposed changes reportedly include restricting jury trials to only the most serious offences, such as rape, murder, manslaughter, and cases of public interest, with lesser crimes to be heard by a judge alone.
[ more...]
Justice
Police are considering corporate manslaughter charges as they investigate the Post Office Horizon scandal.
In an update given to victims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said there are now eight named suspects, with five having been interviewed under caution.
The NPCC added that there are now a total of 53 persons of interests involved in the investigation – widely reported to be the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Three men have been arrested in dawn raids following a BBC News investigation into organised crime gangs operating on the High Street.
Two Iranian men aged 32 and 28 were arrested after immigration officers targeted multiple addresses in Birmingham and the West Midlands. The Home Office said the third man was a naturalised British citizen aged 43.
They are being held on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry to the UK and facilitating illegal working.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Figures released by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) show show that the number of complaints logged by the 43 police forces in England and Wales rose to 94,940 between April 2024 and March 2025.
That, the IOPC said, represents an 11 percent increase on the previous 12 months and the most on record since the IOPC began collating and analysing complaints data.
The full Police Complaints Statistics for England & Wales Report 2024-25 has been released today by the IOPC.
[ more...]
Justice
David Lammy is under pressure after reports the Government is seeking to row back on controversial plans to scrap jury trials.
Just 48 hours after Mr Lammy's briefing document was leaked, justice officials were left scrambling following reports that the Government was already seeking to water down the controversial reforms.
The Deputy Prime Minister was accused of cowardice and 'constitutional vandalism' amid a furious backlash from MPs, judges and lawyers after it emerged that around 95 per cent of jury trials may be axed under his plans to tackle the crown court backlog.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Reflecting on this year’s police chiefs’ conference, its clear to me that the same conversations about doing more with less, improving productivity and maximising the use of technology are still taking place and this hasn’t changed since I left the sector six years ago.
There are nuanced changes, inevitably in the technology space. Technology now is about artificial intelligence and how it can be used back in the 2010’s it was social media and digital developments. Productivity now has a slightly different flavour as we heard from London School of Economics policing productivity guru, Professor Tom Kirchmaier. He made some stark comments about the speed of change and development that is needed.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A 14-year-old boy sees the police van we are travelling in and runs.
As the van races after him, down a residential cul-de-sac in suburban Birmingham, he appears to throw something over a garden fence.
A search of the garden reveals an 18-inch sword.
When police search the child, they unearth hundreds of pounds in cash, suspected burner phones, and vapes believed to be laced with class B drugs.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In the car park of Haverhill police station, there’s an unusual gathering. About 15 police officers – and a sniffer dog – together with community support officers, officials from the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement (IE) directorate and local trading standards inspectors are here, on this mild morning in November, ready to take to the streets of the west Suffolk town.
Their mission? Not to track down sex offenders, launch raids on drug dealers or arrest thugs involved in violent crime, but to visit local businesses as part of a country-wide operation targeting organised crime gangs involved in money laundering, drug dealing, illegal working and criminal exploitation.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The police’s decision to reveal the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile crimes has had a “devastating effect” and is helping to spread prejudice, racial justice campaigners say.
The warning comes from the Runnymede Trust and 50 other groups demanding that the policy in England and Wales is scrapped, in a letter sent to the home secretary and police chiefs on Friday.
Their research shows that the policy introduced in August led to the term “asylum seeker” appearing in articles on serious crime five times more than before the policy change.
[ more...]
Justice
Victims of fraud are being failed by the criminal justice system, charities are warning, as new analysis suggests only a fraction of reports result in a prosecution.
There were 1.2 million recorded cases of fraud in England and Wales in the 12 months to June, data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, external shows.
But in the same time frame fewer than 13,000 cases were prosecuted, Ministry of Justice figures, external show.
[ more...]
Police Finances
UK inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in October, down from 3.8 per cent, driven mainly by lower rises in gas and electricity prices. The Office for National Statistics said hotel prices also fell, while food inflation picked up.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Treasury is considering a council tax surcharge on homes worth over £1.5 million in the upcoming Budget, potentially raising £600 million a year, it is reported.
[ more...]
Police Reform
The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has suggested the county's police and crime commissioner (PCC) could effectively continue in the role, after the government announced plans to scrap the post.
The government said it would end the role, brought in 12 years ago, and transfer powers to regional mayors, which it said could save £100m over this Parliament's term.
There are 37 elected commissioners under the current system, which was introduced to improve police accountability.
Conservative mayor Paul Bristow said if the role became his responsibility, he would need to appoint someone to do that job and said the current Conservative PCC, Darryl Preston, would be the best person for it.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The Police Misconduct Panel was right not to dismiss an officer in Greater Manchester who had sex with a colleague on police premises while on duty, a High Court judge has ruled.
Insp Alex Taylor was given a final written warning to sit on his record for four years, after it emerged that he began a relationship with a police community support officer (PCSO) in early 2020 by exchanging "flirty and then overtly sexual" messages on WhatsApp.
It was reported to the panel that on 20 April of that year he met the PCSO, who was off duty, and had sex with her on a sofa.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A couple who were arrested after they complained about their daughter’s primary school on WhatsApp say they have agreed a £20k payout from the police after it admitted their arrest was unlawful.
Rosalind Levine and her partner Maxie Allen were detained by six Hertfordshire police officers in front of their young daughter on 29 January before being held at a police station for 11 hours over complaints about the school.
They were arrested on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications, and causing a nuisance on school property. The couple said the arrest came after their nine-year-old daughter Sascha’s school, Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, raised objections over them sending multiple emails and raising criticisms on a parents’ WhatsApp group.
[ more...]
Justice
Vulnerable young people in care who assault staff or damage property will not automatically be arrested by police or charged, under proposals intended to reduce the excessive criminalisation of looked-after children.
A government review will examine how children in state care who exhibit challenging behaviour can be offered targeted support such as trauma counselling rather than being punished through the criminal justice system.
The aim is to restrict the “over-policing” of looked-after young people and reduce disproportionate numbers who offend while in care. Children in care are 10 times as likely to receive a caution or conviction than those not in care.
[ more...]
Police Reform
South Devon MP Caroline Voaden has welcomed the Government’s decision to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), but warned that transferring their powers to elected Mayors risks creating “weakly scrutinised” policing structures.
The Liberal Democrat MP said her party had long argued that the PCC model — introduced in 2012 under the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition — was expensive and ineffective. While the coalition created the role, senior Liberal Democrats at the time expressed reservations about directly elected commissioners and pushed for stronger local scrutiny panels instead.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
It is reported the Government will not raise income tax rates in the Autumn Budget later this month. The Chancellor will look to find alternative tax-raising measures to address a £30 billion shortfall.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Institute for Public Policy Research has said the Chancellor should double council tax on the most valuable homes to fund a tax cut for 20 million families. The think-tank says doubling the rate on 200,000 band H homes in England and raising the bills for two million more in bands F and G, would generate approximately £3.9 billion a year.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The hackers whose cyber attack took down production at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) a couple of months ago have single-handedly caused a fall in UK gross domestic product.
Were it not for the 28.6% collapse in car production we saw in September (save for the pandemic, the biggest monthly drop in car output in modern record), the UK economy would have grown by 0.1% that month. Instead, it fell by 0.1%.
[ more...]
Police Reform
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said:
“We recognise and are grateful to the contribution so many Police and Crime Commissioners have made, and will continue to make during this transition period.
“Democratic accountability of operationally independent policing is essential. Bringing strong, integrated local leadership and the voice of communities into our service is a vitally important part of policing by consent.
[ more...]
Police Reform
South East police and crime commissioners (PCC) have said that plans to abolish the role could plunge policing into a place of uncertainty.
On Thursday it was announced that PCCs will be scrapped in England and Wales in a move the Home Office says will save £100m over this parliament's term.
From 2028 police forces, depending on the area they serve, will either be overseen by elected mayors or council leaders who will head up policing and crime boards.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent between July and September, with output in September falling by 0.1 per cent amid a drop in manufacturing. The Office for National Statistics said production fell 2 per cent in September, including a 28.6 per cent fall in motor vehicle manufacturing, contributing to a slowdown from 0.3 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
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Police and Crime General
Police and crime commissioner roles will be abolished, the policing minister has announced.
The 41 elected officials in England and Wales will continue until the end of the current term in 2028.
Their powers will be transferred to mayors "wherever possible", and council leaders will lead new policing and crime boards.
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Police and Crime General
Police forces and business partners across the UK are joining forces this week (10–16 October) for Safer Business Action (SaBA) Week, a national initiative designed to tackle business and retail crime while strengthening collaboration between police, retailers, and local communities.
Coordinated by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), the week-long campaign brings together Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, Business Improvement Districts and local policing teams to improve safety for staff, customers and the wider public.
The initiative forms a key part of the Home Office-backed ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategic plan, supported by £2m in government funding to the NBCC. Activities throughout the week include joint patrols, engagement events, crime prevention sessions, property marking and security advice — all aimed at deterring offenders, supporting victims and building safer business environments.
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Police and Crime General
A rainbow of vapes and Apple-branded products light up the window of a south London shop as a small army of police prepare to march through the door.
Officers have been watching the shop for months and have already carried out tests in independent labs on products bought there. Most have come back with a high risk rate for possible electrocution and fires.
Many of the products are illegal, after a law passed in June banned the sale of single-use vapes, a move designed to combat environmental damage and their widespread use by children.
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Police Demand
People as young as 16 are testing positive for drug-driving, police have said.
Figures from Devon and Cornwall Police showed that, out of 1,245 drivers who were tested between 1 January and 30 June 2025, nearly half (45%) had illegal substances in their system.
The youngest male was a 16-year-old in Newquay who tested positive for cannabis, and the youngest female was a 18-year-old in Newton Abbot who tested positive cocaine.
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Police Demand
CCTV footage has revealed the scale of Britain's fly-tipping problem as the cost of clearing up the illegally dumped rubbish has soared to between £100-£150 million.
According to new research from environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, more than one million fly-tipping incidents were reported by councils in 2023-24.
Almost three-quarters (70%) of local authorities say fly-tipping is now a 'major problem' in their areas, diverting funds away from vital services like schools, social care and parks.
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Technology
Surrey's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has become the subject of a deepfake video as part of a campaign to warn people about this kind of fraud.
Lisa Townsend posted a video to social media in which she appears to promote a financial scheme enticing users to find out how they could "secure money in their bank accounts".
The fake moving image of Ms Townsend explains how to register, before the real PCC explains the video has actually been created using artifical intelligence (AI).
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Prisons
Record numbers of violent and sex offenders have absconded or broken the terms of their temporary release from prison, official figures show.
Some 321 violent or sexual offenders either failed to come back to jail after being temporarily freed, returned late or breached the terms of their licence in the past year, according to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data.
This represents the highest number on record, nearly double the 177 prisoners four years ago and five times the low of 59 a decade ago in 2014-15.
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Justice
A police scheme to screen people in custody for signs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has provided a "lightbulb moment" for offenders, the officer leading it has said.
Cumbria Police rolled out the project to help understand the link between crime and the condition, with an aim to prevent reoffending.
Insp Peter Aiston, one of the volunteers who led the initial pilot, said it provided an opportunity for those who took part to reflect back on their experience of life.
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Police and Crime General
Free speech campaigners have launched legal action against a police force over its support for the Pride movement.
Sarah Phillimore, a barrister and co-founder of the Fair Cop organisation, claims Wiltshire Police’s participation in Pride events is a breach of its duty to remain impartial.
Wiltshire Police has been an enthusiastic supporter of Pride in recent years with officers participating in this summer’s event in Swindon, where members of the the LGBTQ+ staff support network ran a stall. In 2021 the force sponsored a zone at the event.
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Police Demand
Policing hotel protests has affected a police force's ability to deal with crime, a chief constable has admitted.
Norfolk Police has had a regular presence at the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich – which is being used to house migrants.
There have been weekly gatherings there since the summer - some attracting hundreds of people - with many protests and counter-protests about the use of the hotel.
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Economy & Public Finance
The Bank of England has maintained interest rates at four per cent ahead of the Autumn Budget, despite expectations of a cut following recent economic data.
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Recruitment and Retention
Scotland Yard is launching a scheme to offer golden goodbyes to underperforming police leaders, The Telegraph can reveal.
The voluntary exit scheme will offer financial incentives to chief inspectors and superintendents who are unwilling to adapt to sweeping changes being made to the country’s biggest police force.
In a letter sent to senior Met managers and seen by The Telegraph, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Matt Jukes, his deputy, said the scheme would allow a “dignified exit for those with the self-awareness to realise that they are either not willing or able to change”.
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Recruitment and Retention
A Metropolitan Police sergeant who said a detainee "deserves to be beaten up" has become the sixth officer based at Charing Cross police station to be sacked following a BBC investigation.
Lawrence Hume, a detention sergeant, was dismissed on Friday at an accelerated misconduct hearing, which also heard he used a derogatory term to describe the detainee.
October's Panorama programme showed officers calling for immigrants to be shot, revelling in the use of force and being dismissive of rape claims.
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Technology
Humberside Police, in partnership with Coeus Software, has published the results of Project Moriarty, a National Police Chiefs‘ Council National Science and Innovation Board Test and Learn-funded trial exploring how artificial intelligence can support frontline officers with timely procedural guidance.
The trial used Coeus’s PoliceBox® platform to deliver ‘Cecil’, a conversational AI assistant and digital mentor providing verified, up-to-date guidance derived from official policies, legislation, and procedures. Officers ask Cecil questions, such as, “I’ve arrived at a road traffic accident,” and receive clear, relevant instructions within seconds.
“The Project Moriarty trial with Humberside Police showed how the Cecil AI assistant can deliver real-time guidance to officers in the field,” said Simon Hall, CEO of Coeus Software. “When combined with the power of PoliceBox to digitise frontline policing, it has the potential to transform efficiency and enhance community engagement.”
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Police Demand
Government plans to radically reform sentencing will lead to an increase in crime by as much as 6% in a single year, according to police chiefs.
The reforms, which cover England and Wales, involve a presumption against short sentences of a year or less, with community sentences used instead, and those jailed being released earlier than currently the case.
The hope, which policing bosses said they share, is that offenders will experience greater efforts at rehabilitation, and in the medium to long term the changes will cut offending.
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Police and Crime General
Police call handlers will get training to help them understand rural crime better.
West Mercia Police has taken the decision after some farmers said their concerns were "not fully recognised or understood by those they spoke to when reporting incidents".
The National Farmers Union (NFU) offered to help with the training.
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Police and Crime General
A police force's management of a scheme to let people know if their partner has a history of domestic violence has improved, figures show.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) – known as Clare's Law – was launched in 2014 to provide information within 28 days that could protect someone from being a victim of attack.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) said 31% of requests were responded to within the statutory timeframe, between June and August 2024, but that increased to 71% over the same period this year.
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Justice
Grooming gang victims who were unjustly convicted of child prostitution instead of being protected will have their criminal records expunged under changes to the law.
New measures included in the Crime and Policing Bill will automatically pardon historic offences of loitering and soliciting prostitution as children in order to recognise that victims were criminalised for actions taken under duress.
The move acts on one of 12 recommendations made by Baroness Casey in her review of grooming gangs, which was published in June.
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Police Demand
Online child abuse reports have more than doubled in a year, Scotland's top police officer has told MSPs.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the national force received 1,500 reports in 2024-25 compared to 700 in the previous 12 months.
Ms Farrell was making the case to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee for increased funding in next year's budget.
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Prisons
There is a "clear commitment to improvement and innovation" at Europe's largest women's prison despite ongoing challenges, an inspection has found.
An unannounced visit to HMP Bronzefield in Surrey in August found that although the prison was doing "reasonably well in many areas", progress since a 2022 inspection was mixed.
An issue whereby the majority of inmates released did not have safe and long-term accommodation to go to was seen three years ago and during the recent inspection.
The report, published earlier,, external also said some high-risk women had been refused places at approved probation hostels, despite that being part of their risk management plan.
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Economy & Public Finance
The Chancellor has delivered a speech from Downing Street ahead of the 26 November Budget. The address set out the Government’s priorities and approach to the upcoming financial statement.
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Police Finances
The National Audit Office (NAO) says the Home Office’s previous attempts to deliver efficiencies have not led to lasting improvements across policing, and that while the Home Office is now prioritising cashable savings, there is scope to go further on long-term reform.
Its latest report, Police productivity, examines how the Home Office is supporting police forces to make the best use of time, money and personnel, and how this links to public safety outcomes including investigations, patrols and arrests.
The NAO notes that police demand continues to increase as crime evolves and forces take on additional responsibilities, such as seizing XL Bully dogs following changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act, while wider criminal justice reforms could create further pressure.
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Police Finances
Police forces will need to make “significant savings” if they are to meet the government’s commitments on crime, the spending watchdog has warned.
A report into police productivity by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that the “pressures facing policing are growing” and that the current approach to managing the situation risks damaging frontline services. It said the Home Office “has not fully understood the implications” of forces having to manage increasing financial pressures.
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Police Demand
In the aftermath of Saturday’s horrific violence on a train, Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary toured studios to reassure the public. She insisted that our railways are a “low crime environment”, citing data which shows that “only 27 crimes” are committed for every one million passenger journeys.
While this particular data point might be true, the latest British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) annual report includes a statement from its chair Ron Barclay-Smith, which describes “an overall challenging environment of increasing crimes ranging from higher reports of anti-social behaviour to our highest ever number of homicides”. That same report states that sexual offences increased by 10 per cent in the last year.
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Police and Crime General
A police force has launched a review into its handling of a series of knife incidents in the 24-hour run-up to Saturday night’s train stabbing rampage.
Cambridgeshire police is facing questions after the suspect was linked to a number of knife incidents in the hours before the attack on a London-bound train from Doncaster.
Anthony Williams, 32, was charged with ten counts of attempted murder in connection to the train stabbings as well as a separate count of attempted murder in relation to an attack earlier in the day on a train at Pontoon Dock DLR station in Silvertown, east London.
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Police and Crime General
Police are facing rising workloads and more complex types of crime, but investment has fallen behind, according to the government's spending watchdog.
Funding pressures have become so acute that four in five police forces in England and Wales are now drawing on their savings to balance annual budgets.
Last year, police forces reduced their financial reserves by £276m and borrowed £632m to fund 60% of investment programmes.
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Police Demand
Warnings of disruption have been issued by police as more than 700 officers prepare to mount an operation for Aston Villa's Uefa Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Officers will be keeping the public safe and to tackle any crime and disorder on Thursday, West Midlands Police (WMP) said, with police horses, dogs, the force's drone unit, and road policing officers out in Birmingham.
Planned protests include one by supporters of Palestine, who want the match to be called off.
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Police Finances
A commissioner says the cost of maintaining a £6m helicopter service cannot be justified.
Figures show that last year the helicopter or fixed wing aircraft operated by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) attended 1,650 incidents in the South West, including 139 in Wiltshire.
Meanwhile, police forces in Wiltshire, Devon & Cornwall, Avon & Somerset, Dorset, and Gloucestershire flew 4,163 drone missions, including 765 in Wiltshire.
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Police and Crime General
Police are being forced to disclose the ethnicity of suspects in response to a rise in far-right speculation on social media, a former senior officer in the Metropolitan police force has warned.
On Sunday morning at 10.30am, British Transport Police said two men had been arrested after multiple stabbings on a train in Cambridgeshire: a 32-year-old black British national and a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean descent. The 35-year-old was released with no further action, and “was not involved” in the attack, BTP said in a statement later on Sunday evening.
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Prisons
Ministers were warned of errors at jail that released sex offender by mistake
Chaotic release procedures at HMP Chelmsford were flagged to the prisons minister last year
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor
Sat 1 Nov 2025 13.43 GMT
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Ministers were warned by a watchdog that prisoners were “falling through the cracks” of chaotic release procedures at the jail that mistakenly freed a convicted child sex offender.
An annual report on HMP Chelmsford uncovered “a litany of issues and errors” including “a mix-up of release dates” when letting out a vulnerable prisoner.
The Essex facility is at the centre of an inquiry after Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was accidentally freed despite convictions for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman days after arriving in the UK in a small boat.
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Prisons
More than 120 prisoners a day have been released from custody early since September last year, data has revealed.
Government figures show that more than 38,000 offenders have been freed through the government’s early release scheme, equating to 129 a day between September last year and this June.
The Standard Determinate Sentences 40 (SDS40) scheme was introduced as an emergency measure last year to tackle an overcrowding crisis in prisons. It allowed prisoners serving fixed-term sentences of less than four years to be freed after 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than halfway through as had been the case.
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Technology
The Metropolitan Police has said it will be "scaling up" its use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology, as it reported no arrests off the back of a false alert in the past 12 months.
Between September 2024 and September 2025, 962 people were arrested following LFR deployments, the force said.
While no one was arrested following a false alert, 10 people - of which eight were black - were falsely alerted by the system. Four were not stopped and the rest were spoken to by officers for under five minutes.
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Police and Crime General
Nearly 48,000 zombie knives and machetes have been removed from the streets in a year, official data show.
They are among a total of 59,259 knives taken off the streets as a result of police operations and surrender schemes where owners of the weapons were paid to hand them over before they were officially banned.
Zombie-style knives and machetes were banned from September 24 last year under legislation passed by the Conservatives before the election. Anyone caught in possession of one now faces up to two years in jail and/or an unlimited fine.
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Police and Crime General
Knife crime overall has fallen for the first time in four years, dropping by five per cent.?The latest admissions data for NHS hospitals in England and Wales also show a ten per cent fall in admissions for knife assaults.
Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Too many young lives are lost each year to knife crime.
“This government is determined to halve knife crime. We are making progress, but we won’t stop until we meet that goal.
“We will pursue this mission relentlessly, doing everything we can to get these weapons off our streets.”
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Police and Crime General
One of the largest cannabis factories to ever be uncovered in Northamptonshire has been found in an old casino building.
Police carried out a search warrant at about 09:00 GMT at the former Aspers casino, in Commercial Street in Northampton.
Officers found thousands of cannabis plants across four floors, with efforts made to keep intruders out - including bricked-up doors and rooms reinforced with steel.
"It's going to make a massive difference to the drug supply chain here in Northampton, and possibly in the UK," said Sgt Rodney Williams.
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Economy & Public Finance
The Chancellor is facing a larger-than-expected gap in initial Budget numbers due to long-running poor productivity in the UK economy. It is understood the downgrade to productivity performance from the Government’s official forecaster could lead to a £20 billion gap in the public finances on its own.
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Police Demand
How could any decent human being possibly object to mass immigration? That, it would seem, is the mystery puzzling the BBC. Yes, even after all these years. Because earlier this week it sent reporters to Buxton in Derbyshire to ask residents the following question: why are you people all saying you’ll vote Reform, when practically everyone in your town is white British?
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Police and Crime General
A Jewish worshipper killed in the Manchester synagogue terror attack died from a single police bullet, a coroner has heard.
Adrian Daulby, 53, was shot in the chest by armed officers as they fired at Jihad al-Shamie earlier this month, Manchester coroner’s court was told on Wednesday.
The Islamist terrorist was shot dead by police after he attacked the Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur, killing one and injuring three others.
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Police and Crime General
A tribunal into claims the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police was discriminatory in his behaviour heard he reported an inspector to a professional standards department to avoid dealing with the situation himself.
The hearings are taking place after ex-inspector Khizra Bano claimed widespread racism and homophobia exists within the force, and had been primary support for ex-firearms officer Rebecca Kalam, who won a sex discrimination case.
The tribunal panel heard about a meeting Ms Bano had with Chief Constable Craig Guildford in May 2023, to discuss her support for a colleague, also at the meeting, who feared he was in trouble.
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Recruitment and Retention
A police constable who jammed the keys on his laptop to make it look like he was working from home was actually out on the golf course or at the gym.
Ryan Lenton, who worked on Kent Police’s Investigation Management Unit (IMU), “intentionally exploited” his remote-working privileges to engage in leisure activities, a misconduct hearing was told.
He used “key-jamming” – weighing down a keyboard to make it appear as if it is in operation – for 60 hours and seven minutes, almost half of his total work hours between April 7 and May 13 this year.
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Recruitment and Retention
Sergeant Joseph McIlvenny, PC Martin Borg and PC Phillip Neilson each faced a fast-track misconduct hearing on Thursday (October 23).
Allegations against all three, that they breached standards of professional behaviour for authority, respect and courtesy, discreditable conduct and equality and diversity, were proven and they were dismissed without notice.
They will also be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing to prevent them re-joining the police or being employed by other related bodies.
Commander Simon Messinger, MPS Professionalism, said: “Following the shocking and appalling behaviour shown on Panorama we were extremely clear where there was incontrovertible evidence we would hold misconduct hearings at the very earliest opportunity. It has seen three officers dismissed today for their disgraceful conduct.
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Justice
The gust of relief in Downing Street that greeted news of the apprehension of Hadush Kebatu could have powered the lights in Downing Street for a year or two. It had been a miserable four days for ministers.
As the tale emerged of Kebatu’s forlorn efforts to find anyone who could show him how to be deported, the public reaction moved through incredulity to scorn. It now teeters on the cliff edge of mockery, a fall from which governments rarely recover.
The catalogue of failures of the immigration system may prove to be the principal cause of Labour’s undoing. And in this particular week, the consequences of failure to control who comes and goes took the ugliest turn imaginable. The unspoken emerging issue is the toxic combination of race and sexual predation. Kebatu is a convicted multiple sex offender. His freedom to roam the streets is an outrage.
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Police and Crime General
The pioneering K9 Synthetic Opioid Detection Units are helping Border Force officers screen postal items, cargo, freight and courier deliveries for hidden synthetic opioids and other Class A drugs.
The Home Office says synthetic opioids pose a “growing public health challenge”. Their extreme potency increases the risk of accidental overdose, and their ease of concealment makes detection difficult.
Nitazenes can be between 50 and 500 times more potent than heroin, with more than 750 confirmed UK fatalities linked to these substances between June 1, 2023 and August 28, 2025.
Border Force says training will be continually refined to stay ahead of evolving threats, matching the sophistication of criminal networks that have previously avoided detection through new production methods and changing scent profiles.
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Technology
Drones are being used to tackle trespassing on rail tracks, as Network Rail says incidents are on the rise.
Last year on the rail network in Sussex, 24 people lost their lives in preventable accidents. Five of them at level crossings and the rest with people crossing the line at unauthorised locations.
Dozens of drones are being used across the network, they are armed with night vision cameras and heat sensors.
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Police Demand
Crime costs Britain £33bn a year in treatment for victims, damaged or lost property, and preventative measures, analysis by the Tories has found.
The party has used official crime data to update a Home Office model which attempts to estimate its economic and social cost.
Crimes of violence in which a victim is injured account for the biggest annual bill, at £10bn, followed by £6.7bn for violence where no-one is injured.
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Police and Crime General
Nine thousand cases of child sexual exploitation are being reviewed by the Metropolitan Police, the force has confirmed.
In a statement, the Met said it was reinvestigating the cases which involve "intra-familial, peer-on-peer and in institutional settings, along with those which do not fit the common understanding of a 'grooming gang'".
The cases are being re-examined following a national review into group-based child sexual exploitation which found it was more widespread, organised, and underreported than previously acknowledged.
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Justice
Every suicide in which the deceased has been a victim of domestic violence should be investigated as a potential homicide, according to campaigners who want see abusers held to account for the devastating effects of their actions.
The move was necessary because police and prosecutors were not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide after domestic abuse, the said.
“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness that they deserve,” Pragna Patel, co-director of the campaign group Project Resist, said at a landmark meeting in Westminster this week.
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Police and Crime General
It’s hard to explain the work of Boathouse Youth because it tackles problems that are barely understood. Their youth clubs in Blackpool offer children a safe space, trusted adults, lessons in how to manage anger, how to co-operate and trust each other. The basics for a stable life, yet absent for all too many.
When I visited, I saw a staff noticeboard summarising challenges its children face: overcrowded housing, truancy, poor health. Then, one I did not expect: levels of child sexual abuse six times higher than the nicer neighbourhoods. A marker, it seems, of today’s deep poverty.
It has been 22 years since the disappearance of Charlene Downes, then 14, in Blackpool. The subsequent scandal exposed the extent of what we now call “grooming gangs”. Attempts to confront this evil failed to stop its advance.
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Police and Crime General
The latest crime figures for England and Wales show police-recorded homicides at a historic low and knife offences falling, though shoplifting remains close to record levels.
Here the PA news agency looks at the latest crime numbers and trends, which have been released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Police Finances
The Prime Minister has pledged an additional £10 million in security funding to protect Muslim communities from hate crimes and attacks.
On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer announced the funding boost following a visit with the Home Secretary to the Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex which was targeted in a suspected arson attack earlier this month.
No one was injured in the fire which damaged the front entrance of the mosque and a car, while the police said they are treating the incident as a hate crime.
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Technology
Drones will be used to help police officers responding to emergencies in a trial in London.
Remotely-launched drones will send back information from the scene to assist officers both on the ground and in a control room, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Piloted by a trained operator and kept in special boxes on the roofs of selected police buildings, the drones will be launched from the force's control room, as part of a response to a 999 call, arriving on the scene within two minutes and start streaming back footage.
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Justice
Three people were wrongly accused of downloading child abuse images due to a broadband wiring error by a BT engineer, a tribunal has heard.
The mistake meant internet activity linked to the real offender was traced instead to the address where two men and a woman were staying, who had their electronic devices seized over the course of two police searches.
The false accusations back in 2016 had "highly distressing and far-reaching" consequences for the three, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) was told.
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Police and Crime General
More than 300 people have contacted the BBC with allegations of racism, corruption and bullying of victims by police after a Panorama undercover investigation.
The secret filming over seven months revealed evidence of racism, misogyny and officers revelling in the use of force at one of London's busiest police stations.
One of the main themes among the hundreds of people getting in touch was misogyny when they reported domestic abuse and sexual violence - with some women saying reporting their rape to police "was like being raped again".
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Justice
The focus of Britain’s national grooming gangs inquiry “will not change”, the home secretary has pledged, after a minister was accused of lying by a victim of the scandal.
Shabana Mahmood has attempted to allay concerns head on by ruling out the prospect of the inquiry being widened to other forms of child sexual abuse.
Writing in The Times, Mahmood said: “This inquiry will focus on grooming gangs — and that will not change.”
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Technology
Police are using live facial recognition for the first time in Greater Manchester as part of efforts to crack down on criminal behaviour.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has received two Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology vans from the Home Office, which are currently being deployed in Sale town centre as officers tackle a surge in shoplifting.
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Prisons
Vulnerable prisoners inside one of the country’s most overcrowded prisons are being put at risk, a watchdog has warned, after 16 self-inflicted deaths in three years.
HMP Leeds recorded the highest number of suspected suicides of any adult men’s prison in England and Wales between 2022 and 2025.
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Police and Crime General
A former chief constable has been charged with fraud and misconduct in public office after allegedly lying about his military career.
Nick Adderley, formerly of Northamptonshire Police, was charged following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Mr Adderley faces one count of misconduct in public office (MIPO) and one count of fraud, contrary to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
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Police and Crime General
A current senior member of the King's household was the head of royal protection at the time Prince Andrew allegedly asked one of his police officers to dig up dirt on Virginia Guiffre, Sky News has discovered.
Lord Peter Rosslyn, who is now Lord Steward and Personal Secretary to the King and Queen, was head of Royalty and Diplomatic Protection between 2003-2014.
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Police and Crime General
Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were banned from watching their game against Aston Villa after police intelligence concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club.
The ban ignited an intense controversy and was criticised by the prime minister, as well as others claiming it was a surrender to antisemitism.
The police assessment led to the fixture on 6 November at Villa Park in Birmingham being classed as high risk. The intelligence and risk assessments that led to that conclusion and ban have not been made public.
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Police and Crime General
Over two days, officers raided more than 120 shops suspected of buying items stolen from major retailers and reselling them at discounted prices. Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of items were seized, including branded food, make-up and electrical devices. Nine stores were served with closure notices.
The 32 people were arrested for various offences, including handling stolen goods, drug offences and immigration violations. Most of those arrested have been bailed.
Working alongside major retailers, more than 300 officers from across the MPS were involved in Operation Zoridon. They carried out warrants and conducted licensing checks at businesses alongside officials from Trading Standards, the London Fire Brigade and Border Force.
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Justice
What started as a WhatsApp group for dozens of grieving families has ended up gathering enough momentum to reach Westminster.
Warning: This article contains content you may find distressing.
The parents and relatives of loved ones who have taken their own lives following domestic abuse are angry, at a loss, but up for a fight.
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Police Demand
A review of the police’s recording of non-crime hate incidents has recommended that all forces scrap the practice, The Times can reveal.
The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council will advise the home secretary that the incidents should no longer be recorded by any force in England and Wales.
An interim report submitted last week to Sarah Jones, the policing minister, urged that the practice be dropped. The final review is expected to be delivered to Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, in December.
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Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves chose to stress the long-term damage done to the UK economy by the 2020 Brexit deal, in her remarks at a key international economic committee at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In remarks published this weekend, the chancellor told the world's leading finance ministers and central bankers: "The UK's productivity challenge has been compounded by the way in which the UK left the European Union."
She quoted the Office for Budget Responsibility's calculation of a 4% long-term hit relative to remaining in the EU, and said the UK "acknowledges this" in seeking stronger trade ties.
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Justice
Two abuse survivors have quit their roles in the government's inquiry into grooming gangs.
Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds resigned from the inquiry's victims and survivors liaison panel on Monday in protest at how the government had handled the process.
In her resignation letter, external, Ms Reynolds said she felt the inquiry had become "less about the truth and more about a cover-up", while both women raised concerns about the two shortlisted chairs having backgrounds in policing and social services.
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Police Demand
The Metropolitan Police says it will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents to allow officers to "focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations".
The announcement came as the Met confirmed it was dropping a probe into Father Ted creator Graham Linehan after he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on X.
Mr Linehan was arrested by five officers on 1 September after arriving on a flight from the US, sparking a backlash from some public figures and politicians.
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Prisons
Taxpayers are footing the bill for “eyewatering” and grossly inflated repair costs at prisons across the country as the government scrambles to keep overcrowded jails running after decades of neglect, The Independent can reveal.
Private contracting costs for basic upgrades are “out of control”, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has warned, describing the situation as a “public disgrace” that is failing to deliver value for money.
Meanwhile, prison conditions are worse than ever, with a soaring maintenance backlog approaching £2bn, having doubled from 2020 to 2024. Some prisons are so dire that in 2023, a German court refused to extradite a criminal to Britain due to fears over inhumane conditions.
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Technology
A Tory MP says he has reported a deepfake video depicting him announcing he had joined Reform UK to the police.
George Freeman said he remained "the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk and have no intention of joining Reform or any other party", denouncing the video circulating on social media as "an AI-generated deepfake".
Freeman said he reported the video to the authorities. Norfolk Police and Facebook have been approached for comment.
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Police Demand
Nearly a third of convicted murderers or killers were previously prosecuted for a knife offence, new figures show.
An average of 160 people a year with a previous conviction for knife crime were found guilty of murder or manslaughter in each of the past four years, raising concerns that too little is being done to prevent violence escalating.
This figure, obtained from the Ministry of Justice through Freedom of Information laws, represents just under a third of the annual average of 550 homicides recorded in England and Wales over the past four years.
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Police and Crime General
Chief constables could be overruled on the policing of protests and controversial public events under plans being drawn up by Reform UK.
Nigel Farage’s party is developing proposals to strengthen political oversight of forces, amid fury over the decision to ban Israeli football fans from Villa Park in Birmingham.
West Midlands Police has banned fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending the club’s Europa League match with Aston Villa next month.
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Recruitment and Retention
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) has increased its armed officer training success rate by 15% in just over a year, following a data-driven overhaul of its Initial Foundation Programme (IFP).
The refreshed approach to firearms training – focused on inclusion, tailored support and performance – has raised the overall IFP pass rate from 61% to more than 77%. The shift comes as part of a wider effort to ensure every recruit has a fair opportunity to succeed in one of the UK’s most demanding policing roles.
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Police Demand
Sir Keir Starmer has said police are failing to crack down on antisemitic chants heard at pro-Palestinian marches.
He said police officers needed to make greater use of their powers “that are already there” to tackle chants such as “globalise the intifada”.
During a visit to the Community Security Trust (CST), the charity that provides security to synagogues and Jewish communities, the prime minister said that police forces needed to have a better understanding of which slogans were antisemitic.
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Police and Crime General
Police have revealed the first shoplifters to be fitted with electronic tags under a new scheme aiming to deter repeat offences.
Barry Farthing, 41, and Victoria Hale, 50, have been ordered by Sussex Police to wear the tags for 12 months and avoid certain areas with supermarkets in East Sussex.
The force said it is the first in the country to tag prolific shoplifters with location monitoring tags.
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Justice
Less than half of victims surveyed by a watchdog were confident they could get justice by reporting a crime or that the criminal justice system is effective, according to a report.
Some 6,581 people who had experienced crime took part in the online research by the Victim’s Commissioner, in the largest survey of victims conducted by the independent body.
The annual survey for 2024 found 46% of participants were confident the criminal justice system was effective while 42% were confident they could receive justice by reporting a crime.
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Economy & Public Finance
The chancellor should be "bold" in next month's Budget or risk future spending cuts and tax rises, an influential think tank has said.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is projecting Rachel Reeves will need to find £22bn to make up a shortfall in the government's finances, and will "almost certainly" have to raise taxes.
Finding this amount would allow the government to maintain the £10bn of headroom it has built into the system - but the IFS says there is a "strong case" for trying to increase it beyond this amount.
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Recruitment and Retention
The College of Policing has published annual figures for officers barred from working in policing in the year to the end of March 2025. They show 735 regular officers (excluding Special Constables) were placed on the barred list, an increase of 24% on the previous year (593).
Responding to the figures, APCC Joint Leads for Accountability and Transparency, Alison Lowe OBE and Rupert Matthews said:
“These figures demonstrate the benefits of the work policing is doing to root out officers unfit to serve. The recent BBC Panorama revelations illustrate how critical it is that work continues if we are to rebuild public trust and confidence in the police service.
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Recruitment and Retention
The investigation began in July 2024 after a conduct referral from the force.
“We concluded our investigation and sent our final report with our provisional opinions to the force in June,” the IOPC said.
“GMP agreed with our opinion that the four officers – two sergeants and two police constables – have a case to answer for gross misconduct for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour relating to equality and diversity, authority, respect and courtesy, honesty and integrity, challenging and reporting improper conduct and duties and responsibilities.”
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Police and Crime General
A review of anti-Black racism within the Metropolitan police has been “buried” by the force, despite finding discrimination “baked into its HR systems”, the Guardian can reveal.
The internal review, commissioned by the Met from the consultancy HR Rewired, concluded that bias, racial stereotyping and inequity were woven through the force’s recruitment, promotion and grievance processes, affecting Black staff specifically.
The review’s report, 30 Patterns of Harm: a Structural Review of Systemic Racism within the London Metropolitan Police Service, warned that the Met’s ambition to become an “anti-racist organisation” was being undermined by its own internal culture.
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Justice
The Victims' Commissioner's landmark victim survey reveals widespread low confidence in the justice system: fewer than half of victims (42%) believe they can get justice, while just 46% are confident in its effectiveness and only 51% in its fairness.
Victims report being denied a voice at critical stages, with some refused the chance to read their Victim Personal Statement in court and only 14% aware of their right to challenge a decision to drop their case.
Systemic issues, from delays to poor communication, are actively harming victims, with many forced to withdraw from the justice process to protect their own wellbeing.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Met Police’s Commissioner also said the “vividness and vileness” of the recent BBC Panorama documentary that looked into some officer behaviours at Charing Cross police station raised concerns around members of the public using the front desk in the heart of London.
At Thursday’s Police and Crime Committee, London Assembly members grilled Sir Mark Rowley, the Met’s commissioner, as well as Kaya Comer-Schwartz, the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, after a turbulent few weeks for the capital’s force.
The topic of front desk closures being announced, policing protests and the recent BBC broadcast were all dissected by the panel.
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Justice
HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that the criminal justice system has “not kept pace” with the changes to the use of youth out-of-court disposals (OoCDs).
OoCDs are alternatives to formal prosecution for children, designed to divert them away from the criminal justice system by addressing their behaviour and offering support to prevent further offending.
Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation said: “Over recent years, there has been a substantial and sustained increase in the use of OoCDs for children, alongside a notable shift in the types of disposals being issued. The profile of children receiving them has also changed.
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Police and Crime General
Ten new investigations have been launched into South Yorkshire Police's past handling of child sexual abuse cases in Rotherham.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the decision was made after complaint referrals from the force between July and September 2025.
South Yorkshire Police said it was "profoundly aware" of its previous failings and would support any investigation "to ensure victim survivors feel listened to".
IOPC director Emily Barry said: "It is entirely understandable that all those affected, as well as the wider public, will have concerns about these further complaints so that is why it's vital we ensure they are thoroughly and robustly investigated."
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A coroner has raised fears over the adequacy of first aid training given to West Yorkshire Police officers.
It comes after police were asked to check on Ann Laskowsky, 65, on 5 October last year after an inactivity alarm was triggered at her home but ambulance crews could not attend.
A report by a West Yorkshire coroner said that despite officers finding Ms Laskowsky unable to be woken, they concluded she did not need medical attention. She died in hospital the following day.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The family of a man shot dead by a police officer during a foiled prison break have accused Scotland Yard of evading accountability after a case against the marksman was thrown out.
The officer, known only as W80, shot Jermaine Baker as police stopped a plot to snatch two prisoners from a van near Wood Green crown court in 2015.
Misconduct proceedings against W80 began last week in London after almost a decade of legal wrangling over the case. He was eventually accused of breaching professional standards over the use of force.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy grew slightly in August, official figures show, as focus intensifies on what measures the government might unveil in next month's Budget.
An increase in manufacturing output helped the economy expand by 0.1%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, but the figure for July was revised down from zero growth to a contraction of 0.1%.
The government has made boosting the economy a priority, but economists predict growth will remain sluggish partly due to people waiting to see what measures Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces in the Budget.
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Police Finances
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that the upcoming Autumn Budget could be a “make or break moment” for businesses, with the British Chamber of Commerce urging her to avoid further tax increases.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
"I don't remember feeling this unsafe ever before," says 76-year-old devout Sikh Resham Kaur who moved to the UK from India when she was 18.
She's waiting for two men to walk her home from the gurdwara - a Sikh place of worship - at a time of rising fears over physical and verbal racial abuse.
Resham reaches for her walking stick and puts on her shoes.
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Justice
Nearly 90% of cases before the family courts in England and Wales show evidence of domestic abuse, a watchdog has disclosed.
Physical, psychological or sexual abuse of a member of the family or household was uncovered in 87% of cases, according to a review ordered by the domestic abuse commissioner, Nicole Jacobs.
The abuse was frequently not recognised as an “active issue” or taken seriously with regard to the type of contact children would go on to have with the abusive parent, she said. In more than half of the cases reviewed, unsupervised overnight contact was ordered.
[ more...]
Justice
Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation.
There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children - with some younger than 13.
Rhiannon Williams said she was sexually harassed on a train earlier this year and recalled: "You can't go anywhere, you can't escape. I had to sit there and put up with it."
[ more...]
Prisons
Prisons have been hit with “devastating” cuts to education provision that will increase crime on the streets, a watchdog has warned.
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said an overhaul of contracts for the provision of education in prisons introduced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) this month had led to cuts of up to 61 per cent in some jails.
In an interview with The Times, Taylor said this had exacerbated existing problems with the lack of “purposeful activity” offered to prisoners. He added that a growing number of inmates were now “wasting their time, lying on the sofa, watching daytime TV, taking drugs”.
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Police and Crime General
The Metropolitan Police have been accused of over-policing black Londoners after figures revealed they were nearly three times more likely to be strip searched than white people.
Analysis by The Times showed that between January and August the Met subjected 322 black adults to strip searches compared with 113 white adults.
No illegal items were recovered in almost half of cases involving black people. The success rate was much higher among white people; officers were 11 per cent more likely to find drugs during their searches.
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Police and Crime General
Sexual misconduct and discriminationcomplaints against police officers have doubled in five years – but more than half of claims have gone uninvestigated, The Independent can reveal.
Analysis of figures from the police watchdog shows that forces received 404 complaints for sexual misconduct in 2024-25 – the highest number on record in a single year – and up from 199 in 2020-01.
Sex discrimination claims also saw a significant jump, with a record number of complaints – 645 – in 2023-24 alone.
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Police and Crime General
Capturing an indecent exposure suspect in Cheshire seldom involves detectives reaching into a “Gucci kit” of policing techniques worthy of a big budget documentary.
“I was looking for Netflix-style cases where we’ve received a report later and got the ‘Gucci kit’ out – the fancy tactics and technology — to arrest him,” Detective Chief Inspector Katie-Louise Allen of Cheshire police said.
“The best jobs we’ve had are when the public has immediately reported it and we’ve blue-lighted, found him and locked him up,” she added with a smile.
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Police Demand
London is no longer a safe place to live, at least in the eyes of some of its richest residents – and the 47th president of the United States.
“I think he’s done a terrible job,” Donald Trump said during his state visit to the UK last month, in his latest broadside at London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. “Crime in London is through the roof.”
Trump’s view is increasingly accepted wisdom in right-wing circles and is gaining traction more widely. Crime is even being blamed – along with rising taxes – for an apparent exodus of the super-rich from the UK.
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Recruitment and Retention
Herefordshire Council has said it will write to the chief constable of West Mercia Police to urge him to reverse a decision to end PCSOs' working days earlier.
At a full council meeting on Thursday, councillors unanimously voted to write to Richard Cooper and Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion over the matter.
The decision comes after it was announced PCSOs would start patrols earlier in the day and finish at 20:00 instead of 22:00.
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Recruitment and Retention
STEP’s Spencer Wragg received by a standing ovation for his emotional speech at the Unison Police, Probation and Cafcass Service Group Conference on Friday (October 10) – World Mental Health Day.
Unison members voted unanimously to join the campaign and take action, including surveying police branches to see what trauma support currently exists for their members, who this is offered to and when; and to promote the aims of the STEP campaign within all branches.
Mr Wragg told delegates: “Suicide is truly non-discriminatory. It doesn’t care if you’re a call handler, if you’re a chief constable, it doesn’t care where you live. It doesn’t matter who you love, what your religion is, even what football team you support. It affects everybody in society.”
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Police Demand
Incidents of very young children taking knives into primary schools have been revealed by a BBC investigation.
Police in Kent recorded an assault involving a four-year-old pupil, while officers in the West Midlands reported that a six-year-old had taken a flick knife into class.
The mother of Harvey Willgoose, a teenager murdered by another pupil in Sheffield, says the data is shocking and is calling on the government to fund metal detectors, or "knife arches", for all UK schools and colleges.
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Police Finances
The government needs to "change the way forces are funded", Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner has said.
PCC Marc Jones says the way funding has been allocated to police forces over the past 20 years and changing expectations of what the police do have put Lincolnshire Police on the verge of bankruptcy.
The force has said it faces losing up to 200 police officers and 200 support staff without extra funding.
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Recruitment and Retention
Ten Metropolitan Police officers are to face accelerated misconduct hearings following a BBC Panorama investigation into racism and misogyny at Charing Cross police station, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said.
A misconduct process began after an undercover BBC reporter heard officers calling for immigrants to be shot, revelling in the use of force and being dismissive of rape claims.
The IOPC said it had sufficient evidence to show officers breached professional standards.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales has risen for the first time in three years, including increases in race and religiously motivated offences, Home Office figures, external show.
There were 115,990 hate crime offences in the year ending March, up 2% from 113,166 the previous year - but offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police are not included in this year's figures due to changes in how the force records crimes.
Religious hate crimes targeted at Muslims rose by 19%, with a spike following the Southport murders and riots that followed last summer, the Home Office said.
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Police Demand
A Conservative government would triple the use of stop and search powers in high crime areas in England and Wales, the shadow home secretary has said.
In a speech to his party's conference, Chris Philp said the move would be vital to prevent knife crime.
He also promised to recruit an extra 10,000 police officers if the Tories win the next general election.
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Police and Crime General
Figures show 1,120 senior gang members were charged in the 12 months to July
Sarah Jones welcomed new Home Office figures, which she said “speak for themselves”, but promised to go “further than ever to stop this evil trade”.
According to the Government, in addition to closing 2,300 “deal lines”, targeted work on key transport networks and investment into automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology resulted in more than 1,120 senior gang members being charged in the 12 months to July – the highest annual figures since the Government’s county lines programme began six years ago, in 2019.
“The exploitation of children and vulnerable people in this way is disgusting and cowardly,” Ms Jones said.
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Police and Crime General
Scotland Yard is investigating whether a pro-Palestine group called Intifada 87 has broken terrorism laws, assessing whether its name illegally expresses support for Hamas.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer demanded a crackdown on offensive chants at rallies.
Intifada 87 is thought to have organised a last-minute pro-Gaza march that blocked Tower Bridge, in London, on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Participants chanted “from the river to the sea” – words seen as calling for the destruction of Israel.
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Police Demand
A senior police officer has warned there are many young men viewing similar material to the Southport attacker and said he fears there could be another attack.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year by Axel Rudakubana, then aged 17.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Winstanley of Lancashire police told the inquiry into the killings: "Sadly, there are other children out there with similar interests and behaviours that [the Southport attacker] displayed."
[ more...]
Police Demand
The Metropolitan Police have arrested 46 people after disrupting a criminal network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China.
A months-long investigation began last December when a box on its way to Hong Kong was found at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport containing around 1,000 iPhones.
Officers discovered almost all the phones had been stolen, the force said.
It then launched Operation Echosteep, bringing in specialist detectives to track down the suspects for what's been described as the UK's biggest ever crackdown on phone theft.
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Police Demand
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced plans to hand police the powers to impose tougher conditions on protests by taking account of the “cumulative impact” of previous similar demonstrations, prompting an outcry from civil liberty groups. How does the right to protest currently work in England and Wales and what could the proposed changes mean?
[ more...]
Police Demand
The Home Secretary has announced new powers for police to impose conditions on repeat protests, aiming to address community concerns about safety and disruption. These changes will amend the Public Order Act, allowing police to consider the cumulative impact of protests and impose restrictions on their location and timing.
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Justice
The Government says it will take “concrete actions” to protect victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation as part of its upcoming violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy.
It comes after the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and nine other leading child protection groups wrote to then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper calling for the Government to ensure the forthcoming strategy included “clear and deliverable objectives” to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
[ more...]
Technology
The UK government will consult on police facial recognition before further expanding its use across England, says policing minister Sarah Jones.
Speaking during the Labour party annual conference, Jones said the government will also look to place “parameters” over how and when live facial recognition (LFR) technology can be deployed in the future.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The report from the anti-slavery charity Unseen reveals this immense and growing burden is not only harming victims but also straining police resources and damaging the national economy.
The cost to UK police forces alone has skyrocketed by 141 per cent since 2018, reaching an estimated £210 million in 2024. That is enough money to fund the recruitment of 7,500 new police officers, says Unseen.
The charity says the response to this serious economic crime is “critically underfunded”.
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Recruitment and Retention
One of the most senior British Asian women in policing has spoken out for the first time, alleging a culture of misogyny, cronyism, and racial bias at the heart of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA).
Harvi Khatkar, a high-ranking officer with more than three decades of service, claims she faced retaliation after raising concerns and gathering information about the culture inside the PSA.
“I was excluded from meetings, information was withheld from me. When I started asking questions, I was dismissed or publicly humiliated. I heard sexist and racist comments — and when I challenged them, they were brushed off as ‘banter’.”
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is braced for new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility on Friday that could leave a £30 billion pound gap in the public finances, with a productivity downgrade alone expected to account for up to £18 billion pounds. The looming shortfall is set to intensify political clashes ahead of the November Budget.
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Recruitment and Retention
The Metropolitan Police will redeploy officers dedicated to tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB) to neighbourhood policing teams, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has learned.
The officers work with local authorities across London and have specialist knowledge and experience with serial drug users and consistently problematic people.
They also take part in multi-agency risk assessment conferences to help implement safety plans based on shared local information.
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Technology
Frontline police officers are to be armed with “super-Tasers” capable of firing 10 high-voltage darts without reloading.
Twenty police forces, just under half the 43 in England and Wales, will deploy the Taser 10 from today after it was approved for use by the Home Office following two years of technical, medical and safety tests.
The move follows a near-doubling in the number of assaults on officers to 55,000 in the past year, equivalent to one every 10 minutes, and comes as knife violence has returned to near-record levels post-pandemic.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A police force is to use all of its reserve funds to avoid cutting jobs.
Lincolnshire Police said it faced losing up to 200 police officers and 200 support staff without extra funding.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson said he was in negotiations with the government about its finances.
The BBC has contacted the Home Office for a response.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Simon Megicks, who became Cambridgeshire Constabulary's Chief Constable on Sunday, told Police Oracle that the behaviour of some serving officers in Charing Cross police station will have a knock-on effect for his force as he looks to build trust and confidence with the public.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has told the BBC he will not resign from his position, after a Panorama investigation revealed evidence of misogyny and racism in the force.
Speaking to BBC Radio London, he said those circulating rumours of his resignation within the Met were "the misogynists and racists, frankly, who want me out, because it's them who we're taking on".
The commissioner agreed that a range of factors that show systemic issues need to be rooted out, but stopped short of calling the issues institutional.
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Technology
Calls have been made for police forces to end an indefinite contract with a national helicopter service in favour of using drones.
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Wiltshire, Philip Wilkinson, said Wiltshire Police currently spends £700,000 a year on the National Police Air Service (NPAS).
Mr Wilkinson, who represents all five of the south west of England's PCCs on the NPAS board, said: "If I could invest in drones, I'd have a really enhanced police aviation support system."
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Recruitment and Retention
Greater Manchester Police have suspended home working privileges following an investigation into so-called "key-jamming", which can allow people to falsely appear to be working.
Twenty-six police officers, staff and contractors are facing misconduct proceedings following the probe, the force said.
It comes after the anti-corruption unit identified what it called "abnormal key stroke behaviour" on GMP-issued devices.
Key-jamming can see items left on a computer keypad or the device otherwise manipulated to make someone appear to be active.
[ more...]
Prisons
A former detective constable and three people have been convicted of smuggling contraband into prisons using drones.
Police said drones containing prohibited items were flown into HMP Onley in Northamptonshire and HMP Gartree in Leicestershire throughout 2021 and 2022.
At Coventry Crown Court, former Staffordshire Police Det Con Clare Davenport, Peter King, Kent George and Mervyn Foster were convicted of being involved in the enterprise.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The head of Britain’s biggest police force has apologised for the “reprehensible and completely unacceptable” behaviour of some officers at Charing Cross Police station, exposed in a Panorama documentary.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley spoke out ahead of the BBC programme, which is to be broadcast at 9pm on Wednesday, saying it is likely that all the accused serving officers will be sacked within weeks.
Nine serving officers, one ex-officer and a designated detention officer are all under investigation for gross misconduct, over allegations of use of excessive force and making discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Child safety organisations have welcomed the government "thinking again" on including child abuse victims in its violence against women and girls strategy, following a Sky News report.
Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls (VAWG), has written to charities to tell them "children who experience child sexual abuse and exploitation are considered in the new VAWG strategy".
In the letter, Ms Phillips says she hopes the letter "clarifies" the government's position.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Shoplifting is not a new problem for police and retailers - but a rising number of offences are now being committed by middle-class professionals stealing for the thrill of it, say officers.
The offenders being seen increasingly often by Cambridgeshire Police are more mature and in well-paid jobs, taking from high-end stores simply because they can.
This group is often overlooked in the public perception of shoplifters, which might include desperate people stealing food for themselves or to sell on, or organised criminals working at scale.
But, as PC Emily-Jayne Matthews told me when I spent the day with with her, it is a group that is growing.
[ more...]
Technology
The government is to encourage police forces across England and Wales to adopt live facial recognition (LFR) technology, with a minister praising its use by the London's Metropolitan Police in a suburb in the south of the city.
Policing minister Sarah Jones confirmed the UK government is consulting on guidance on where, when, and how police forces can use LFR with publication due later this year. “What we’ve seen in Croydon is that it has worked,” she told a fringe event at the Labour party conference on September 29, referring to the Met’s installation of permanent LFR cameras in the town.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The cost of policing protests in Epping could reach £1.7m by October, a crime panel meeting was told.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in the town after an asylum seeker, Hadush Kebatu, was charged with sexual offences in July.
Since then, Essex Police have arrested 32 people in connection with the disorder outside The Bell Hotel, where Kebatu, who was later jailed, was staying.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Forcing police officers to declare whether they are part of the Freemasons would be “unnecessary and wrong”, a staff association has said.
Britain’s biggest police force, the Metropolitan Police, has launched a consultation on whether to add the group to its declarable associations policy, meaning officers would have to tell bosses if they are a member.
On Monday, Metropolitan Police Federation general secretary Matt Cane said the move may violate officers’ human rights.
“Be in no doubt, the Federation will oppose this proposal and challenge any punitive process designed to enforce it,” he said.
“Adding this requirement to the existing declarable associations policy is unnecessary and wrong.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Like many things in the shadowy world of cyber-crime, an insider threat is something very few people have experience of.
Even fewer people want to talk about it.
But I was given a unique and worrying experience of how hackers can leverage insiders when I myself was recently propositioned by a criminal gang.
"If you are interested, we can offer you 15% of any ransom payment if you give us access to your PC."
[ more...]
Technology
Labour plans to consult on the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology before expanding it across England, the new policing minister has told the party’s annual conference.
Sarah Jones, a Home Office minister, said the government would “put some parameters” over when and where it could be used in future.
Campaigners claim the police have been allowed to self-regulate their use of the technology because of the lack of a legal framework and deploy the technology’s algorithm at lower settings that are biased against ethnic minorities and women.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A network of far-right Facebook groups is exposing hundreds of thousands of Britons to racist and extremist disinformation and has become an “engine of radicalisation”, a Guardian investigation suggests.
Run by otherwise ordinary members of the public – many of whom are of retirement age – the groups are a hotbed of hardline anti-immigration and racist language, where online hate goes apparently unchecked.
Experts who reviewed the Guardian’s months-long data project said such groups help to create an online environment that can radicalise people into taking extreme actions, such as last year’s summer riots.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Children and young adults in London are being recruited by hostile states such as Russia and Iran to carry out sabotage and other crimes, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Cdr Dominic Murphy, the Met's head of counter-terrorism, said there had been a five-fold rise in hostile state activity since the Salisbury poisonings in 2018.
He told the BBC's Politics London programme that some recruits were teenagers and that parents should monitor what their children were doing online.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The cost of policing protests in Epping could reach £1.7m by October, a crime panel meeting was told.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in the town after an asylum seeker, Hadush Kebatu, was charged with sexual offences in July.
Since then, Essex Police have arrested 32 people in connection with the disorder outside The Bell Hotel, where Kebatu, who was later jailed, was staying.
[ more...]
Technology
This technology, which has already been used in nightclubs, festivals, concerts and schools, allows rapid testing of vapes suspected to contain drugs such as THC or Spice.
The force said this is a “growing concern” for police after reports of vapes being tampered with, often shared between young people or handed out in social settings. In some cases, use of a spiked vape has led to hospitalisation.
Alongside this, the MPS is assessing a range of different mobile drug testing equipment, which assist rapid drug identification – including near infra-red detectors that can quickly test a wide range of powders and tablets suspected of containing controlled drugs, supported by a mobile phone app.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Work has begun on a new £30.5m custody suite in Chesterfield.
Derbyshire Police's purpose-built facility, based in Dunston Road, will serve the north of the county – with work currently under way to prepare the grounds and foundations.
The force has said it will replace the current custody suite in Ripley which is used as a secure facility where arrested individuals are processed and detained until they are charged, bailed, or remanded by a court.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce plans for a compulsory UK-wide digital ID scheme in a speech on Friday.
The prime minister believes it would help crack down on illegal working and modernise the state, according to senior figures in government.
The practicalities of the scheme will be subject to a consultation, which will also look at how to make it work for those without a smartphone or passport.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Superintendents from across England and Wales have been recognised for their exceptional leadership, innovation and commitment to policing at this year’s Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) President’s Awards.
The awards, sponsored by Police Mutual, were presented at the PSA’s annual conference in Stratford-upon-Avon. Judged by the association’s national team, they celebrate excellence across leadership, policing delivery, diversity and long service, highlighting the contribution senior officers make to their forces, colleagues and the public.
[ more...]
Prisons
Former tennis star Boris Becker has spoken to Sky News about the widespread drug use and overcrowded conditions during his time behind bars in the UK.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Home Office has lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a High Court ruling granting an Eritrean man a temporary block on being deported to France.
The ruling will be a blow to ministers, who had been hoping to make headway with their "one in, one out" migrant returns deal with France.
Under the deal, the UK can send back any migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in return for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim here.
However, only four people have been deported under the scheme so far, including one Afghan individual who was deported to France this afternoon.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A retired superintendent has accused a police force of “shadowy behaviour” after discovering it had recorded a “non-crime hate incident” against her without her knowledge.
Catherine Larkman said Lincolnshire police had made a record of the “hate incident” in September last year.
She was accused of “targeted harassment”, which had been “aggravated by hatred of transgender people” through tweets that she had posted.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Police Federation has been warned by the Home Office to publish its annual accounts amid claims that its chief executive was paid £600,000 last year.
Mukund Krishna, 46, who has led the organisation since 2023, is alleged to have received more than three times the salary of the prime minister in salary and bonuses combined.
A Labour MP, Jonathan Hinder, formerly a police inspector with the Metropolitan Police, raised the salary issue with the policing minister, Sarah Jones, in parliament.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Referrals of potential modern slavery victims have reached a record high in the UK, with one UK police force setting up a specialist unit to train officers to spot the signs of the crime.
ITV News West Country has been given exclusive access to an undercover modern slavery operations in Plymouth, where they searched a car wash and other premises under suspicion.
The number of people being referred to the Home Office is rising year-on-year. In 2023, that number was 16,985 and in the following year, there had been a 13% increase to 19,119. The latest figures showing up to June 2025, there had already been 10,985 referrals made to the Home Office.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) says there has been a pronounced rise in child-on-child abuse - and data for group-based offending shows it is now more prevalent than incidents involving grooming gangs.
The "shocking" statistics show there has been a "fundamental shift" in offending, NAPAC chief executive Gabrielle Shaw told Sky News.
Latest child sexual abuse and exploitation crime figures from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) for England and Wales show that, where age was recorded, 52% of all perpetrators were between the ages of 10-17.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The family of a grooming victim say they are "angry" and "heartbroken" that prosecutors didn't see a video of her police interview during their investigations.
Jodie Sheeran, then 15, was allegedly taken to a hotel and raped in November 2004.
She's believed to have been groomed by young men of Pakistani heritage for a year beforehand. Jodie's son, Jayden, was born nine months later.
A man was charged, but the case was dropped a day before the trial was meant to start in 2005.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The number of road traffic officers has fallen from over 5,000 in 2015 to around 4,000 in 2025
There are now over 20 per cent fewer road police officers patrolling the streets than a decade ago, according analysis of the latest Home Office data by the RAC. But has this truly made our streets lawless and are the figures telling the whole story?
In 2015 there were 5,237 police officers across 43 forces in England and Wales whose primary role was designated as traffic policing – that includes ‘cop in car’ patrols or speed camera enforcement. Compare this to 2025, when the number has since dropped to just 4,149, and it appears as if there has been a huge drop, despite the number of cars registered in Great Britain having risen by around one fifth since then.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A senior Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer who helped coordinate the tactical police response to the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 is to face a misconduct meeting following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The IOPC launched its investigation after GMP referred a complaint in September 2021 from family members who lost loved ones in the attack. The complaint related to the actions and decision-making of the officer on the night of the bombing, in which 22 people were killed.
The watchdog concluded its investigation in February 2025, submitting its final report and provisional findings to GMP. Last month, the force agreed with the IOPC’s opinion that the officer has a case to answer for misconduct relating to integrity, duties and responsibilities, and discreditable conduct. Disciplinary proceedings will now be arranged.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
An MP says he has successfully lobbied the government to commit to a consultation on whether to extend the right to time-off work to volunteer special police constables.
Sir Ashley Fox, the Conservative MP for Bridgwater, said he campaigned for the change after a constituent approached him to note volunteer special police constables do not receive the right to time off work.
Currently, magistrates, councillors and school governors can request unpaid time off work to carry out their duties.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police sergeant, armed only with a baton, paused for just six seconds before he entered the scene of the Southport attacks to confront the killer, an inquiry has heard.
Sergeant Greg Gillespie was warned by a member of the public who had come to the children’s aid: “You need a f**king gun mate, that’s doing nothing” before he entered the Hart Space.
It had taken the officer ten minutes to arrive at the dance studio. Police were initially told to go to a rendezvous point at a police station a mile and a half away having been told that there was “a boy with a knife who had stabbed numerous persons and that there were numerous casualties”.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The Metropolitan Police is carrying out an internal investigation into whether it made mistakes over the vetting of hundreds of new recruits.
Scotland Yard confirmed the review after The Guardian reported it was examining whether there was substandard, or no vetting, in more than 300 cases, external, including potential criminal convictions, cautions or criminal connections.
The review will focus on recruitment between 2016 and April 2023, which includes a period of rapid recruitment under the previous government's police uplift programme from 2020 to 2023.
The Met said it was part of "wider work to raise professional standards across the organisation and improve trust and confidence with the public".
[ more...]
Prisons
Up to 10,000 more prison officers will get stab-proof vests while hundreds will be given Tasers after a string of high-profile attacks.
Justice Secretary David Lammy announced £15m worth of new kit during a visit to Category A Belmarsh prison, in southeast London.
The number of vests available will rise from 750 to 10,000, with 5,000 earmarked to equip every officer working in high-security facilities.
[ more...]
Police Demand
he phrase “opioid crisis” will forever be linked with the US, where the overprescription of these drugs, driven by aggressive marketing campaigns, caused millions to become addicted to painkillers. But the scale of the tragedy in America can overshadow dangers elsewhere. It is not the only country where trouble is brewing over these highly addictive drugs.
Two of those countries are England and Wales, where yearly deaths due to drug poisoning are at their highest since records began. At last count, in 2023, they stood at 5,448. And almost half of those, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are due to opioids, a growing menace. Deaths from this group of chemical compounds, which includes heroin and morphine as well as synthetic newer versions like nitazene and fentanyl, have doubled in the last decade.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Government borrowed more than expected last month, official figures show. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed public sector net borrowing – the difference between public spending and income – rose to £18 billion in August, £3.5 billion more than in the same month a year earlier
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force's failure to act on intelligence that teenage girls were being sexually exploited in Rotherham has been described as a "cover-up" by a solicitor representing many of the survivors.
David Greenwood made the claim after it emerged the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had concluded there was "systemic organisational failure" at South Yorkshire Police (SYP) over the scandal.
The police watchdog also said there was no indication any senior officer "committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings".
[ more...]
Technology
Police vans carrying live facial recognition (LFR) cameras have been deployed in a town centre.
Bedfordshire Police confirmed the roll out of the technology in Bedford following a Home Office announcement last month.
The force said the technology would give officers an "unmatched advantage" in their bid to locate and apprehend offenders who had evaded the police or the courts.
LFR strategic lead superintendent Ian Taylor said: "We know that the community still have a lot of questions about the use of advanced technology within policing and officers will be on hand to engage with the community and answer any queries they may have."
[ more...]
Prisons
The Probation Service in England and Wales is failing to monitor and assess tens of thousands of offenders who pose a serious risk to women and girls, a watchdog has told the Guardian.
Martin Jones, the HM chief inspector of probation, launching a six-month inquiry into failings in public protection, said it was inevitable there would be more murders, rapes and serious sexual offences without an improvement.
His comments come amid concerns there is a shortfall of staff in the Probation Service, and as the government increases its workload by having more criminals in the community tagged and monitored.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police have been accused of “bullying” after a woman was visited at home by an officer and told that something she wrote on Facebook had upset someone.
Deborah Anderson an American cancer patient, filmed the encounter in which the officer asked her to apologise to the complainant and warned that if she did not she could be required to attend a formal interview.
Anderson, who is undergoing chemotherapy and was visibly frail, rejected the request outright.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Office for Budget Responsibility may downgrade its productivity estimates for the UK, which could potentially leave a £60 billion shortfall in the economy.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Prices in the UK increased by 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to August, driven up by rising food prices.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Almost 900 fewer people have been injured on Welsh roads since the default speed limit was lowered from 30 to 20mph.
Its introduction in September 2023 cost £34m and was one of the most controversial law changes made by the Welsh government, sparking the largest Senedd petition ever.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A new fund for CCTV cameras has been set up with the aim of reducing crime in towns and villages across the South West.
The Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is making £125k available to support communities most in need of additional or improved CCTV.
The scheme, launched on Monday, enables councils, voluntary sector groups, and other eligible organisations to apply for a maximum of £10k to pay for camera equipment and infrastructure.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A long-awaited "Hillsborough Law" bill will force public officials to tell the truth during investigations into major disasters.
The news has been welcomed by campaigners, who had feared the legislation was going to be watered down.
The landmark Public Office (Accountability) Bill will force public bodies to cooperate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal sanctions, as well as provide legal funding to those affected by state-related disasters.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In her first public comments on free speech since becoming Home Secretary, she told MPs that there needed to be a strong line drawn between “perfectly legal fair comment, even if offensive” and illegal actions on the internet.
Three of Britain’s top police chiefs have called for Ms Mahmood to consider changing the law to stop officers unnecessarily policing tweets.
The senior officers wrote to her last week, claiming that public order laws set the criminal bar so low that online comments were being recorded and investigated – and it should not be the police’s responsibility.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, John Tizard, has praised the impact of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative following a month of targeted action in Bedford town centre.
To mark the progress made, Mr Tizard (Labour) was joined by Bedford and Kempston MP Mohammad Yasin on Friday (12 September) for a community walkabout with local officers and council staff.
[ more...]
Justice
The United Nations will investigate whether Britain is breaching human rights law by arbitrarily detaining prisoners trapped on abolished indefinite jail terms, The Independent can reveal.
Campaigners and their legal team are launching a landmark complaint on behalf of five men who have served a combined total of 84 years incarcerated under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms, including for minor crimes, as highlighted by The Independent.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Police face a “massive challenge” meeting government targets on cutting crime without more funding, a watchdog has warned the new home secretary.
Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said progress has been made across many areas of policing, but “many more improvements are needed”.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the publication of his organisation’s annual report on the state of policing in England and Wales, Sir Andy stressed that planned reforms present a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to secure lasting change and greater efficiency.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police should no longer record or investigate non-crime hate incidents, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.
Sir Andy Cooke said handling the incidents took up a minuscule amount of time but drew vehement criticism.
Non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) are recorded by police to help assess community tensions and try to head off trouble. Some, most vocally on the political right, see this as a threat to free speech.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Duke of Sussex has announced a personal donation of £1.1 million to tackle youth violence in Nottingham, saying that knife crime was “one of the most urgent issues facing this country”.
Despite relocating to California more than five years ago, he gave a speech in Nottingham in which he said he would “continue to stand with you” and praised the city’s “banging” jerk chicken.
A spokesman for Prince Harry said that the money, donated to BBC Children in Need, had come from the duke’s own funds rather than Archewell, his media organisation.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Police Federation of England and Wales is lobbying for the recording of suicides and attempted suicides to be made mandatory by law.
In a hard-hitting feature aired this week on Channel 4 News, it tragically revealed at least 100 police officers and staff have taken their own lives in three years.
PFEW has worked closely with its producer over the past few weeks to highlight the devastating impact of officers taking their own lives and what must urgently change.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Banksy could finally see his identity revealed after police launched an investigation into his latest artwork at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
The Metropolitan Police is examining whether the recent work, which shows a judge in a wig and gown beating a protester holding a blood-splattered placard, is enough to put him in front of the court where his name would be revealed to the public.
[ more...]
Technology
An independent audit by police watchdog, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), has published a worrying report on the IT systems of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
The report outlines that ‘many of the IT systems it relies on are outdated and unfit for purpose,’ stating that the NCA is burdened with technical debt thanks to a continued prioritisation of quick fix repairs over more comprehensive long-term solutions.
[ more...]
Technology
Video screens outside London police stations are being trialled in a bid to quell anger over the closure of front counters to save money.
Commander Hayley Sewart told MPs the decision to axe half of desks to the public “is not one taken lightly”.
The Metropolitan Police is piloting upgraded CCTV systems so victims of crime or residents can speak to an officer face-to-face, she revealed.
[ more...]
Justice
She is currently serving as London’s first Independent Victims’ Commissioner, a role she has held since 2017.
Ms Waxman will serve as an independent voice for victims and witnesses. The Commissioner is expected to act as an advisor to ministers on victim policy, champion victims’ interests and hold the Government and justice agencies to account. Her duties will include promoting victim interests, encouraging good practice in their treatment, and keeping the Victims’ Code under review.
In the capital, she has been instrumental in placing survivors’ voices at the centre of policing plans, improving the Metropolitan Police Service support for victims, and campaigning for greater support for those affected by stalking.
[ more...]
Police Finances
In the latest annual assessment of policing in England and Wales, HMI Andy Cooke said that policing is being held to account to meet the government’s mission of safer streets, but without the “requisite investment,” it is a “massive challenge” to deliver while policing has “one hand tied behind its back.”
Unusually for the State of Policing report, the third from HMI Cooke, there are no recommendations. Instead, he sets out the findings of the various thematic reports and PEEL assessments that have taken place over the past 16 months and the first year of the new government.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The head of the Metropolitan Police is set to propose new legislation that would protect free speech and stop officers from policing tweets.
Sir Mark Rowley wants Shabana Mahmood, the new home secretary, to change the law so police officers are under no obligation to record or investigate complaints when there is no evidence the suspect intended to cause real-world harm.
The Met commissioner is expected to present his proposal “within weeks”, and it’s hoped that officers will be given more discretion to use “common sense” when dealing with reports about social media comments.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Policing protests in London will cost at least £10m this month, the Metropolitan Police have revealed ahead of a weekend of action, including a major rally in support of Palestine Action.
Deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan has said the force has “no choice” but to arrest protesters who defy terror laws by showing support for the banned group.
Up to 1,000 people are expected to take part in a peaceful demonstration in Parliament Square on Saturday in support of the direct-action group holding signs saying: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
[ more...]
Police Demand
Protests over the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers have put police forces under "chronic pressure" when combined with other duties this summer, a senior police chief has said.
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, told the BBC people in leadership positions in the UK needed to think about how to "reduce and diffuse tension and not sow division".
Senior officers are concerned about political and business leaders commenting on social media, sometimes spreading misinformation, though Mr Stephens didn't give names.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Robert Jenrick has called for asylum seekers to be detained in “camps” with facilities like “rudimentary prisons”, in an apparent attempt to outflank Reform with his anti-immigration rhetoric.
The shadow justice secretary told Tim Shipman at the Spectator of his hope for a “decade of net emigration” as Britain “now needs breathing space after this period of mad migration”.
Jenrick said “there’s a lot to welcome” in Nigel Farage’s immigration plan but criticised Reform for its proposals on housing asylum seekers.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Farmers are calling for more resources to be put into the fight against rural crime following a surge in thefts.
The National Farmers Union said the issue affected farmers' lives and "they don't feel safe".
Henry Moreton, who farms in Lincolnshire, said the government needed to back the police "and understand it's a very small constabulary in a very big county".
[ more...]
Police Demand
London recorded the fewest number of homicides across June, July and August since 2018, early figures show.
Provisional figures from the mayor of London's office also show there were no under-25 homicides recorded in the capital during the school summer holiday period.
Last year, London recorded the lowest number of homicides of under-25s for 22 years, and the lowest number of teenage homicides since 2012, according to the mayor's office.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Metropolitan police have used controversial powers to stop and search protesters almost 50 times since they were introduced, with nearly all instances at a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration, a civil liberties group has found.
Police in England and Wales can carry out suspicionless stop and searches in relation to protest activity under section 11 of the Public Order Act 2023, which came into force on 20 December 2023.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police across the UK have faced dealing with more than 3,000 protests over three months this summer - more than three times as many as just two years ago.
Officers were notified about the intention of 3,081 protests this June, July, and August across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, figures from the National Police Chiefs' Council have revealed.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves acknowledged that the UK economy is “not working well enough for working people” as she announced that her second budget will take place on 26 November, amid mounting speculation over tax increases.
The later than usual date will probably lead to weeks of speculation about how the Treasury will raise additional revenue – but the chancellor hopes to use the time to set out new pro-growth reforms.
She insisted on Wednesday that the economy “isn’t broken” but conceded there was “more to do”. “Bills are high. Getting ahead feels tougher. You put more in, get less out. That has to change,” Reeves said.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police Scotland officers are buying their own uniforms and boots because those provided are ill-fitting and poor-quality, inspectors have found.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) said officers were supplying their own trousers, fleeces, boots and jackets rather than wear standard-issue items.
Many female officers are resorting to ordering men’s sizes because of the lack of stretch and poor fit of the trousers that are produced for women, it added.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The cost of policing protests outside a city hotel this summer have been revealed.
Norfolk Police has had a presence outside the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich, regularly in recent months.
This has included weekly gatherings of hundreds of people, some protesting about the housing of migrants at the hotel and some protesting in opposition.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The modern site is part of much-needed wider investment in policing infrastructure.
Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has highlighted the millions of pounds of social value investment being seen in the east of the county as part of the building of a new police station for the Pendle area.
Social Value plays a part in every procurement, with a commitment to deliver economic and community benefit being delivered by Willmott Dixon throughout the new station development in Nelson.
[ more...]
Technology
More than 4,000 illegal "ghost" number plates were detected in the West Midlands over a two week period, the region's police and crime commissioner (PCC) said.
A reflective coating on the plates ensures they cannot be read by police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems and their use appears to be increasing in popularity, Police and Crime Commisioner Simon Foster said.
Trialling new technology as part of a pilot scheme, 4,335 "non-compliant plates" were captured in the region over that time.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Four in 10 women who were killed by a male partner had taken steps to leave him, figures show, as Labour’s Jess Phillips admitted the scale of violence is a “national emergency”.
A total of 122 women were killed by a man in 2022, according to the 14th annual Femicide Census, with more than half targeted by their current or former partner.
At least 40 per cent of those killed by a partner had ended the relationship or were trying to leave when they were killed.
[ more...]
Technology
The nation’s second largest grocer is to test the use of facial recognition technology to tackle the shoplifting epidemic.
Sainsbury’s told staff in two stores that it would begin an eight-week trial before possibly introducing the technology across its more than 1,400 shops.
Asda received thousands of complaints when it held a similar experiment earlier this year and Big Brother Watch, a privacy group, called the Sainsbury’s trial “deeply disproportionate and chilling” and said the government should “prevent the unchecked spread of this invasive technology”.
[ more...]
Prisons
Up to half of criminals could avoid prison under Labour’s sentencing plans to combat jail overcrowding.
Criminals, including burglars, shoplifters and thieves will instead face tougher community sentences under plans to place judges and magistrates under a new legal presumption against jailing anyone for less than a year.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Farmers are calling for more resources to be put into the fight against rural crime following a surge in thefts.
The National Farmers Union said the issue affected farmers' lives and "they don't feel safe".
Henry Moreton, who farms in Lincolnshire, said the government needed to back the police "and understand it's a very small constabulary in a very big county".
A spokesperson for the Home Office said it was "backing the fight against rural crime with tougher laws on farm theft, new powers under the Equipment Theft Act, and more than £800,000 in funding this year for the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit".
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Children are at increased risk of being harassed, cyber-bullied and having their identities stolen in later life by having their photos posted online by parents, according to new research.
So-called "sharenting" - documenting a child's special moments on social media - has become commonplace, but academics now warn this could come with unexpected risks.
University of Southampton researchers said their findings indicated it increased the risk of children becoming the victims of cyber-crime.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A new town centre police base has opened in Shrewsbury, replacing one which closed five years ago.
The old provision, located in Shrewsbury's Riverside centre, shut in 2020 because of redevelopment work.
West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion said the new offices in Drayton Passage would "return the force back into the town", adding he had supplied funding for the project after listening to feedback from local people.
[ more...]
Technology
The UK’s human rights regulator has received permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial review examining whether the London Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition (LFR) complies with human rights law.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will provide submissions and evidence in a case involving Shaun Thompson, an anti-knife crime community worker from London who was detained by police officers after a facial recognition system produced a false match. Thompson, who is black, has received High Court permission to sue the Met Police with the help of digital rights advocacy group Big Brother Watch.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A record number of police officers are being paid their full salary while on “light duties” because they are unfit to go on the front line full-time.
There are now more than 15,000 officers on “restrictive and adjusted” duties amid concerns that a lack of “bobbies on the beat” is undermining confidence in the police.
Police chiefs have previously warned that funding pressures mean there will never be an officer on every street corner and the public had to play their part in reducing crime.
[ more...]
Prisons
The justice secretary has given herself six months to solve the prison overcrowding crisis “once and for all” and will announce sweeping sentencing reforms this week.
Shabana Mahmood said the overhaul aimed to tackle high rates of reoffending, noting that too many offenders were coming out of prison “a better criminal rather than a better citizen”.
The sentencing reform bill’s key measures include a shift away from short prison sentences to tougher community punishments, such as football and pub banning orders. Speaking before it is introduced to parliament, Mahmood said there would be a new presumption that all prisoners released on parole would be tagged for the supervised stage of their sentence.
[ more...]
Prisons
All offenders released early will be electronically tagged to protect the public, the Justice Secretary will announce this week.
Shabana Mahmood is to set out legislation for a new presumption that all prisoners freed up to a third of the way through their sentences should be given tags on release to prevent further crimes.
The sentencing bill, due to be published this week, will enact her plans for a Texas-style system where prisoners can earn their freedom as little as a third of the way into their jail terms if they behave and engage with rehabilitation schemes such as work, education and training.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Acouncil tax raid on second-home owners has raised £55 million less than expected and helped to stifle the struggling economies of holiday hotspots.
Councils in England were given powers to charge second-home owners a 100 per cent premium from April this year in a move that was hoped would free up homes for priced-out locals and raise money for local authorities.
But the money raised could fall short of councils’ hopes, as homes caught in the trap are being put up for sale to escape the penalty — and this may not even benefit locals, with estate agencies suggesting that no one wants to buy the properties.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
On a quiet home county street last month, a Rolls-Royce was stolen during a carefully choreographed raid by thieves using high-tech equipment that hijacked its internal computer.
Within 12 hours, the gang had disabled the tracking system using a jammer, replaced the number plates and placed it in a shipping container ready for it to be sold abroad.
Experts have warned that gangs have become so ruthlessly efficient that by the time an owner has realised their vehicle has been taken, it could have passed through three European countries.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than 280,000 crimes went unrecorded last year, with the logging of anti-social behaviour "unacceptably low", according to the police inspectorate.
A report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that only 51.9% of crimes classed as anti-social behaviour targeting a specific individual or group were recorded between 2021 and 2025.
The report, which was released on Thursday, said: "This level of crime recording is unacceptably low, and it means victims remain at risk of harm."
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner has launched Project Salus, a new initiative targeting serious violence and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in identified hotspot areas across the county.
The scheme, funded with more than £1.4m, combines council Enforcement Officers and Cleveland Police officers in high-visibility patrols across 36 micro-sites in Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland. Patrol times and locations have been shaped by detailed data analysis of crime patterns carried out over the past two years by police, councils and Cleveland Fire Brigade.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has expanded efforts to tackle tool theft across the county with the wider rollout of property-marking kits designed to protect tradespeople’s livelihoods.
Earlier this year, PCC Bourne purchased 1,000 SelectaDNA tool-marking kits, with the National Farmers’ Union jointly funding 500 for use by Sussex Police’s Rural Crime Team. The remaining 500 kits are now being distributed through Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) to local tradespeople, following a day of action at Wickes in Hove involving Sussex Police, SelectaDNA and Checkatrade.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force has welcomed the results of a crime survey, which saw it gain the third-highest public confidence score in England and Wales.
The Office for National Statistics found 58% of people believe Wiltshire Police do an excellent or good job, above the UK average of 49%.
Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said he was "really pleased" but emphasised "there are still 42% who say we could do better" and that trust can be "easily lost".
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Officers supporting victims fleeing from domestic abuse can now provide them with emergency “grab bags”.
Around 80 bags filled with essentials such as mobile phones with credit, toothbrushes, toiletries and snacks have been donated to Cambridgeshire Constabulary by Amazon and Tesco in Peterborough.
Early Intervention Domestic Abuse Advisor (EIDAA) Shauna Wiles, based in the force’s Demand Hub, said: “I am delighted with the response, I didn’t expect we would receive so much. It’s so generous of them. It will make such a difference having that additional practical support.”
[ more...]
Prisons
The DSA Connect survey has revealed that severe employment barriers facing people who criminal records is fueling the number of convicts who reoffends.
The study, which came from the IT asset disposal comany that runs prisoner support programmes to help develop new skills among ex-convicts, found that three in four prisoners (74 percent) believe it will be difficult or extremely difficult to secure a job interview after their release from prison.
And only 11 percent think finding work will be no harder than before their conviction.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
NHS trusts and police forces have been warned they face fines if they ignore the law on single-sex spaces.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said 19 organisations were wrongly telling staff they had a legal right to access single-sex spaces based on self-identified gender.
The watchdog has written to them telling them to review policies which misrepresent equalities law by telling transgender people they can use which lavatory or changing room they wish.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Measures announced by the Government include new statutory guidance to support professionals in identifying and responding, a community awareness campaign, a pilot study looking at the prevalence of abuse, as well as additional training for frontline professionals.
The announcement follows years of campaigning, including by specialist support organisation Karma Nirvana, as well as victims and bereaved families, such as the mother of 31-year-old Fawziyah Javed, who was murdered by her husband in 2021 after she tried to leave her marriage.
[ more...]
Prisons
There is a shortfall of around 10,000 probation staff to manage offenders serving sentences in the community, documents seen by the BBC show.
Probation staff supervise offenders after they are released from prison, and check they follow terms of their release such as curfews, not taking drugs, and wearing tags that can restrict their movement. They also protect the public by assessing the risk of reoffending.
A series of documents leaked to the BBC reveal the shortfall of full-time staff dealing with sentence management.
In response, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it had inherited a probation service "under immense pressure", and last year recruited 1,000 trainee officers.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Inflation hit 3.8% in July, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
Not since January 2024 have prices risen as fast.
It's up from 3.6% in June and is anticipated to reach 4% by the end of the year.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The arrests follow increased and intelligence-led patrols and operations, as part of increased police and partner activity over the summer to target wanted and prolific offenders.
Among those arrested was a suspected shoplifter who has been charged with carrying out 113 offences in Waltham Forest over ten days, as well as a man who targeted the same Co-op in Notting Hill on 15 occasions.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ben Russell, the MPS’s lead for Safer Summer Streets, said: “Town centres across London continue to see an enhanced police presence this summer, building on reductions in theft, burglary, knife crime and robbery achieved so far this year, and more shoplifting cases solved.
[ more...]
Technology
Scotland Yard’s plan to increase the use of live facial recognition technology is incompatible with human rights law, the equality watchdog has said.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the Metropolitan Police’s policies for deploying the technology “fall short” and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights when used at protests.
Privacy concerns about live facial recognition (LFR) intensified this week as the Met finalised plans to use it on the approaches to, but not within the boundaries of, the Notting Hill Carnival over the bank holiday weekend.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Home Office funded scheme has led to more than 5,300 arrests and the seizure of about 630kg of Class A and B drugs, more than 260 offensive weapons, 28 firearms and about £2.5 million in cash and assets.
Merseyside Police was one of the first forces in the country to receive Home Office funding for a Clear, Hold, Build initiative – known locally as Evolve – following the deaths of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, 28-year-old environmental health worker Ashley Dale and Sam Rimmer, 22, in August 2022.
Three years on from its launch, the force says the scheme – now rolled out across four areas – has led to a 300% increase in community intelligence.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Union warning on the closure of 13 police stations and the loss of hundreds of posts.
The biggest rail workers’ union is warning of cuts to the British Transport Police (BTP), saying they would “seriously endanger” the safety of railway staff.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the BTP was facing an £8.5 million funding shortfall this year which it warned could result in the closure of 13 police stations and the loss of hundreds of posts.
[ more...]
Technology
Later this year, as you walk down the street in West Yorkshire, your face may well be checked against a criminal database.
Live facial recognition (LFR) has been used by some police forces for eight years - but new funding means it is now to be rolled out in more areas.
Last week, the Home Office confirmed that a total of 10 new LFR vans would be deployed across the country, with two of those set to be used in West Yorkshire, according to police.
[ more...]
Technology
A scheme aimed at tackling gang activity in Liverpool has brought about an increase in public confidence in the police three years since three fatal shootings in the space of a week, police have said.
Merseyside police said the scheme, based on the principles of clearing an area of gang activity, holding it so that organised crime cannot return to it, and building a cohesive community, has led to an 300% increase in community intelligence, as well as more than 5,300 arrests and the seizure of about 630kg of Class A and B drugs.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Katy Bourne, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint lead for business and retail crime, has long been an advocate for tougher measures against shoplifters.
She said she “understands the impact on people and businesses” and will work with other criminal justice partners and make Sussex a pilot area for electronic tagging of persistent offenders.
Sussex Police Detective Inspector Martin Harmer will lead on the tagging pilot. He has already implemented ‘Buddi Tags’ for a number of court-mandated outcomes such as Stalking Protection Orders.
[ more...]
Justice
More chronic shoplifters and thieves are walking free than ever before, analysis by The Telegraph has revealed.
Nearly six in 10 prolific thieves – defined as having at least 15 previous convictions – avoided prison last year, the highest proportion since Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records began more than a decade ago.
Just 41.3 per cent received a custodial sentence, down from 46.4 per cent the previous year.
[ more...]
Justice
There is no point in arresting shoplifters if courts keep setting them free and they are not prevented from carrying out further crimes, a policing chief has said.
Katy Bourne, the national lead for shoplifting at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said it was “madness” how many times thieves had to be arrested before ending up behind bars.
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex said prisons were full and offenders were not being sent to jail, so the criminal justice system had to find alternative methods to stop repeat offenders.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy grew at a faster rate than expected in the second quarter, official figures show, despite a slowdown from a strong start to the year amid pressure from tax increases and Donald Trump’s global trade war.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed growth in gross domestic product slowed to 0.3% in the three months to the end of June, down from a rate of 0.7% in the first quarter.
Although beating forecasts for a slowdown to 0.1% growth made by City economists and the Bank of England, the latest snapshot underscores the challenge for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as she considers options for boosting the economy and raising revenues at her autumn budget.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police will be encouraged to disclose the ethnicity and nationality of suspects charged in high-profile and sensitive investigations under new guidance, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) says.
It is aimed at reducing the risk to public safety where there are high levels of misinformation about an incident or in cases of significant public interest.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said the government will want police to release these details in "most cases" in what she welcomed as a positive step.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves has promised to use her autumn budget to prioritise fixing Britain’s dismal record on productivity as she sought to downplay mounting tax speculation with a focus on economic growth.
Setting out her priorities for the budget for the first time, the chancellor said tackling the efficiency of the economy through higher investment and a fresh assault on planning rules would form the backbone of her tax and spending plans.
Writing exclusively for the Guardian, she said: “If Labour’s first year in power was about fixing the foundations, then the second year is about building a stronger economy for a renewed Britain.”
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Phase one of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee has now been delivered by forces across England and Wales
Police forces across England and Wales have successfully delivered the first phase of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, following an announcement from Government in April.
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee aims to increase public confidence in policing and enhance the capability and capacity of the neighbourhood policing workforce to address anti-social behaviour (ASB) and focus on crime prevention.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Around nine in 10 pharmacies experienced shoplifting and an increase in aggressive behaviour in the last year, a survey has found.
Of 476 pharmacies in England polled by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), 88% said they have experienced a rise in shoplifting incidents.
About 87% reported a surge in aggressive or intimidating behaviour towards pharmacy staff, while 22% said there had been physical assaults on team members.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A police force has been criticised after sending out undercover officers posing as joggers to catch catcallers.
Female officers from Surrey police went running during rush hour to expose the frequency that women are harassed while exercising in public.
Inspector Jon Vale, Surrey’s violence against women and girls safer spaces lead, said that a survey found almost half of female runners in one area the county did not report such harassment to the police.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A total of 39 police officers and staff have been sacked after sexual misconduct was proven against them over recent years, Thames Valley Police (TVP) said.
The largest non-metropolitan force in England and Wales, TVP published its most recent report into sexual misconduct by its staff last week.
It said 321 allegations were made against officers and staff between April 2020 and the end of June, with 48% - 153 of them – classed as having a "case to answer".
TVP said its report was designed "to improve confidence in reporting these matters".
[ more...]
Police Demand
A police force arrested 25 people in the first month of a crackdown on what it called suspected prolific offenders.
Cambridgeshire's Spree Offender Team has seen officers working with local businesses in Peterborough and Fenland to target crime such as thefts from shops and vehicles.
The force said it would continue to focus on people suspected of having committed "five or more offences in a six-week period or who are believed likely to continue offending based on recent behaviour".
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 4 per cent, taking the cost of borrowing to the lowest level for more than two years. The cut, from the previous rate of 4.25 per cent, is the fifth since August last year.
[ more...]
Prisons
The prison population of England and Wales has jumped to the highest number in nearly a year and is nearing record levels, despite the early release of tens of thousands of offenders, official figures show.
A total of 88,238 people were in jail as of Monday, up 231 on the previous week and a rise of more than 1,200 in the past two months, according to data published by the Ministry of Justice.
There are just 283 fewer prisoners now than the record high of 88,521 reached in September last year during the aftermath of the summer riots in towns and cities across the UK.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests.
Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich while officers will police at least 12 other towns and cities that evening.
There are particular concerns around a planned protest on Saturday at council offices in Nuneaton, where Warwickshire police have dismissed claims by a Reform UK council leader that the force held back information over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests.
Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich while officers will police at least 12 other towns and cities that evening.
There are particular concerns around a planned protest on Saturday at council offices in Nuneaton, where Warwickshire police have dismissed claims by a Reform UK council leader that the force held back information over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police officer is under criminal investigation over an alleged leak to the media of CCTV footage of the Manchester Airport fracas.
The Manchester Evening News (MEN) published a video in July 2024 taken from CCTV of the incident days after a clip shared online showed a police officer kicking and stamping on a young Asian man as he lay on the floor.
The phone footage went viral and sparked protests in Manchester and outside Rochdale police station before the newspaper's footage revealed that in the lead up to the actions, a female police officer was punched in the face.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Three people have been charged with showing support for Palestine Action after the group was banned as a terror organisation.
Two women and a man were arrested in Westminster following a protest in central London on 5 July, the Metropolitan Police said.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney in London, were charged with displaying an article in a public place, arousing reasonable suspicion they are a supporter of a proscribed organisation, under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Private security guards have been recruited to support police patrols in a seaside town in an attempt to stop children from terrorising residents during the school holidays.
Businesses in Herne Bay, Kent, say groups of children have been stealing from shops, shouting abuse and using catapults against animals in the park.
Akon Security has been given an £8,500 contract, funded by the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, to help council enforcement officers crack down on antisocial behaviour.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A government-backed pay rise of 4.2% for police officers in England and Wales "barely treads water", the association representing front-line officers says.
The Police Federation said the pay rise was "worth the price of a Big Mac per shift" and would not stop "record levels of resignations, record mental health absences or the record number of assaults on officers".
The organisation, which represents more than 145,000 officers, said it would now ask its members whether they accept or reject the award.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters are planning to flout terror laws in a co-ordinated attempt to overwhelm the police, The Telegraph can reveal.
Campaigners have hatched a plot for Left-wing activists and members of the Muslim community to attend a demonstration on Saturday declaring support for Palestine Action, the recently banned terror group.
To do so would be an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. More than 200 people have been arrested for expressing support for the group since July 5.
[ more...]
Police Demand
There is “every possibility” of a repeat of the 2024 summer riots, the police watchdog has warned, as a poll exposed ongoing deep divisions in society.
Writing for The Telegraph, Sir Andy Cooke, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, warned that factors which fuelled last summer’s riots remained including community tensions, online misinformation and social media platforms that allowed hatred to be “amplified”.
He said this meant police forces had to be prepared and must not “be caught off-guard” as they were last year when his inspectorate found that they failed to mobilise fast enough nationally, missed intelligence that would have enabled them to predict the rising threat and not got to grips with the powerful role of social media.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Only one in 20 muggings in London were solved last year, according to a report that reveals the extent of the crime epidemic plaguing the capital.
The study by the Policy Exchange think tank also showed that only one in 170 snatch thefts, such as watches or phones being stolen on the street, were solved by the Metropolitan Police.
Knife crime in London has increased by nearly 60 per cent over three years, the study showed. It is concentrated in a specific area of central London as criminals target tourists. The Times reported at the start of this year that violent robberies and knifepoint thefts of smartphones had risen by nearly 50 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Tradespeople have hit out at thieves who target vans storing tools and kit. It comes as one Welsh police force reports a 31% rise in incidents.
Gwent Police recorded an increase from 29 to 38 incidents while a Freedom of Information (FoI) request found that at least £40 million worth of tools were stolen across the UK from 2023-2024. It means almost four in five tradespeople have suffered a tool theft.
Plumber Robbie Hawkins was left feeling “violated” after more than £3,000 worth of tools was stolen from his van.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
More than a dozen Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have written to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, demanding urgent clarity over this year's police pay settlement.
Concerns are growing among PCCs over stretched resources and financial insecurity, with no clear plan for the police pay award set to come into effect on September 1 being offered up.
The letter, coordinated by Kent PCC Matthew Scott, highlights the lack of announcement regarding this award set to come into effect in just weeks, despite the House of Commons being on summer recess.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Lincolnshire's police chief says he remains hopeful his force can avoid huge cuts as he prepares for a meeting with the government.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson told Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday that he would use his upcoming meeting with Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson to address a £65m shortfall over the next three years.
He raised the prospect that teams dealing with sex offences and child abuse could be at risk from the budget squeeze.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Five women who were exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham as children say they were also abused by police officers in the town at the time.
One says she was raped from the age of 12 by a serving South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officer in a marked police car. He would threaten to hand her back to the gang if she did not comply, she says.
"In a world where you were being abused so much, being raped once [by a police officer] was a lot easier than multiple rapes [by the gang] and I think he knew that," she tells the BBC.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
An MP said he "vehemently opposed" the idea of two neighbouring police forces merging.
The chair of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said having fewer forces would lead to improved services.
The government has announced it would be looking at whether new mayors should take on the powers of multiple police and crime commissioners (PCC) but has not commented on the idea of combining forces.
[ more...]
Prisons
Tasers can be used in prisons for the first time to tackle "unacceptably high" levels of violence, as part of a new trial.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she is "determined to keep prison staff safe".
Specialist officers from two bases in Oxfordshire and Doncaster can now be deployed to incidents in adult male prisons in England and Wales, equipped with Tasers.
[ more...]
Justice
The trial of an alleged escapee who spent hours on the roof of a high-security prison in his underpants is set to be the first time the stress caused by indeterminate sentences can be used as a legal defence.
Joe Outlaw is due to stand trial on Monday for climbing on to the roof of HMP Frankland in Durham in June 2023 in protest at the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence he and others are serving.
The 38-year-old has been in jail for 13 years, much of that in isolation, after receiving an IPP sentence for robbing a takeaway at gunpoint in 2011. He says he does not remember the crime because he was drunk and high on drugs.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Hundreds of people gathered outside a hotel in Epping on Sunday for the fifth time to demonstrate over the premises being used to house asylum seekers, as protests spread to other hotels over the weekend.
A large police presence containing officers from multiple forces restricted contact between anti- and pro-immigrant protesters, with Essex police saying restrictions were necessary after what it described as repeated serious disruption, violence and harm to the community since the first demonstration took place on 13 July.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Two married police officers who were arrested after one of them smacked their teenage son have won a High Court battle over claims they were unlawfully detained.
The officers, who both serve with the Metropolitan Police, were arrested by Surrey Police in March 2019 after the wife gave her son what she described as a “light smack on the left cheek” after he misbehaved.
They sued Surrey Police after being told they would face no further action, claiming their detention was unlawful as it was unnecessary.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Crime prevention in Essex is being compromised by the government’s refusal to move migrants out of a hotel in Epping at the centre of protests, the county’s policing commissioner has warned.
Roger Hirst, the police and crime commissioner for Essex, said protests outside the Bell Hotel were likely to continue, requiring the redeployment of hundreds of police officers.
He said it undermined Essex police’s crime prevention plans and work towards the government’s key missions of reducing violence against women and knife crime.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Angela Rayner is pushing for councils to be given new powers to tax tourists. The Deputy Prime Minister has argued that councils should be given the power to tax visitors’ hotel stays, as a record 43 million international visits to the UK are expected this year, on top of domestic travel within the country. However, it is said that Treasury officials are opposed to a tourism tax amid fears it would be a fresh blow for hospitality businesses.
[ more...]
Justice
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has proposed sending some prisoners overseas to serve their sentences, as part of a raft of measures he says would create around 30,000 prison places and cost £17.4bn.
Speaking at an event in London, he also announced plans to build five prisons, return foreign prisoners to their country of origin, and recruit 30,000 police officers.
Farage said the UK was "facing nothing short of societal collapse" and that a Reform government would halve crime in five years.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Government has announced its plans to lower the voting age to 16 in time for the next general election. It also pledged other changes to the electoral system, such as expanding forms of voter ID, moving towards automatic voter registration, and tightening rules on political donations to protect against foreign interference. LGA Chair Cllr Louise Gittins said it is “encouraging to see efforts both to improve registration rates and lower the barriers to voting that some people experience”. Cllr Gittins also said it is vital the Government works with councils “to ensure that the introduction of significant changes is fair, secure and properly resourced” and that councils need more support to combat the impacts of abuse and intimidation on candidates, “including more consistent policing and a review of harassment offences against candidates and elected members”.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Britain’s spending watchdog has refused to sign off the Government’s accounts for the second year in a row, which it said was due to late and inadequate filing by English councils on their finances.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police have “basically abandoned” treating shoplifting like a crime, a senior executive at Mike Ashley’s retail empire has claimed.
Chris Wootton, chief financial officer at Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, Flannels and House of Fraser, said that its stores had seen an uptick in crime and questioned whether theft was being treated seriously by authorities.
He said: “It doesn’t help that the police have basically abandoned shoplifting as a crime.”
[ more...]
Police Demand
The number of football matches in England and Wales with reported incidents of disorder increased by 18% during the 2024-25 season, according to latest policing figures.
The Home Office says the number of reported incidents rose from 1,341 in 2023-24 to 1,583 and include football-related violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour and harm.
It means at least one incident was reported at more than half of the 3,090 matches played last season from the Premier League down to the National League and games in FA Cup, League Cup, Football League Trophy, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and international fixtures.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Metropolitan Police plans to close half the front desks at its stations to save money, the BBC has learned.
The move would reduce the number of counters across London from 37 to 19, reducing places where people can walk in and speak to an officer face-to-face at their local police station.
The plan would break a pledge to have a counter staffed 24/7 in each of the capital's 32 boroughs.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police officers in Sussex are taking on second jobs to make ends meet, according to the latest data released by the Sussex Police Federation.
Raffaele Cioffi, chair of the federation, said the data showed officers living in "one of the most expensive counties outside of London are struggling to survive on a police officer's wage".
Sussex Police latest figures show that 126 officers were registered as having a second job in May 2025.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Policing Minister recently saw firsthand how Northamptonshire Police and its partners are working together to make the county’s town centres safer.
Dame Diana Johnson toured Northampton town centre with Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Danielle Stone and Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable, Ivan Balhatchet. They met the Neighbourhood Police Team and retailers who are working together to tackle crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Just four out of ten crimes in London are reported to police amid fears they will be unable to secure a conviction, according to analysis of Metropolitan Police figures.
And of those who do make a crime report, four out of ten victims go on to withdraw from the justice process, the study published by Claire Waxman, London’s independent victims’ commissioner, and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime found.
Victims told the authors that they were dissuaded by police from pursuing charges because it was unlikely they would secure a conviction.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
An American university and dog trainers in Plymouth are researching how dogs could help police find knives used to commit crime.
The dogs involved in the research project do not detect the knives themselves but a chemical compound created by the blades when they make contact with human skin.
The smell of a knife in contact with human skin has been synthesised into a liquid form at Texas Tech University and the dog trainers use that to train the dogs, said trainer Brian Mence.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police race action plan for England and Wales, which was partly a response to the Black Lives Matter movement, is at risk of being deprioritised when central funding finishes, a monitoring group has said.
The Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board (ISOB) fears that local forces have not been adequately prepared to take over responsibility for the plan when central police funding and oversight ends at the end of March next year.
It is the ISOB’s last year of oversight, raising concerns about whether there will be adequate scrutiny of the plan, which aims to tackle prejudice directed against the public and officers.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The number of acid attacks has risen 10% in a year, according to a Freedom of Information request to UK police forces.
Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) said its analysis shows 498 physical attacks involving corrosive substances were recorded in 2024 - compared with 454 in the previous year.
According to the charity, the real figure is likely to be even higher because of under-reporting by victims.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Just four out of ten crimes in London are reported to police amid fears they will be unable to secure a conviction, according to analysis of Metropolitan Police figures.
And of those who do make a crime report, four out of ten victims go on to withdraw from the justice process, the study published by Claire Waxman, London’s independent victims’ commissioner, and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime found.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
UK inflation rose to 3.6 per cent last month, up from 3.4 per cent in May, with the increase driven by motor fuel and food price rises.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Surrey's deputy police and crime commissioner is calling on the government to urgently tighten up its laws on the sale and possession of catapults.
Ellie Vesey-Thompson warned they must be subject to the same rules as knives, with police given powers to seize such items in order to crack down on those who use them as weapons.
It comes after a spike in attacks on wildfowl in Surrey, dozens of which are believed to have been fatal.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC) has asked for extra powers to tackle the "growing threat posed by e-bikes, e-scooters and other vehicles being used recklessly and unlawfully on the region's roads".
Simon Foster said he wanted "urgent changes to the law" to allow police to destroy the vehicles within seven days, rather than the current 14.
Foster said some e-bikes had been modified to reach speeds of up to 70mph (113kmph) and were "increasingly being used by criminal gangs and networks".
[ more...]
Police Demand
Aesop and Whistles are among several shops where staff lock the doors for security during peak trading hours as retailers fight back against rising rates of shoplifting and abuse.
Aesop, the skin, hair and bodycare store known for its sleek interiors, has told customers at its shop in Hampstead, north London, that it is “currently operating with locked doors and limited numbers of customers in store for security reasons”.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A chief constable's decision to allow uniformed police officers to take part in a Pride march was unlawful, a judge has ruled.
A case was brought against Northumbria Police Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine by Linzi Smith, from Newcastle, who describes herself as a lesbian who is "gender critical".
Ms Smith argued Mrs Jardine and her officers' participation in Newcastle Pride last year meant they would have been unable to remain impartial if a dispute between those with similar beliefs and transgender rights supporters, had occurred.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Prevent counter-terrorism scheme missed an opportunity to intervene in the life of the Southport killer, a major review has concluded.
Axel Rudakubana could have been monitored, treated and potentially turned away from violence by the programme, said Lord David Anderson KC.
He said the government programme must focus on changing people obsessed with extreme violence, even if counter-terrorism police find no evidence of an ideological motive.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Home Secretary has announced £53 million for the Drive Project, which has been piloted since 2016 and has seen results including physical abuse of perpetrators reduced by 82%, sexual abuse by 88% and stalking by 75%.
The programme holds one-to-one case management for up to 12 months with abusers, including work to address drug and alcohol misuse and protection orders to keep them away from victims.
An independent domestic violence advisor supports victims at the same time throughout the process.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The UK is a “powder keg” of social tensions which could easily ignite once again, a major report has warned a year after riots erupted across the country, sparked by the Southport knife attacks that killed three young girls.
One in three adults, the equivalent of 15 million people, say they rarely or never meet people from different backgrounds, according to the findings of research into the nation’s community strength and cohesion.
It also found that up to seven in 10 have never met or interacted with local asylum seekers amid polarised debate on immigration, struggles with the cost of living and declining trust in politicians.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Seven MPs have written to the Home Office to share "bankruptcy concerns" over the financial situation of Lincolnshire Police.
The letter states the force is at risk of having to issue a Section 114 notice, which would mean it may have to declare itself effectively bankrupt.
Without additional support, the MPs said it would result in planning for a reduction of 190 police officers and 180 police staff from October.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A new scheme to detect people who are obsessed with violence before they kill, such as the Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana, should be considered by the government, an official report will say.
The report into Prevent, the controversial programme intended to stop people from becoming terrorists, will also find repeated “failings” in the case of the man who went on to assassinate the MP Sir David Amess, the Guardian understands.
It has been compiled by David Anderson KC, the interim reviewer of Prevent.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has indicated that interest rates could be cut if the job market weakens.
Mr Bailey said that businesses are "adjusting employment" and offering lower pay rises due to Chancellor Rachel Reeves' increase in national insurance contributions for employers.
He believes the British economy is growing below its potential, which could create "slack" to reduce inflation.
The Governor expressed confidence that the Bank's base rate, currently 4.25 per cent, is on a "downward" path, with the next review scheduled for 7 August.
The government is under pressure to improve living standards, with some Labour figures suggesting a wealth tax, although other tax rises at the autumn budget have not been ruled out.
[ more...]
Justice
Sir Keir Starmer’s Hillsborough Law has been held up over resistance from the Treasury to funding extra legal aid as fears rise about Rachel Reeves’s mounting fiscal black hole.
The prime minister held meetings last week aimed at ending the impasse, although they ended without a breakthrough.
The row now threatens to drag on and overshadow Labour’s annual conference, due to be held this autumn in Liverpool, given anger from victims’ families over the slow progress.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
It is "shameful" that black boys growing up in London are "far more likely" to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the commissioner said that relations with minority communities are "difficult for us", while also speaking about the state of the justice system and the size of the police force.
Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK's largest police force in 2022, said: "We can't pretend otherwise that we've got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Seven MPs have written to the Home Office to share "bankruptcy concerns" over the financial situation of Lincolnshire Police.
The letter states the force is at risk of having to issue a Section 114 notice, which would mean it may have to declare itself effectively bankrupt.
Without additional support, the MPs said it would result in planning for a reduction of 190 police officers and 180 police staff from October.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy shrank in May, contracting for the second month in a row. The economy contracted by 0.1 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
"We're in their WhatsApp groups - they'll be telling thousands now that we're here... so our cover is blown," the lead immigration officer tells me.
"It's like a constant game of cat and mouse."
[ more...]
Police Demand
We’re on patrol with Gwent Police in Newport when we spot it — an unregistered electric motorbike, carrying two boys, tearing through a residential street.
Officers move to intercept, but before they can get close, the bike veers off down a narrow wooded footpath and vanishes.
Even the drone tracking it from above loses sight.
[ more...]
Justice
With the open caseload in the Crown Court now at a record high, he has proposed a string of radical reforms aimed at addressing these challenges.
These include a recommendation that police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) make greater use of out of court resolutions (OOCRs) as an alternative to court proceedings in relation to low-level offences, allowing the police to devote time to more serious offending.
The use of OOCRs has decreased by 35 per cent from 2015 to 2025. Sir Brian says this decline can be attributed to changed police priorities, the complexity of the process to administer OOCRs, limited awareness or availability of programmes and financial constraints. There is also variation across regions, often influenced by the priorities of different police and crime commissioners (PCCs).
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
For all the talk of levelling up, they’ve seen the good jobs, secure homes and strong communities that our parents and grandparents relied on – that I relied on as a young mum – fall by the way side.
It’s my mission to rebuild these foundations of a good life for all communities in all parts of our country.
From my frontline experience of local government and seeing it change not just my life but many others, I know we won’t achieve this unless we fundamentally change the way our country is run.
[ more...]
Prisons
A theoretical possibility of the risk of a prisoner being carried out by a drone was “concerning” as technology is moving fast.
Criminal gangs are using drones to drop packages of up to 10 kilograms of drugs into prisons where the overwhelming amount of drugs is destabilising jails, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has warned.
A “menu of drugs” is available in prisons where work to rehabilitate criminals is being prevented, as many inmates are in their cells for 22 hours a day “high on drugs, watching daytime TV”.
[ more...]
Justice
Thousands more thieves, shoplifters and drug offenders will avoid court under new plans to ease a record backlogs in cases.
A government review is expected to recommend that “out-of-court resolutions” are used more widely for lower-tier offenders including theft, drug-taking and some public order offences.
The punishments can include cautions, fixed penalty notices, rehabilitation courses, verbal warnings or apologising to victims.
[ more...]
Justice
Meeting me usually means bad news. It means you’ve been taken into custody, and you’ve chosen not to have your own solicitor. Instead, you get me – the duty solicitor. I’m licensed (and paid) by the state to be by your side and give advice at police stations or at a magistrates’ court.
A day on duty varies: sometimes I get no calls, sometimes I get five cases in one day. The alleged crimes vary from shoplifting to rape and murder. My job is essentially to advise on whether to talk or not in the initial interview. Whether to sing or keep schtum.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police chiefs in England and Wales have told ministers that the number of forces should be cut to end “the postcode lottery for victims of crime”, the Guardian has learned.
They believe a reduction from the current 43 forces would save money, cut overheads and boost crime-fighting efforts.
Law enforcement leaders told the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, last month at a roundtable on police reform that they were in agreement about the need for the change.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Three of Britain’s most senior police chiefs have urged their officers to crack down on cannabis use.
Sir Andy Marsh, who leads the College of Policing, said the smell of the drug made him feel unsafe as he urged front-line officers to “do something about it”.
Sir Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, and Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, joined him in calling for a tougher line on the use of the drug.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The way policing is organised in England and Wales is decades out of date and needs a major shake-up, the head of the Metropolitan Police has said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the current system of 43 county forces hasn't been fit for purpose "for at least two decades" and should be replaced by 12-15 mega forces.
Those larger forces would be better able to use modern technology and would reduce "expensive" governance and support functions, he said.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Spending decisions have been made "harder" by the government's U-turn on welfare changes, the education secretary has said, as she did not commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
Bridget Phillipson told BBC One's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that ministers were "looking at every lever" to lift children out of poverty.
But she said removing the cap would "come at a cost" and insisted the government was supporting families with the cost of living in other ways.
[ more...]
Prisons
The drugs crisis in prisons is the worst it has ever been, experts have warned, with the prevalence of illicit substances rendering jails “almost impossible to run positively”.
Ministers have been warned that an unacceptable level of criminality is rampaging unchecked in many prisons, as the most recent data shows annual drug seizures by prison officers returning to record highs of more than 21,000.
New analysis by The Independent highlights how the ongoing crisis first exploded during the austerity years, as the prison service was hollowed out by cuts and staff layoffs.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Metropolitan Police Service is making good progress even though it continues to shrink.
Through more precise targeting of the most dangerous offenders and greater focus on the issues that matter most to people, we are arresting more than 1,000 more criminals each month, and neighbourhood crime — such as robbery and burglary — is down 19 per cent.
We have solved 163 per cent more shoplifting cases this year than in the same period last year, and twice as many crimes linked to violence against women and girls. Injuries from violence are lower than in any other large British city. Homicides are at a five-year low and below those of other European capitals — and just over a quarter the rate in New York.
[ more...]
Justice
Domestic abuse victims have been urged to come forward to police, as officers seek to tackle what they said remains a "hidden crime".
Thames Valley Police's (TVP) Det Supt Jon Capps said the force recognises that it could do more to help victims while tackling the "complex and challenging" offences.
The Office for National Statistics said about 25,400 people were arrested for domestic violence or related offences in the year ending March 2024 in the Thames Valley – but about 6% were charged or summonsed, external.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Home Office has announced what it is calling a “nationwide blitz” on asylum seekers who take jobs, after recent political controversy about people in asylum hotels working as food takeaway delivery riders.
In a statement, which gave few specifics, the Home Office pledged to begin “a major operation to disrupt this type of criminality” based around enforcement teams focusing on the gig economy, particularly on delivery riders.
“Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally whilst in taxpayer funded accommodation or receiving financial support,” the statement said.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police have arrested almost 2,000 people in a week-long crackdown on county lines drug networks, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.
Forces across the country made 1,965 arrests, shut down 241 lines and seized 501 weapons, approximately 178kg of class A drugs and around £2.4 million in cash between June 23 and 29.
In London, the Metropolitan Police arrested 301 people and 111 of those individuals have so far been charged.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Prolific shoplifters are to be barred from stores and prosecuted under plans for the first national database of repeat offenders.
Stores including M&S, Morrisons, Boots, Tesco, Primark, and Greggs are submitting CCTV, photos and personal data on all their repeat shoplifters to the database, which is shared with police.
Meanwhile, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has announced that extra officers will be deployed on the streets of 500 towns in a summer blitz to crack down on shoplifting and anti-social behaviour by “thugs and thieves”.
[ more...]
Justice
Defendants charged with fraud and some sexual offences are expected to be among those who will lose their automatic right to a jury trial under the biggest shake-up of the criminal courts in a generation.
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, is said to be considering proposals for fraud cases to be heard by a specialist judge rather than a jury. This is because fraud cases often relate to complex financial information.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
It was 4pm on a busy Victoria line train heading north. Sally Wynter was standing by the door on her way to meet a friend. Her thoughts were on the evening ahead, her eyes trained on the emails on her phone. As the doors opened at Green Park and she stepped to the side to let people off, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm and was propelled with a thud into the clear partition at the end of the adjacent row of seats.
A man had, completely out of the blue, punched her, making her lose her balance and fall smack into the perspex. She looked around, dazed and unsure who had assaulted her or if another blow was about to land. A man stepped onto the platform. To the back of his head she shouted: “You’ve just hit me! Did anyone see?” The crowd waiting to board barely looked up.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The report found Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson and other senior officers make sure all ranks understand child protection is a priority, with he or other SMT members having personally spoken to every supervisor in the force about it.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has made “significant improvements” in how it investigates group-based sexual exploitation of children, or grooming gangs, and other types of child sexual abuse offences, according to the report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
The 76-page report looks at the current and ongoing way grooming gangs and other child sex offences are handled by the police, health bodies and the 10 councils in Greater Manchester.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police in London have been accused of abusing their powers to curb protest after research found that less than 3% of arrests for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in the past five years resulted in a prosecution.
The research also found an almost tenfold rise in the number of arrests in the capital for the offence, most commonly used to target activists, since 2019 when Extinction Rebellion set off a wave of climate activism.
Campaigners said the findings showed police misusing the law to shut down protest with a power that allowed them to intimidate protesters by placing them in pretrial custody, impose onerous bail conditions and collect their DNA and fingerprints.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force that had to apologise to victims over decades of failure over grooming gangs is now investigating more than 1,000 suspects, a watchdog has said.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has made “significant improvements” in how it investigates group-based sexual exploitation of children, or grooming gangs, and other types of child sexual abuse offences, according to the report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
The 76-page report looks at how grooming gangs and other child sex offences are handled by the police, health bodies and the 10 councils in Greater Manchester.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Witnesses at road accidents and crime scenes have been asked to dial 999 instead of filming dying and injured people “for nothing more than likes and comments”, a police inspector has said.
Officers said victims were being stripped of their dignity and onlookers were live-streaming incidents “not with the intention of bringing anyone to justice”.
Inspector Nia Lambley, of South Wales police, said there had been a “seismic change” in the way people behaved at the scene of an emergency over the past decade. “We’re trying to give people as much dignity in that vulnerable moment as possible. When people whip their phones out and take photos of them or video them, we’re losing control of that. We’re not able to give them dignity,” she told BBC News.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
It's pitch black and we're crawling along a secret underground tunnel beneath a high street in Hull. We pass rotting beams propped up precariously by stacked breeze blocks. A rusty car jack is helping prevent the shop floor above from falling in.
Through the rubble, we follow a Trading Standards Officer, his torch swinging back and forth in the darkness until it rests on a hidden stash of thousands of illegal cigarettes.
This is just one such surreal experience while investigating the sale of illegal cigarettes in Hull. In one week we repeatedly witnessed counterfeit and smuggled tobacco being sold in high street mini marts - and were threatened by shop workers who grabbed our cameras when we tried to film them.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force has announced it will close front counters at a number of stations across a county to provide more funding for visible policing.
Essex Police said the front counters in stations in Basildon, Braintree, Clacton and Harlow, and council-shared spaces in Maldon and Saffron Walden, will be closed from 11 July.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper said out of the 6,703 people who used the force's front counters in January, only 203 reported new crimes or intelligence.
[ more...]
Justice
Criminal cases involving violence against women and girls should be dealt with within two weeks, a police force's chief constable has said.
Jason Hogg, Thames Valley Police's (TVP) most senior officer, said the "main issue" in resolving cases over recent years has been the criminal justice system's backlog.
He said some females could be waiting until 2027 for their case to go to trial and called for more investment to cut delays.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than a quarter of police and crime commissioners have written to the policing minister calling for cannabis to be upgraded to a class A substance, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In the stark letter to Dame Diana Johnson MP, seen exclusively by this newspaper, 14 police chiefs claim the effect of the drug in society 'may be far worse' than heroin.
They warn that 'we cannot allow this to become the Britain of the future'. And they also hit out at the recent report by the London Commission – backed by Labour London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan – which suggested decriminalising small amounts of cannabis, which is currently a class B drug.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police across the South West have started to use technology that acts as an early warning system for dangerous drugs.
Devon and Cornwall Police worked with a team of chemists to develop the handheld devices which detect dangerous synthetic drugs in real time and can save help save lives.
The force's drug expert Nick Burnett and his team worked with Team Harm Reduction, a group of scientists from across the UK and beyond, on the technology.
[ more...]
Prisons
Prisoners will go to extreme lengths to get their hands on certain items while behind bars, but a new documantary has lifted the lid on how 'corrupt' prison officers are partly to blame.
Prison officers have been accused of corruption after shocking footage showed them turning a blind eye to drug use behind bars in a new TV documentary.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The “saga” with the backlog of local government audits showed it’s a "serious mistake to take effective audit for granted”, said the head of the National Audit Office.
Speaking at Public Finance Live in Birmingham yesterday, Gareth Davies, auditor and comptroller general at the NAO, said it was “embarrassing” that the backlog in local government audits had meant it was “impossible for me to give an opinion on the UK's whole of government accounts”.
He said the steps being taken through backstop dates and the creation of a new Local Audit Office were sensible and that “we need to rebuild the capacity and capability for local government audits if public confidence is to be fully recovered”.
[ more...]
Justice
Foreign criminals will be deported after serving as little as a tenth of their sentences to free up space in overcrowded jails.
Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, will introduce legislation on Wednesday that will slash the time served in prison to just over two months for a foreign burglar jailed for two years.
They will not have to serve the rest of their sentence in their home country but will be barred from ever returning to the UK.
[ more...]
Prisons
The number of prison staff being investigated for sexual assault or harassment has surged almost 400 per cent, as a former female inmate reveals she was forced to complain about a “creepy” male officer.
A total of 237 prison staff in England and Wales faced allegations of sexual harassment or assault between January 2022 and March 2024, according to Ministry of Justice figures obtained by Channel 4. Only 63 of these were recommended for dismissal.
This is compared to 49 investigations in a similar period ten years ago.
[ more...]
Justice
The deputy leader of Reform UK has proposed a new law that would allow members of the public a say when they think criminal sentences are either too harsh or too lenient.
MP Richard Tice said he wanted a system where if 500 members of the public said they disagreed with a sentence in a petition to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), it would have to decide whether to refer the decision to a court.
He said it would add a further safeguard on sentences and that would give the public more confidence in the justice system.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police Scotland has issued interim guidance around searching transgender people after the landmark UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.
The force's new five-page document, external, which covers searches carried out by transgender officers and staff, says searches will be undertaken on the basis of biological sex.
This means searches will be carried out by an officer of the same biological sex as the transgender person - but if a person requests an officer of their lived gender, police will try to accommodate them.
[ more...]
Prisons
Criminals have used drones to deliver drugs through hole-ridden perspex windows on prisoners’ cells, a watchdog has revealed.
The windows made it easier for crime gangs to deliver the drugs to inmates at HMP Leicester, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) warned.
Prison bosses were forced to replace deteriorated cell windows and their grills with perspex sheets that have holes in them.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
You see it in the failure to confront the grooming gangs – where fear of being labelled racist or Islamophobic meant that young, white, working-class girls were left to be raped, assaulted, and even killed. You see it in the symbolic and politicised gestures of recent years: officers taking the knee for Black Lives Matter, wearing rainbow lanyards, flying Progress Pride flags above police stations, and daubing rainbows on faces, uniforms, and patrol cars.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says he is "shocked and frustrated" at a planned protest in support of Palestine Action.
The demonstration, due to take place in Westminster later, comes as the government moves to ban the group under anti-terror laws.
Activists from Palestine Action hit the headlines last week after targeting RAF Brize Norton and damaging two military aircraft in a significant security breach.
[ more...]
Technology
Children being drawn into a world of cyberstalking need to be educated about healthy relationships in the digital age, says Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips.
Her comments came in response to a BBC investigation that found some children as young as 10 and 11 had been reported to police forces in England for suspected cyberstalking offences.
Charities say constant monitoring online is becoming normalised from a young age.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said she will proscribe Palestine Action under anti-terror law.
It comes days after activists from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and spray-painted two military planes red - an incident Cooper called "disgraceful".
The move effectively brands the group a terrorist organisation and, if passed in Parliament, would make membership of and support of the group illegal.
[ more...]
Justice
Two Christmases have come and gone since the afternoon Joe Grieves arrived at his father’s pretty Wiltshire cottage and smashed a mug over his head, leaving him bleeding by his kitchen table. It took five metal staples to close the deep cut.
It was December 23, 2023, and Grieves, 39, had asked to stay for Christmas. A few days earlier he had destroyed furniture, threatened to kill his dad and left home. He was mentally unwell with schizophrenia and drug-induced psychosis and had just been housed by the council. A Christmas invitation was not forthcoming.
[ more...]
Police Demand
When Sir Andy Marsh first put on his police uniform to patrol the streets of Bristol in 1987 he only had one objective on his mind. “Nothing made me happier than arresting a criminal,” Marsh, 59, recalled. “I would arrest offenders most days of the week. I joined the police to catch burglars, car criminals, domestic abusers and to protect people.”
Almost four decades later, Marsh — Britain’s longest-serving chief constable and the officer in charge of standards — bemoans the fact that overall arrest rates have fallen and trust in the police has collapsed due, in large part, to a “failure to get the basics right”.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The Metropolitan Police has introduced patrols aimed at keeping women and girls safe at concerts.
The new patrols come ahead of 51 large-scale music events due to take place in London this summer, with more than three million people set to attend shows at Wembley Stadium alone.
The patrols started on 5 June with Beyonce's concert at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the operation leading to the removal of an individual on suspicion of stalking and threatening behaviour, as well as the arrest of a man for upskirting, who remains on police bail.
[ more...]
Police Demand
At two o’clock on a warm and breezy afternoon in east London, a blueish-grey hatchback sweeps into a petrol station on Vallance Road, which links the bustling streets of Whitechapel with Bethnal Green.
The garage, located between a 24-hour gym, a Halal grill house and a Jewish bakery, is quiet, save for the cheery sounds of children playing in the grounds of a nearby primary school.
The hatchback parks beside Pump Three, one of eight pumps on the forecourt, and the driver, a tall, thin bespectacled man in trainers, grey trousers and a maroon coloured jacket, gets out and fills up.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Inflation has held at 3.4 per cent in the year to May, remaining the same as in April, according to the Office for National Statistics.
[ more...]
Police Demand
An increasing proportion of children aged between 10 and 14 years old are suspected of committing violent crime in London, in comparison to other young people, a report has found.
According to Met Police figures, 7,512 children aged between 10 and 14 were suspected of violent crime, including knife offences, in 2023, a rise of 38% from 2020.
While this is below the 2019 figure, the report highlighted that those aged 10-14 made up a higher percentage of serious offences involving young people in 2023, compared to 2019.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Non-crime hate incidents have gone too far and should be scrapped, the head of Greater Manchester Police has said.
Sir Stephen Watson said the policy had been introduced with good intentions but was now past its “sell-by date”.
He stressed it was not the job of the police to involve themselves in people’s arguments, and said the collection of non-crime hate incident data had fuelled the accusations of two-tier policing.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A lack of funding will force police to deprioritise crimes such as shoplifting and mobile phone theft and there will be fewer officers patrolling parks and attending schools, ministers have been told.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced an extra £2.1 billion for policing over the next three years, a real-terms increase of 1.7 per cent each year between 2026 and 2029.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The chief constable of Lincolnshire Police has warned 400 staff and officer jobs could be cut if the force cannot secure extra funding by October.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the government's Spending Review, which includes a 2.3% real terms yearly funding increase for policing in England and Wales.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson said this was not enough for Lincolnshire and would leave the force facing a deficit of almost £70m. He said he had begun negotiations with the Home Office.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Police forces in rural areas, which are predominantly under Tory control, have to draw twice as much of their budgets from council taxpayers as metropolitan areas, which are largely overseen by Labour police and crime commissioners.
Conservative Surrey funds 57 per cent of its budget through its policing precept on council tax at the top of the table compared with 21.8 per cent for the West Midlands, 24.3 per cent for Merseyside and 27.1 per cent for the Metropolitan Police Service, which are all Labour-controlled, according to official data for 2024.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves has been accused of sacrificing police and defence spending in favour of a record handout for the NHS.
Police chiefs warned that Labour’s flagship election promises on reducing crime could be missed after the Chancellor set out her spending review on Wednesday, while former military leaders criticised her “totally inadequate” plans for the Armed Forces.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves is to cut Home Office budgets by 1.4 per cent a year amid speculation of a looming round of council tax increases to pay for policing.
Yvette Cooper’s department was among the biggest losers when the Chancellor unveiled her spending review on Wednesday.
The cuts to overall Home Office spending triggered fears that increases in policing budgets would have to be paid for by a tax raid.
[ more...]
Justice
They warn that “chronic underfunding” of the Ministry of Justice is undermining the entire criminal justice system and putting public safety at risk.
Matthew Barber and Donna Jones says that despite recent funding increases, the Ministry of Justice, which oversees courts, prisons, probation and victim services, remains one of the worst-hit departments.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, day-to-day spending on justice in 2025/26 is still forecast to be 24 per cent lower per person than in 2007/08.
As of September 2024, 73,105 court cases were still awaiting trial – nearly double the backlog in 2019.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Does your heart bleed for our poor put-upon police, as they warn that their service is in “crisis”? Or hearing of their plight, do you feel like giving them a shake?
In a slight variation on the annual moan-fest that is the Police Federation conference, senior representatives of the service have penned a joint article listing their many woes. With dismal absence of originality, they complain of “crushed” morale and thinning blue lines, as underpaid, overworked officers jack it all for early retirement to the Costas. As the Spending Review looms, behold the usual desperate attempt to guilt trip ministers into ponying up more cash.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Rough sleeping will be decriminalised next year under government plans to scrap a 200-year-old law.
Ministers are planning to scrap the Vagrancy Act, which outlaws rough sleeping in England and Wales.
The law was introduced in 1824 to deal with rising homelessness, but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has called it "cruel and outdated".
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves has announced an extra £29bn per year for the NHS in England, along with funding boosts for defence and housing, as she set out the government's spending plans until the end of the decade.
The chancellor also promised more money for artificial intelligence and transport projects, saying "renewing Britain" was at the heart of her plans.
But the Spending Review also saw some departments squeezed in day-to-day spending, including the Foreign Office and the environment department.
Reeves said the review would deliver security, economic growth and "an NHS fit for the future", but Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said it was a "spend now, tax later review".
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
When it emerged last week that Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, had written to the Prime Minister warning that “stark choices” lay ahead without significant investment in policing it all sounded rather familiar.
The week before, Rowley, along with five other police chiefs, had penned a newspaper article saying that Government pledges on knife crime, violence against women and girls, and neighbourhood policing would be at risk without additional funding.
That itself was an echo of similar statements the Met Commissioner and others had made over the previous six months. Clearly then, ahead of Wednesday’s spending review, money is very much on police minds.
[ more...]
Justice
Public safety is at risk because the justice system is starved of resources, two police and crime commissioners (PCCs) have said.
Hampshire's Donna Jones and Thames Valley counterpart Matthew Barber said the government's Spending Review on Wednesday should address "chronic underfunding" of the Ministry of Justice.
The Conservative PCCs said cuts had led to "clogged" courts, collapsed legal cases and overstretched services to manage offenders in the community.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Chancellor has reportedly refused demands for extra police funding despite warnings that it means the Government could miss its pledges on law and order. The Spending Review is expected to deliver police a real-terms increase in their funding over the three-year period. However, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is said to have warned that increase was not enough to meet the Government’s pledge to recruit 13,000 frontline officers by 2029.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Police will receive an above-inflation boost as senior ministers took negotiations over the spending review down to the wire.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to set out real-terms increases to police budgets every year, forcing cuts to other areas of the Home Office, in a review on Wednesday setting out spending for the next three years.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, was the final minister holding out as Angela Rayner settled with the Treasury on Sunday over funding for councils and her housing department.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Perhaps the most heated rows before Wednesday’s spending review have concerned the future of policing.
After weeks of negotiating, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, agreed to a real-terms increase to police budgets over the next three years — but has stopped short of stumping up further cash.
Why does this matter? Because without extra money, ministers argue, Labour’s ambitious law and order pledges will be unachievable.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police could face extra work re-arresting criminals under a new scheme to release offenders early from prison, the Government has admitted.
An internal Ministry of Justice (MoJ) document assessing the impact of the policy, revealed on the eve of Rachel Reeves’s spending review, also warned it risked leaving victims feeling there had been “insufficient punishment” of offenders.
Under the emergency measures to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis, violent criminals, burglars and robbers recalled to jail will serve just 28 days behind bars.
The early re-release scheme will apply to most prisoners originally jailed for between one and four years, even if they were recalled after committing another crime.
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Police and Crime General
Rough sleeping will be decriminalised next year under government plans to scrap a 200-year-old law.
Ministers are planning to scrap the Vagrancy Act, which outlaws rough sleeping in England and Wales.
The law was introduced in 1824 to deal with rising homelessness, but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has called it "cruel and outdated".
[ more...]
Police Finances
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is the last minister yet to agree a funding deal with the Treasury before Wednesday's Spending Review, BBC News understands.
Ministers have been locked in talks with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and her team ahead of the major financial statement, which sets budgets for government departments covering the next few years.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner reached a settlement on Sunday evening after "progress" in negotiations, the BBC has learned, but Cooper is holding out in talks also involving No 10.
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Police and Crime General
A large section of the ceiling is missing in one of the women's bathrooms at Shoreditch police station. Some of it is now sitting in a crate on the floor.
"We had a leak from the toilet system on the floor above," explains David Mathieson, the Metropolitan Police's director of real estate development, pointing out how the sewage water has seeped into the carpet next to the lockers.
"The systems are just so old, we keep patch repairing them, but they need to be ripped out and replaced."
[ more...]
Police Finances
Rachel Reeves in standoff over policing and council budgets days before spending review
Chancellor still at negotiating table on Sunday as Home Office demands more cash
Explainer: The winners and losers in Labour’s first spending review
Rowena Mason Whitehall editor
Mon 9 Jun 2025 00.02 BST
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Rachel Reeves has been locked in a standoff over the policing and council budgets just days before this week’s spending review, which is set to give billions to the NHS, defence and technology.
Yvette Cooper’s Home Office and Angela Rayner’s housing and local government ministry were the two departments still at the negotiating table on Sunday fighting for more cash, after weeks of trying to reach a settlement.
Whitehall sources said the policing budget would get real terms rises, but there was still disagreement over the level of investment needed for the Home Office to meet its commitments.
Rayner’s department is understood to have reached an agreement with the Treasury late on Sunday night after last-minute wrangling over housing, local councils and growth funds
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Police Finances
Yvette Cooper’s Home Office budget was imposed on her by Rachel Reeves after heated discussions between the two Cabinet ministers.
The Home Secretary is understood to have warned the Chancellor that Labour election promises were at risk from a lack of investment in policing.
In one meeting last week, Ms Reeves is said to have abruptly brought talks with Ms Cooper to a close. There are also claims a senior Home Office official stopped taking calls from the Treasury.
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Recruitment and Retention
The Home Office could still be forced to cut the overall number of police officers after lengthy spending review negotiations with the Treasury.
Whitehall sources said the department had been asked to look at all options including limiting officer recruitment, which would mean an overall cut in the headcount.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, was the last minister to reach a deal with the Treasury, with reports suggesting greater police spending would mean a squeeze on other areas of her department’s budget. A source said that cuts to police numbers remained “a possibility”.
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Recruitment and Retention
Police and Crime Commissioners for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and for the Thames Valley are urging the Government to take bold, system-wide action in its spending review this Wednesday (11 June), and warning that chronic underfunding of the Ministry of Justice is undermining the entire criminal justice system and putting public safety at risk.
Despite recent funding increases, the Ministry of Justice, which oversees courts, prisons, probation, and victim services remains one of the worst-hit departments. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, day-to-day spending on justice in 2025–26 is still forecast to be 24% lower per person than in 2007–08.
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Police Finances
Rachel Reeves has refused to meet Yvette Cooper’s demands for extra police funding despite warnings that it means the government could miss its flagship pledges on law and order.
The Times has been told that the chancellor imposed a settlement on the home secretary on Monday after weeks of negotiations went down to the wire.
Reeves has agreed to give the police a real-terms increase in their funding over the three-year spending review period. However, Cooper pressed for more money, arguing that the increase was not enough to meet the government’s pledge to recruit 13,000 frontline officers by 2029.
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Police and Crime General
Online retailers are selling “ghost plates” that allow criminals to hide their car registrations and move around the road network undetected by cameras.
The numberplates have a reflective coating, which prevents them being read by infrared police cameras. Also on sale are retractable holders that will conceal the plate beneath the bumper.
Online reviews and product demonstrations refer to cameras used to enforce Ulez (ultra low emission zone) charges or those at Gatwick airport, where drop-off fees start at £7, and automatic car park cameras.
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Police and Crime General
Police dog charity, the Thin Blue Paw Foundation, has launched a petition calling on the government to introduce pensions for police dogs when they retire after years of active service.
The charity says that owners can face hefty vet bills for retired police dogs who often come with health and medical conditions due to their strenuous working lives.
Launched in August 2020, the Thin Blue Paw Foundation supports supports retired police dogs across the UK, providing grants for life-saving surgeries, vital medication, and regular therapy to ensure these canine heroes live long, happy and healthy retirements. So far, the charity has given out more than £380,000.
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Prisons
Prisoners are to be transferred to lower security jails in an effort to ease overcrowding, as part of a new measure quietly unveiled by the government.
Sky News understands that as of Monday, offenders serving standard sentences can be transferred to "open" or "Category D' prisons up to three years early, to free up space in higher security jails.
Open prisons have minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend time on day release away from the prison on licence conditions to carry out work or education.
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Justice
Thousands of criminal cases - including some of the most serious violent and sexual offences - are collapsing every year because of lost, damaged or missing evidence, the BBC has found.
More than 30,000 prosecutions in England and Wales collapsed between October 2020 and September 2024, data from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reveals.
They include 70 homicides and more than 550 sexual offences.
[ more...]
Justice
The forensic science sector is in a “graveyard spiral”, according to a parliamentary inquiry that has warned of biased criminal investigations, a rising risk of wrongful convictions, and murder and sexual offence cases collapsing due to missing evidence.
The three-year inquiry set up by the all-party parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice has outlined how a series of “reckless policy decisions” over the past decade have brought forensic science to a point of crisis. A near-monopoly in the commercial sector means there is now a dangerous single point of failure and the increasing reliance on in-house police laboratories risks compromising scientific impartiality, the inquiry found.
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Police Finances
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales and the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales have warned the Prime Minister he will fail to meet his own target of halving violence against women and girls without significant investment in services
[ more...]
Police Finances
Britain’s most senior police chiefs have directly warned Sir Keir Starmer that they will face “stark choices” about which crimes they investigate if the Treasury pushes ahead with cuts.
In a significant escalation before the spending review, Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, and other senior police officers have written to the prime minister warning him that cuts will have “far-reaching consequences”.
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Police Finances
Yvette Cooper is battling Rachel Reeves for more money with just a week left before the Treasury unveils new departmental budgets for the rest of the decade.
The Home Office is understood to be one of the few departments that has not settled negotiations with the Treasury before the spending review concludes on June 11.
Ms Cooper, the Home Secretary, had her hand strengthened when six police chiefs publicly warned that Labour promises could be missed without more money.
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Police and Crime General
Should cannabis be legal? By 54 per cent to 32 per cent, British people think small amounts for personal use should be decriminalised, according to a YouGov poll conducted last week (Times and Sunday Times subscribers, it should be said, leaned the other way: 54-46 against).
The issue has also split the Labour Party. Last week a report by Lord Falconer of Thoroton suggested natural cannabis should be removed from the Misuse of Drugs Act, a move backed by the mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan. Within hours Angela Rayner had duly ruled out relaxing the rules.
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Police and Crime General
Our country is being taken for a ride and the public are sick to the back teeth of it. In April, Hashem Abedi, one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing, attacked prison guards with hot oil and a stabbing attack that seriously injured three officers. Abedi was also granted more than £1,200 in taxpayers’ cash to launch an equal rights case in prison.
Prison officers do invaluable work protecting the public and deserve better protection. Yet those who do the right thing and put their lives on the line for us often get hounded and harassed.
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Prisons
Armouries should be built in maximum-security prisons and specialist officers given access to firearms as a last resort when dealing with dangerous prisoners, according to a Tory-commissioned review.
The policy will be announced on Sunday by Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, in response to the risks facing prison officers from Islamist extremists and other violent prisoners.
Jenrick will also call for specialist teams in category A prisons to be equipped with Tasers, stun grenades and baton rounds.
[ more...]
Technology
As the world moves towards sustainability, the emergency services sector is exploring practical ways to transition fleets to zero-emission vehicles. For episode 4 of For Every Response, I spoke with Carl Christie, Senior Fleet Specialist at Cenex, about the key elements needed to make this shift and the barriers still standing in the way.
Carl played a central role in our Blue lights, green fleet report, which we published with Cenex in March. The report offers a detailed look at how emergency services can transition to electric fleets, and it formed the basis of our conversation.
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Police Demand
Police hunting for people who use small amounts of cannabis is a waste of scarce resources, and diverts officers from tackling much more serious criminals, a former police chief has said.
Brian Paddick was a senior Metropolitan police officer who in 2001 pioneered the limited decriminalisation of cannabis in a pilot scheme in Lambeth, south London. His comments come after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, backed calls for the partial decriminalisation of cannabis possession.
Critics of Paddick’s scheme said it was dangerous, while Paddick and his supporters said it was a success.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police will receive powers to destroy e-bikes and e-scooters hours after they are seized in a crackdown on anti-social behaviour and snatch thefts.
Officers will no longer have to give a warning to an offender before seizing and destroying a bike, scooter or car that has been driven in an anti-social way or used to perpetrate the theft of a mobile phone or bag.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
New figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) show that 101 call wait times across the country have dropped significantly, as forces continue to embrace advanced contact management solutions.
According to the newly released monthly 101 call wait time data, the average 101 call wait time is now just 32 seconds. This drop has been driven by forces using enhanced digital triage, AI-driven call routing and smarter resourcing strategies. It reflects the dedication of forces in adopting modern solutions and refining call-handling processes to ensure that members of the public receive swift assistance when they need it.
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Police Finances
Gavin Stephens: We’ve said for some time that policing across the United Kingdom is based on a design that fundamentally came from the early 1960s. It’s not changed significantly in that time, but what has changed is criminality and the threats that our communities face. With now more than 50% of crime committed online, with more than 80% of crimes having a digital footprint, policing looks different today, and it is going to look very different in the future. And if we don’t have a deliberate design for the police services that this nation deserves, then we are going to struggle to keep people safe against some of the threats of the future and that requires a strong spending review settlement.
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Police Demand
Significant advancements in contact management, including enhanced digital triage, AI-driven call routing, and smarter resourcing strategies, have led to a “remarkable reduction” in 101 call wait times across the country – now just 32 seconds, says the NPCC.
It added: “This achievement reflects the dedication of forces in adopting modern solutions and refining call-handling processes to ensure that members of the public receive swift assistance when they need it.
“Investments in intelligent queuing systems, workforce optimisation, and automated call-back technology have played a pivotal role in delivering these improvements.”
[ more...]
Police Demand
Possessing cannabis should be decriminalised, Sir Sadiq Khan has said.
A commission set up by the London mayor and chaired by the former justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton, an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, recommended that possession of cannabis be dealt with under the Psychoactive Substances Act rather than the Misuse of Drugs Act as it is now.
It would remain a criminal act to import, manufacture and distribute cannabis, but it would not be a criminal act to possess small quantities for personal use.
[ more...]
Prisons
Police chiefs and MI5 have called for the Government to give them enough funding amid pressures from the latest plans to release prisoners early.
The heads of the Metropolitan Police, MI5 and the National Crime Agency were among those who warned that plans to release prisoners early could be “of net detriment to public safety” in a letter to the Ministry of Justice.
They also argued they would need the “necessary resources” in the upcoming spending review to deal with the plan’s impacts and maintain order, The Times reported.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Police will need more funding in next month's spending review to meet the government's pledges to cut crime, the head of the Metropolitan Police has told the BBC.
Sir Mark Rowley praised the government's "sensible ambition" to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls, as well as boost neighbourhood policing, but said "ambition and money go alongside each other".
The Met commissioner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that police forces across the country were carrying the "scar tissue of years of austerity cuts".
[ more...]
Police Finances
Community organisations are being invited to apply for funding to deliver anti-knife crime projects to tackle serious youth violence in Cleveland.
Matt Storey, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Cleveland, with support from the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), has made available £80,000 for local charitable or voluntary community sector organisations.
They can bid for up to £25,000 for community knife crime reduction activities for young people.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Cannabis should be upgraded to a class A drug because of the harm it can cause, a policing chief has said.
As Sir Sadiq Khan calls for possession of the drug to be decriminalised, David Sidwick, Dorset’s police and crime commissioner, has urged that cannabis, currently a Class B drug, should be put on a par with crack cocaine and heroin.
Such a move would see the maximum penalties for possession increase from five to seven years in jail, while the maximum penalty for supplying cannabis would rise from 14 years in prison to life.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Half of class A drug users are let off by police without punishment, official figures show.
Some 48.1 per cent of people caught in possession of hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, were let off without any criminal sanction, Home Office data analysed by The Telegraph reveals.
It represents a six-fold increase in drug users escaping prosecution since 2016, when the proportion was only 7.5 per cent.
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Prisons
Criminals at a prison where some cells have been locked down during the day due to serious violence could pose an even higher risk to the public when released, their families have warned.
Staff members and inmates at HMP Swinfen Hall, in Lichfield, have been hurt in attacks, including a prison officer who was stabbed in the head.
The BBC has spoken to families who fear the disorder means their loved ones are not being rehabilitated and could come out more dangerous than they went in.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Merseyside police’s decision to release details of the ethnicity of the suspect in the Liverpool parade collision could raise “difficulties and challenges” for forces in the future, a former superintendent has said.
Merseyside police said they arrested a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area about two hours after the incident that left dozens of people, including four children, injured.
Dal Babu, who was a senior Met officer, told the Guardian’s First Edition that the decision was “unprecedented”, but he could envisage pressure being applied to forces in future to release details on the racial background of suspects.
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Prisons
Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to release prisoners early could be of “net detriment to public safety” and risks undermining confidence in policing and criminal justice, the heads of the Metropolitan Police, MI5 and the National Crime Agency have warned.
The Times can disclose that senior figures from the world of policing and security have raised significant concerns about the impact of the government’s plans to release thousands of prisoners after they have served as little as a third of their sentences.
[ more...]
Justice
When Alexandra Saper told her 100,000 Instagram followers that she was hiding from a British stalker who had followed her to Bali threatening to kidnap and rape her, she received hundreds of messages from women around the world in similar positions.
The American influencer, 33, who quit her job as a corporate lawyer in Washington to earn a living posting videos and photos of her travels, said it showed her that anyone can become a victim of stalking, not just those who put themselves in front of a camera.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Lawmakers have been issued a stark warning over plans to extend police powers to NHS staff allowing them to detain mental health patients, with a group of major health organisations expressing “grave concerns” over the proposed changes.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, the Royal College of Nursing and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services are among those saying proposed changes to the Mental Health Bill will cause “significant harm with dangerous consequences.”
[ more...]
Technology
Sexual violence in UK schools should be considered a public health crisis, a sexism expert has warned.
Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and author of Men Who Hate Women, also warned that deepfake porn would be the next issue that schools across the nation will have to tackle, amid the rise of AI-enabled misogyny.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Fewer than two hours after a people carrier ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians, Merseyside Police issued a statement confirming the suspect was a 53-year-old white British man from Liverpool.
Last year, the city was rocked by the murders of three young girls in Southport, a town a few miles away.
The identity of the perpetrator in that case was published two days later. On this occasion, the police were desperate to get ahead of the curve.
[ more...]
Technology
US tech giant Palantir is working with almost a dozen police forces in Britain to help track domestic abusers and fight crime, its UK chief has revealed.
Louis Mosley, Palantir’s UK chief and most senior executive outside of the US, said use cases for its technology included building up suspect profiles or synthesising vast amounts of data that have been lawfully gathered by a police force, such as suspicious messages, photographs or useful location data when a suspect’s phone is seized.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Teachers and doctors in England will receive a four per cent pay rise after the Government accepted salary recommendations from pay review bodies. Unions for both sectors criticised the deal, saying that the increase has not been fully funded, raising the prospect of strikes, it is reported.
[ more...]
Prisons
The government says it will accept the majority of the recommendations in the report it commissioned into jail sentences.
The independent review, led by ex-Conservative justice secretary David Gauke, looked at how to reduce the prison population by 2028. One of its key proposals would see well-behaved inmates only serve a third of their sentences. It would include sex offenders who had agreed to chemical castration.
On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to political correspondent Liz Bates about what is in the plans and what the political ramifications may be for Labour.
[ more...]
Prisons
A series of “radical” proposed reforms to criminal sentencing have been submitted to ministers by the former justice secretary David Gauke, who has said that, if implemented, they should solve the UK’s prison overcrowding problem. The government has confirmed that most of his recommendations will be accepted. But what are they?
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Police Foundation, in partnership with Virgin Media O2, is calling for the creation of a new fraud prevention agency as part of a suite of fundamental changes it says are needed to deal with a ‘fraud epidemic.’
Speaking at the launch of the report, ‘A victimless crime’? Why fraud policing needs a re-design, Andy Higgins interim Director of the Police Foundation said: “the policing response does not match the level of fraud we face.”
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Between 2011 and 2022, there were 242 suicides of current police officers and PCSOs in England and Wales. More recently – from 2021 to 2024 – an estimated 80 former and current police officers took their own lives.
But research suggests the figures are not exact because there is currently no mandate on forces to record the number of suicides among their officers and staff.
The STEP campaign, started by Spencer Wragg, chair of Hampshire Police Federation, aims to reduce the number of police officers and staff who take their own lives.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Transgender officers have been banned from carrying out strip-searches on female detainees, police chiefs have said.
The new directive from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) stipulates that trans officers and staff can no longer conduct intimate or strip searches on detainees of the opposite sex.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Gloucestershire Constabulary needs to do more to protect children at risk, a watchdog has said.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found the force needed to "urgently improve" its response to children at risk of harm, and how it investigates reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Inspectors said they regularly found delays in starting investigations, with inquiries often not pursued - leading to poor outcomes for children.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Derbyshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has suggested work to tackle knife crime needs to focus on adults as well as young people following five stabbings in Derby over a 12-day period.
Gurvinder Johal was fatally stabbed at Lloyds Bank in the city centre on 6 May before a man in his 30s suffered stab wounds to his arm at a house in Crewton Way in Alvaston on 15 May.
The following day two men were stabbed during a fight between two groups in Middleton Street, Normanton, before another stabbing in Mercian Way on Sunday.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Young people supported by a police-led scheme have said they are "disappointed" it is being axed.
The Aston Project was set up in 2011 to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in Cheltenham by rewarding young people, who volunteered or joined clubs, with activities such as pony trekking or canoeing.
It has transformed the lives of thousands of children over the past decade, but it now being axed as Gloucestershire Police attempts to plug a £12.3m funding gap.
[ more...]
Justice
Last week saw the publication of the landscape review on the police response to online and technology-enabled VAWG in England and Wales, undertaken by the Centre for Protecting Women Online; independent policing and technology expert Giles Herdale, one of the three co-authors of the review, explains the key questions the work addressed, its findings, and what they mean for policing and the Government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Northumbria Police is set to become the first, and only, force in the country to offer new recruits a direct route into community policing.
Normally, new starters have to complete a two-year training programme which covers a wide variety of policing. But with this trailblazing move, those who chose the neighbourhood option will specialise in this area from joining and will develop the specialist skills needed for the community policing role. This pathway can be accessed by graduates, non-graduates and those seeking a degree level apprenticeship.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Britain faces the “horrible reality” of having to release prisoners convicted of serious crimes early to prevent the “total and complete collapse” of law and order, the justice secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood is preparing to announce the biggest shake-up of sentencing in more than 30 years on Thursday after the publication of an independent review carried out by David Gauke, a former Conservative justice secretary.
In an interview with The Times, Mahmood said she would have to make changes that were “not choices I would ever want to make”.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A 92-year-old care home resident in a wheelchair was sprayed in the face with synthetic pepper spray before being Tasered and hit with a baton by police officers, a jury has been told.
PC Stephen Smith emptied almost a full can of pepper spray into Donald Burgess's face when he refused to drop an item of cutlery similar to a butter knife, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Mr Burgess, who had one leg, was then Tasered by PC Rachel Comotto, police body-worn camera footage shown to jurors appeared to show.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce will be led by Deputy Chief Constable Wendy Gunney, national lead for Serious Organised Crime at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
The creation of the taskforce follows an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), commissioned in January 2024.
The inspection examined police force performance on tackling organised immigration crime between January and July 2024, and while progress was acknowledged, it highlighted the urgent need for more coordinated action against UK-based smuggling gangs.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Migrants are sneaking into the UK in lorries while police are focused on small boats crossing the Channel, a watchdog has said.
The HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said officials had missed opportunities to intercept illegal crossings while distracted.
The police watchdog also said in a report that the Government had failed to tackle organised crime effectively because police forces were not gathering and sharing intelligence properly.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In the latest in a regular series of articles and opinion pieces from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, Chair of the APCC, explores the continuing efforts to improve trust and confidence in policing and the culture within forces by tightening vetting and misconduct procedures.
[ more...]
Prisons
Crime bosses are to face new court-ordered curbs to prevent them running criminal empires from their prison cells.
An independent review into sentencing will recommend on Thursday that criminals should be subject to court orders to this effect while still in prison.
National Crime Agency and police investigators would be able to open up their bank accounts, ban contact with named associates and intercept communications.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK's economy grew by more than expected in the first three months of the year, according to the latest official figures. The economy expanded by 0.7 per cent in January to March, stronger than the 0.6 per cent that analysts had forecast, which the Office for National Statistics said was largely driven by the UK services sector.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Two companies that receive taxpayers’ money to house asylum-seekers in hotels have said they will give back some of their profits to the Home Office.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living.
John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”.
Kingdom, which provides services for hundreds of stores across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping malls, has received 20 to 30 reports of shoplifting a week from across the UK involving “people who just can’t afford to buy food”, Nussbaum said.
[ more...]
Prisons
Britain’s most dangerous prisoners should be kept in US-style “super-max” conditions with no contact with other inmates and no kettles or cooking facilities, according to the head of the prison officers’ union.
The demand came after Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, is alleged to have thrown boiling water at a prison guard at HMP Belmarsh, southwest London, which is meant to be one of the country’s most secure jails.
Rudakubana, 18, who murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January. He is suspected of boiling the water in a kettle in his cell and flinging it at the officer through the door’s hatch. The guard was treated in hospital and discharged.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are elected to appoint chief constables and hold them to account. The article about chief officer appointments in London and Merseyside (Two top job openings in UK policing get one applicant each, 6 May) includes a comment from a senior policing source that suggests there no checks and balances on who we choose.
The legislation on the appointment of chief constables is clear: our decision must be either agreed with, or vetoed by, the local police and crime panel – a body made up of cross-party councillors and independent members.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
It’s just past 3pm in Rotherham town centre when groups of teenagers make the short walk from Rotherham sixth-form college to the bus station interchange. Some huddle inside, laughing together at videos on their phones. Others linger outside, waiting to meet friends and boyfriends. It’s a standard scene in any town on a midweek afternoon. But for some people in the town, teenagers congregating there is causing concern.
In 2014, Professor Alexis Jay’s independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham detailed the abuse of 1,400 young girls between 1997 and 2014. The bus station was described as “attracting drug dealers, addicts and people involved in a range of criminal activity”. It was also where grooming gangs would prey on victims.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police officers found guilty of gross misconduct will face automatic dismissal under rules to root out rogue behaviour.
Officers will be sacked for gross misconduct unless there are “exceptional circumstances”, under the rules to be introduced from the end of May.
Ministers believe the tougher rules will strengthen the ability of police chiefs to remove officers unfit to serve by setting clear expectations about what should happen to those guilty of the most serious misbehaviour.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The government is set to breach its main fiscal rule by almost £60bn, making tax rises more likely in the autumn, according to an influential analyst.
[ more...]
Prisons
Prisons minister James Timpson has told the BBC more criminals could be tagged in future instead of being sent to prison - but insists he's not "soft on crime".
More than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, will meet the government today to explore how technology could help monitor offenders in the community more effectively and tackle violence in prison.
Lord Timpson says tagging more people instead of sending them to prison is a potential alternative punishment.
[ more...]
Prisons
The prisons minister has admitted that the scale of organised crime gangs operating within Britain’s jails keeps him up at night.
Lord Timpson said “very, very wealthy” crime bosses were corrupting staff to bring in drugs or flying them in with hi-tech drones so they could profit from bored inmates in overcrowded jails.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he said it was a “cat and mouse” game to try to detect and stop the drones being used to bring in drugs, which are sold for three or four times their street value and generate huge profits.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
HMICFRS has published the second part of its review of the police response to the public disorder during summer 2024, looking at police use of intelligence, the impact of online content and social media, and the effectiveness of subsequent crime investigations.
Commenting on the review’s findings, APCC Chair and PCC for Merseyside, Emily Spurrell, said:
“There is no excuse for the violence that we saw last summer. Officers responded admirably to a complex and fast-moving situation, something recognised by today’s report. However, mis- and dis-information played a significant role in spreading the hate and violence that played out on the streets of several towns and cities.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police have not kept up with the risks posed to the public by social media, a review of the response to last summer's UK riots has found.
Mosques and hotels housing migrants were among the targets of violence which erupted after Axel Rudakubana stabbed three girls to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July.
The police inspectorate found no conclusive evidence the disorder was co-ordinated by extremist groups but said it was mostly incited by "disaffected individuals, influencers or groups" online.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Merseyside Police only received one application for the top job of chief constable, the region's police and crime commissioner has said.
Emily Spurrell has backed Cumbria's Chief Constable Rob Carden as her preferred candidate to replace Serena Kennedy, who is set to retire in August.
She said it was not unusual to have a low number of applicants for the role as the pool of those qualified is small, but she said she was "absolutely confident" in Mr Carden's abilities.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Two members of a Romanian organised crime gang are thought to have stolen goods worth £95,000 from supermarkets across England and Wales during a two-year shoplifting spree, investigators have told The Times.
Police believe Andrei-Theodor Cretu, 27, and his accomplice Elena Gugulan, 31, used a hire car to travel around the country, swiping high-value items from the aisles such as face creams, nicotine pouches and electric toothbrushes. The stolen goods have not been recovered.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police officers found guilty of gross misconduct will face automatic dismissal under rules to root out rogue behaviour.
Officers will be sacked for gross misconduct unless there are “exceptional circumstances”, under the rules to be introduced from the end of May.
Ministers believe the tougher rules will strengthen the ability of police chiefs to remove officers unfit to serve by setting clear expectations about what should happen to those guilty of the most serious misbehaviour.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Two of the most senior jobs in British policing paying more than £200,000 a year have attracted only one applicant each, the Guardian has learned.
The roles were deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police and chief constable of Merseyside police, based in Liverpool.
Senior figures in policing and in government are concerned about a lack of talent at the top of policing.
[ more...]
Technology
British Transport Police (BTP) has launched its groundbreaking new remote ‘drone in a box’ capability, becoming the first police force to operationalise this advanced drone technology to better keep the public safe and reduce disruption.
The new capability will enhance BTP’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively to incidents on the railway network, helping to improve safety, reduce disruption, and support frontline operations as they happen.
The drones will be based at key locations across the network where we know there are spikes in trespass and other disruption incidents, and flown remotely from our control room in London – allowing BTP to respond to incidents quicker, make more informed decisions, and also free up officers to respond to other offences.
[ more...]
Justice
The UK’s children’s commissioners have called for a wholesale smacking ban, describing the current situation where there is a legal defence in some nations as “outdated and morally repugnant”.
Wales made any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, illegal in March 2022 while Scotland introduced a similar ban in November 2020.
But it is not completely outlawed in England and Northern Ireland.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
"I'd say the last two years people are just - they just don't care anymore, they are using knives and doing all sorts."
PC Maguire, 28, speaks with the authority of experience: experience that comes from working in Greater Manchester's most high-crime areas.
"I remember when I was a teenager," she says, "you'd never really hear of people carrying a knife or anything. But now it's the normal thing to do."
"It's mad," she adds.
[ more...]
Justice
Only one in 20 shoplifting offences in London last year led to a suspect being charged, according to figures that expose the number of crimes going unsolved across Britain.
Of 88,248 shoplifting offences reported to the Metropolitan Police last year, 4,629 led to a suspect being charged, equalling 5.25 per cent.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The officer cleared of murder after shooting dead Chris Kaba will face a gross misconduct hearing, following a review by the police watchdog.
The 24-year-old's family welcomed the decision, saying they hope it leads to sergeant Martyn Blake, 41, being sacked from the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Kaba, who was not armed, had both hands on the steering wheel of his vehicle when he was shot in the head by the firearms officer in Streatham, south London, on 5 September 2022.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The CEO of the staff association for frontline police officers is thought to be the highest paid man in UK policing.
So what? This is despite doubts over the organisation’s relevance and future. The Police Federation of England and Wales represents 145,000 police officers from constable to chief inspector. Specifically, it
provides legal support during misconduct or criminal proceedings;
fights officers’ corners over pay and conditions; and
lobbies ministers over welfare.
[ more...]
Prisons
Scotland’s prison population is projected to rise by 800 despite SNP claims that setting inmates free early would ease an overcrowding crisis.
Official projections released on Tuesday showed that the average daily prison population could hit 8,950 by September, up from 8,138, a record high.
It comes despite a series of measures aimed at reducing prisoner numbers, which included setting hundreds free early last summer and then changing legislation so that others served a lower proportion of their sentences behind bars.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Only one in 20 shoplifting offences in London last year led to a suspect being charged, according to figures that expose the number of crimes going unsolved across Britain.
Of 88,248 shoplifting offences reported to the Metropolitan Police last year, 4,629 led to a suspect being charged, equalling 5.25 per cent.
Leicestershire police recorded the lowest rate of shoplifting offences being solved, with 4.5 per cent of 8,345 reports.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A police force spent more than £167,000 kennelling banned breeds of dogs over a year, they said.
Dorset Police and said it had not received any extra funding to keep the dogs after tighter legislation was introduced in February 2024.
It said it had spent a total of £167,445 between February 2024 and February 2025 on kennelling for the dogs.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Home Office minister Jess Phillips has said she expects there will be more local inquiries into grooming gangs than the five already announced.
Phillips said she would provide more details about the local inquiries once an audit into the scale and nature of the problem is published.
Baroness Louise Casey's audit, which had been due to finish in mid-April, will be released "later in May", Phillips said.
[ more...]
Technology
Artificial intelligence “nudification” apps that create deepfake sexual images of children should be immediately banned, amid growing fears among teenage girls that they could fall victim, the children’s commissioner for England is warning.
Girls said they were stopping posting images of themselves on social media out of a fear that generative AI tools could be used to digitally remove their clothes or sexualise them, according to the commissioner’s report on the tools, drawing on children’s experiences. Although it is illegal to create or share a sexually explicit image of a child, the technology enabling them remains legal, the report noted.
[ more...]
Justice
All primary school children should be taught about domestic abuse, a government tsar has said after a landmark survey found that thousands of children are being forced to suffer violence in the home alone due to a lack of funding.
Dame Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, said children should be learning about issues relating to domestic abuse “earlier than maybe we’re comfortable” with, given the scale of abuse.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Rates of knife crime, violence against women, and theft could rise in London without more government funding, the Metropolitan Police commissioner has warned.
In a report, external, due to be presented by Sir Mark Rowley to the London Policing Board this week, he says the force "must be honest to Londoners that in light of the budget, we are shrinking as an organisation".
The commissioner acknowledges that extra funding from the Home Office and City Hall means the Met's final settlement is "nearly £100m better" than it feared in November 2024, when he warned of a £450m funding gap and "eye-watering cuts" to services.
[ more...]
Technology
Social media companies will be fined up to £60,000 each time a post relating to knife crime is not removed from their sites in a bid to stop children viewing "sickening" content.
The new sanction expands on previously announced plans to fine individual tech executives up to £10,000 if their platforms fail to remove material advertising or glorifying knives following 48 hours of a police warning.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The “robust” action by the force followed a noticeable rise in reports of robberies on the network, including the London Underground, in 2023.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, 1,527 robberies were recorded as having occurred on trains or in stations in London. Between April 2024 and March 2025, this dropped by nearly 20 per cent to 1,245.
Over the past year, BTP engaged in dozens of operations across London alongside hundreds of plain-clothed and uniformed patrols on trains and in stations, closely working with policing partners and our partners in the railway industry.
[ more...]
Technology
The report by Crest Advisory shows that fraud is a near-universal experience for young people online, yet despite this, more than two thirds of victims never formally report the crime, and support systems for victims are typically not designed with young people in mind.
Produced in partnership with Action Fraud and the City of London Police, the report is the first comprehensive study of fraud victimisation among children and young people (CYP) in England and Wales.
Fraud is now the most common crime in the UK, with an estimated £219 billion lost each year. It is often linked to organised crime and recognised by the Government as a major threat to public safety.
[ more...]
Prisons
Children as young as 15 face being incapacitated with pepper spray after Shabana Mahmood on Thursday authorised its use at young offender institutions [YOIs].
The justice secretary for the first time signed off the use of Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, for use across three of the four YOIs in England and Wales.
The plan, first reported by the Guardian and announced in parliament, has dismayed prison reformers, who say it will create further divisions between staff and minors in their care. The Howard League for Penal Reform said it might challenge the decision in the courts.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Snatch thefts of mobile phones and bags rose by 70 per cent in a year to reach a 20-year high, official data has revealed.
The number of snatch thefts, where devices or personal items are grabbed from a person by a thief, rose from 58,000 in 2023 to 99,000 last year – the highest level since 2003, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Shoplifting across England and Wales soared to the highest level since police record began, according to new figures released on Thursday.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows shoplifting offences rose by 20% compared with the previous year and figures are the highest since current police recording practices began in March 2003.
Policing Minister, Diana Johnson, says: "There is work going on with policing, there is resourcing going on, I had a retail crime summit with big retailers at the end of last year to see what more we can do together to map what's happening on our high streets."
[ more...]
Technology
Sim farm devices capable of holding multiple sim cards enabling scammers to send thousands of scam text messages at once are to be banned under plans to crack down on fraud.
The ban, the first of its kind in Europe, will make the possession or supply of the devices without good reason illegal, with unlimited fines in England and Wales and a £5,000 fine in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Government said the devices are used by criminals to hold multiple sim cards, which as well as allowing scammers to send out thousands of messages to people at the same time, can also be used to create verified accounts on social media and other platforms in large volumes.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Washington-based organisation said there were a string of threats to UK and global output, not least from the impact of the Trump administration's evolving trade war.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Police chiefs will be able to automatically sack officers who fail background checks, under new government measures to boost confidence in policing.
Calls for a change to police vetting procedures began after an independent report into the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.
The new measures, that make passing background checks a legal requirement for all serving officers, will be laid in Parliament on Wednesday and come into effect next month.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Knife crime deaths could be reduced by a third if police brought back the widespread use of stop and search, according to the first research of its kind.
The study, by Scotland Yard’s former chief scientific officer, found that there would be 30 fewer knife murders per year in London if stop and search was conducted at the rate that it was in 2008 to 2011. It could also reduce knife injuries by 16 per cent.
Official crime figures, which will be published on Thursday, could show that knife crime is at record levels amid a fall in police officers’ use of the tactic. Stop and searches by forces in England and Wales have fallen from a high of 1.2 million a year in 2010/11 to 535,000 in the year to March 2024.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
This will apply during court proceedings and in media reporting up until the point of conviction.
The Home Office says the move addresses specific concerns raised during the Accountability Review about the risks firearms officers face from criminal gangs and will protect them and their families against any such threat.
Three measures to improve the timeliness and appropriateness of investigations into police use of force and the rights of victims will also be also included in the Bill:
Aligning the threshold for referrals by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) of officers to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to that used by police when referring cases involving members of the public. This is to avoid the system being clogged up with cases, allowing greater focus and swifter resolution of those that are referred;
Speeding up processes by allowing the IOPC to send cases to the CPS where there is sufficient evidence, prior to their final investigation report; and
Putting the IOPC victims’ right to review policy on a statutory footing to ensure the voices of victims and their families are heard.
[ more...]
Technology
Meta was too slow to act during the UK's riots last summer, according to the US tech giant's independent review body.
After three young girls were murdered in Southport at a dance class on 29 July 2024, misinformation and disinformation spread on social media falsely suggesting the perpetrator was a Muslim and an asylum seeker, said the new report.
People on online platforms encouraged violence and rioting across the country and the disorder lasted for nine days between 30 July and 7 August.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Notting Hill Carnival is at risk of a Hillsborough-scale tragedy unless Sir Sadiq Khan reviews concerns about crowd safety, a report has concluded.
The London Assembly’s police and crime committee said that the Metropolitan Police had consistently raised concerns about the possibility of a “mass casualty event”.
At least one million people converge on the streets of west London over the August bank holiday weekend to celebrate masquerade. Matt Twist, a Met assistant commissioner with responsibility for frontline policing, said that crowd density was “probably the most concerning element” of the event.
[ more...]
Technology
At age 24, Daniel Gonzalez was well-known to the authorities. He was an intelligent child, with an IQ of 125. But by his late teens, he had already racked up a long history of violence – from punching a bus driver over a disputed fare to threatening his carer with a knife.
Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia aged 19, not helped by a fondness for LSD and Ketamine binges, he was soon spending time on the streets, in and out of mental hospitals, and in prison.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Police forces in England and Wales are now required to respond to antisocial behaviour complaints within 72 hours.
The move aims to provide more accountability from local neighbourhood policing units, according to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Each police force will appoint an antisocial behaviour lead officer and establish regular community engagement through ‘police beat meetings,’ according to The Times.
[ more...]
Police Finances
3,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and police community support officers will be in post within the next 12 months, the government has confirmed.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force brought out of special measures two years ago has made further improvements but must develop the thoroughness of its investigations and how it protects vulnerable people, inspectors say.
Cleveland Police has undergone significant restructuring in recent years, according to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), leading to "progress in all areas".
The watchdog graded performance across eight categories, finding the force was "good" in four, "adequate" in two and "requires improvement" in a further two.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The Prime Minister has unveiled new plans as part of the rollout of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. Responding to the announcement, APCC Chair and PCC for Merseyside, Emily Spurrell said:
“Neighbourhood policing is vital for building trust, preventing crime and fostering community engagement. It ensures that local officers, with their unique knowledge, can swiftly address the specific needs of their communities, creating safer and more connected neighbourhoods. Residents and businesses have made it clear, time and again, that they want an accessible local policing team, with local knowledge, dealing with the unique problems in their communities.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
As the Metropolitan Police transfers 371 safer schools officers into neighbourhood teams, headteachers say they were not consulted and urge the force to reverse the decision - with one pupil telling Sky News "there will be more knives" and "there will be drugs coming into school".
[ more...]
Police Demand
A Londoner whose bag was stolen from her Uber tracked it down and reclaimed it from the thief last week, with more help provided by a quick-thinking hotel receptionist than two police forces.
Siddhi Mittal, 34, returned to her West Hampstead home at 1am on Thursday following an event that she had hosted for partners at her business, Yhangry.
Realising that she had left behind her laptop and handbag — containing valuables including her tablet, AirPods and watch — she ran back out but the car had already left.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
One of the UK’s biggest police forces has temporarily blocked applications from white British candidates in an attempt to boost diversity, The Telegraph can disclose.
West Yorkshire Police (WYP) is currently preventing white British candidates from applying for jobs as recruits to its police constable entry programmes. However, “under-represented” groups can lodge their applications early.
[ more...]
Police Demand
On the frontline of the battle of domestic abuse - in the first report of a special investigation into how police deal with the crisis, Lauren Ostridge went out on a night patrol with response officers.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Communities will be safer and trust in local policing will be restored under plans to put police officers back in our neighbourhoods, announced by the Prime Minister today, as he delivers manifesto pledge to roll out the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
New measures will ensure every community will have dedicated and specialist neighbourhood policing teams, ending the postcode lottery on law and order.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than 11,000 young people across Merseyside have taken part in a school-based initiative aimed at tackling serious youth violence and weapon crime.
Operation Prospect, launched in November 2024, delivers powerful assemblies to secondary school students using video, roleplay and real-life scenarios to highlight the dangers of carrying weapons and the ripple effects of violence on communities.
[ more...]
Prisons
A prison governor who began a relationship with a drug-dealing gang boss locked up in the jail she ran has been found guilty of two counts of misconduct in public office.
Kerri Pegg, 42, was seen as a "rising star" of the Prison Service, climbing the career ladder from graduate to governor at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire in six years.
But her trial heard she "didn't play by the rules" and began a relationship with major Liverpool crime figure Anthony Saunderson, helping him secure day release.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Labour has dropped its plans for five local grooming gang inquiries.
In January, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, told MPs that the Government would provide £5 million to support up to five initial local inquiries modelled on the judge-led one into grooming gangs in Telford.
However, on Tuesday Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, announced that “following feedback” the Government would adopt a “flexible approach” where the money would be available for local councils to use as they wished to support grooming gang work.
[ more...]
Technology
The UK government is developing a “murder prediction” programme which it hopes can use personal data of those known to the authorities to identify the people most likely to become killers.
Researchers are alleged to be using algorithms to analyse the information of thousands of people, including victims of crime, as they try to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent offences.
The scheme was originally called the “homicide prediction project”, but its name has been changed to “sharing data to improve risk assessment”. The Ministry of Justice hopes the project will help boost public safety but campaigners have called it “chilling and dystopian”.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The police are making more than 30 arrests a day over offensive posts on social media and other platforms.
Thousands of people are being detained and questioned for sending messages that cause “annoyance”, “inconvenience” or “anxiety” to others via the internet, telephone or mail.
Custody data obtained by The Times shows that officers are making about 12,000 arrests a year under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Imran Janoob is an unflappable man. He needs to be. Standing inside the “fortified kiosk” at the Co-op store he manages in Plaistow, east London, he describes the situation before new security measures were installed. “We had a lot of shoplifting, physical assault, verbal abuse. About 20 offenders a day.
“This” — he gestures to the reinforced walls around us — “has helped a lot. It’s down to eight or ten per day.”
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Plans for a new national police body to lead the fight against terrorism and serious organised crime are being drawn up, as UK police chiefs consider the biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960s.
Under the proposals, counter-terrorism policing units would gain independence from local forces and become part of a new force covering at least England and Wales, and sitting in a newly created national centre for policing.
Counter-terrorism policing (CTP) is currently headquartered with London’s Metropolitan police, with its head appointed by the Met commissioner.
[ more...]
Justice
A force has been chosen to pilot a new service, set up following the murders of a mother and daughter by the younger woman's ex-husband.
Northamptonshire Police will have domestic abuse specialists in its 999 control room as part of an initiative known as Raneem's Law to improve police response to domestic violence.
Raneem's Law was set up by the Home Office following the murders in 2018 of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem by Ms Oudeh's ex-husband.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In the event that a prosecution of a fraud case is not possible or viable,City of London Police and Gowling WLG will work together on a select number of cases to pursue recovery of money and/or assets lost by fraud victims. The cases that are identified will be referred to Gowling for consideration.
Detective Chief Inspector Craig Mullish, City of London Police, said: “As a victim of fraud, you can feel helpless and that you have to shoulder the often heavy financial burden of losing money at the hands of criminals. Of course, a judicial outcome in the form of a custodial sentence and or conviction is the ideal outcome, however it’s the lost money or assets that can have a lasting effect on victims.
“This trial with Gowling WLG is a positive initiative, which we hope will provide a clear process for victims in helping them take back what is owed to them.”
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than 100 relatives of people who have died after contact with the police in the UK since 1971 have joined plans for a class action lawsuit in pursuit of compensation and justice.
The plan for group legal action was announced at the People’s Tribunal on Police Killings, a two-day event in which bereaved families presented evidence to a panel of international experts on how their relatives died and the long-term impact this has had on them.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Young people convicted of knife crimes should be forced to do national service, according to in-depth research of public attitudes.
It concluded that it would be a more effective deterrent than prison and would also offer an opportunity to rehabilitate young offenders by providing “structure and opportunities for development”.
A “citizens panel” of 15 members of the public, representing a diverse cross-section of the population, found that people want serious young offenders to be forced to join the army. This should include youngsters involved in knife crime, according to those who took part.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Imran Janoob is an unflappable man. He needs to be. Standing inside the “fortified kiosk” at the Co-op store he manages in Plaistow, east London, he describes the situation before new security measures were installed. “We had a lot of shoplifting, physical assault, verbal abuse. About 20 offenders a day.
“This” — he gestures to the reinforced walls around us — “has helped a lot. It’s down to eight or ten per day.”
Janoob clearly values the improvement. The kiosk is all but impregnable: a rectangle of toughened clear screens about 8ft high, reinforced with chunky steel brackets. Staff enter through a code-controlled door; business is transacted through small, lockable hatches. Co-op has installed hundreds of such kiosks across the country.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Plans for a new national police body to lead the fight against terrorism and serious organised crime are being drawn up, as UK police chiefs consider the biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960s.
Under the proposals, counter-terrorism policing units would gain independence from local forces and become part of a new force covering at least England and Wales, and sitting in a newly created national centre for policing.
Counter-terrorism policing (CTP) is currently headquartered with London’s Metropolitan police, with its head appointed by the Met commissioner.
[ more...]
Police Demand
THE Co-op lost £80million to theft last year, as the shoplifting epidemic shows little sign of ending.
Bosses at the grocery chain said despite spending £200million on security kit, including body-cams and shielding for staff, their stores were still being targeted by criminals.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Europol’s recently published 2025 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) highlighted the evolving trends of SOC on the international stage; former South Wales Police detective Steve Dodd, a subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation and advocate of the community intelligence-led policing methodology, argues that the SOCTA also reinforces the key role that frontline officers and the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway have to play in tackling that SOC threat.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) is lending its support to Operation Spotlight, a nationally coordinated road safety campaign led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Running from 1st to 28th April, this initiative brings together police forces to protect communities by disrupting criminal activity on the UK road network and reducing the number of people who are killed and seriously injured.
It aims to target criminals who use the road network alongside tackling the most prevalent causes of road deaths and serious injuries, collectively known as the ‘Fatal Four’ — speeding, driving under the influence of drink or drugs, failure to wear a seatbelt, and mobile phone use while driving.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Labour’s National Insurance (NI) raid could force the police to axe 3,600 bobbies from the beat, according to analysis by the Tories.
The party claimed that Rachel Reeves’s NI increase could cut some £230 million from police budgets, equivalent to 3,600 officers.
It warned that this would come on top of a £118 million?reduction to the police funding grant, equal to another 1,800 officers.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Metropolitan Police will have to lose 1,700 officers, PCSOs and staff and cut a number of services as it faces a £260m hole in its budget for the coming year, the force has said.
The Royal Parks police team will go, as will officers placed in schools.
At the end of last year, the Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, warned of "eye-watering" cuts which could have seen the loss of 2,300 officers.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The top-venting blank firing (TVBF) guns have become popular with organised criminals in recent years due to the ease at which they are readily convertible into lethal firearms.
Tests by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and policing, funded by the Home Office, show models produced by four Turkish manufacturers are readily convertible and therefore illegal. TVBFs are legal to buy in the UK without a licence by over 18s unless they are readily convertible.
Police forces held a four-week firearms amnesty for Turkish manufactured TVBFs namely models with the brand names ‘Retay’, ‘Ekol’, ‘Ceonic’ and ‘Blow’, in February.
[ more...]
Justice
The Security Minister has launched a consultation seeking views on the introduction of a National Day to commemorate the victims and survivors of terrorism, recognising that there is no single focal point for the nation to honour the legacy of those who lost their lives or have had their lives changed forever.
Dan Jarvis MP said that the proposal for a National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism would recognise anyone impacted by terrorism in the United Kingdom and British Nationals affected by terrorist acts overseas.
[ more...]
Justice
Victims of crime in England and Wales will be able to attend parole hearings to decide whether a prisoner can be released from jail.
The reform comes into force today and is part of an initiative to boost confidence in the justice system.
It comes after a pilot scheme in the South West and Greater Manchester found victims were "reassured" to see the process of offenders being held to account before the Parole Board made a decision whether to release them.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The new measures, which will be included as an amendment in the Crime and Policing Bill, will protect synagogues, mosques, churches and other religious sites from intimidating levels of disruption caused by protest activity.
These changes will build on existing laws under the Public Order Act, providing a new threshold for officers to be able to impose conditions – including on the route and timing of a march – where the effect of the protest is to intimidate those attending a place of worship. This will give the police total clarity on how and when they can protect religious sites from the types of protest designed to disrupt them.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
HMICFRS has published a new national report following an inspection into how effectively the police investigate crime.
In response, the APCC’s joint leads on performance, Gloucestershire PCC Chris Nelson and Bedfordshire PCC John Tizard said:
“We welcome the HMICFRS inspection report which demonstrates that forces must improve the effectiveness of crime investigations and achieve better outcomes for victims, both of which are vital to improving public confidence in policing.
“Acknowledging that forces are making efforts to improve their investigation performance, a combination of increased demand, reduced resources, inconsistent and ineffective practices, and gaps in training and supervision are impacting investigation outcomes for the majority of forces, even those that are high performing in other areas. The recruitment of more detectives and supervisors and training is key, but this also needs to apply to police officers and staff, including call handlers and neighbourhood teams. And, as the report recognises, this cannot be at the expense of other areas.
“Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors will be considering this report and its recommendations and will hold chief constables to account for addressing and improving force investigations and achieving positive outcomes for victims.”
[ more...]
Justice
A new two-tier justice row erupted last night as it emerged that police have been told to treat black and white suspects differently.
A report by policing chiefs declared that their commitment to 'racial equity' did not mean 'treating everyone the same or being colour blind'.
Instead, they called for 'equality of policing outcomes' for different ethnic groups by ending the racial disparity in the 'likelihood of people being criminalised'.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police officers have described being ostracised for taking paternity leave, as it is revealed that back-office staff in the Metropolitan police are entitled to proportionately nearly three times as much paternity pay as frontline fathers.
A freedom of information request has revealed that most serving police officers in England and Wales only take one week of paternity leave, with some describing being on “blue lights” duty and carrying Tasers a week after the birth of their babies.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The Surrey Police Federation (SPF) says it is backing calls for improved trauma support for officers after saying three officers in the county took their own lives last year.
The Suicide Trauma Education Prevention (Step) campaign is demanding mandatory trauma management sessions for officers who attend suicide incidents.
Officers who attend such traumatic scenes are then at a greater risk of dying by suicide themselves, according to the SPF.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The number of investigations into police officers alleged to have abused their position for sexual purposes is at a record level.
An inspection of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) found it had 19 active cases as of July 2024. Since then the number has risen to 24.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a crackdown on officers who misuse their powers was taking place.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police will be given greater powers to stop “intimidating” protests being staged near places of worship.
Forces already have the authority to place restrictions on demonstrations under the Public Order Act, but the law is due to be changed to allow protests to be stopped specifically if worshippers will be intimidated.
The Metropolitan Police has already stopped pro-Palestine protests taking place near a synagogue in Portland Place in central London on Saturdays to avoid worshippers feeling intimidated under existing laws.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Overworked police lack the resources, time and experience to investigate crimes properly, leading to victims being failed and an erosion in faith in law enforcement, an official report has found.
The report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) says that the rate of positive outcomes – when police identify a suspect and they face justice – has crashed from 25% in England and Wales a decade ago to 11% in 2024.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Policing Minister, Diana Johnson, along with other senior leaders, including the College of Police’s Chief Constable, Sir Andy Marsh, have joined together in renewing their pledge to drive improvements in police culture through the latest report from the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP).
Central to this report is the new anti-racism commitment for policing.
The commitment:
-clearly defines the objectives of an anti-racist police service
-explains what anti-racism means in a policing context
-outlines the specific actions needed to achieve these goals
[ more...]
Justice
Sarah Everard's parents are campaigning for tougher sentencing for serious violent and sexual criminals as part of a new campaign group being launched in Parliament.
Ms Everard, 33, was abducted, raped and murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in London in 2021 - he was later sentenced to a whole life order.
Jeremy and Susan Everard said it was "important that sentences truly reflect the seriousness of the crime".
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A police force is to cut 60 staff jobs in a bid to save £12.3m over the next year.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said it would also transfer its mounted capability to West Midlands Police, redeploying its mounted officers.
"The next 12 months are going to be tough and involve some really difficult choices," said temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police and crime commissioner said he was "interested in" becoming the mayor of a combined council for Norfolk and Suffolk.
Tim Passmore, who has held the post of commissioner in Suffolk since 2012, is believed to be the first public figure to express an interest in the mayoral role.
A consultation on the government's plan for a mayor-led authority covering both counties is under way.
[ more...]
Technology
In a new report, Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow said a “sizeable proportion” of custody images taken between 2019 and 2024 are of such low quality they are unsuitable for police use in relation to facial searching technology.
Police forces across the UK upload images of everyone they arrest to the Police National Database (PND), which allows officers to detect potential matches with photographs of suspects captured and uploaded from sources including video doorbells and CCTV.
The intelligence sharing system can lead to a person arrested for one crime being linked to numerous unsolved crimes.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A police force is to cut 60 staff jobs in a bid to save £12.3m over the next year.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said it would also transfer its mounted capability to West Midlands Police, redeploying its mounted officers.
"The next 12 months are going to be tough and involve some really difficult choices," said temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Home Office says the funding boost will help protect rural communities “from the scourge of crimes such as equipment theft, livestock theft and hare coursing which can devastate countryside communities, farming and wildlife”.
Funding to the National Rural Crime Unit will enable the unit to continue to increase collaboration across police forces, harnessing the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups involved in crimes such as equipment theft from farms.
The National Wildlife Crime Unit will strengthen its ability to disrupt criminal networks exploiting endangered species both in the UK and internationally. Enhanced data analysis and financial investigation will help the unit track illegal wildlife profits and ensure offenders face justice.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Claims of “two-tier policing” are “almost impossible to defend against”, a senior officer has said.
College of Policing chief executive Sir Andy Marsh said that any tensions between communities and local forces are an “existential threat” to policing.
Speaking at the Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Conference in London on Tuesday, Sir Andy said that police officers feeling trusted and valued “has a big impact on their legitimacy”.
[ more...]
Justice
Suicides linked to abusive relationships accounted for more than a third of all domestic homicides last year, a report has found.
At least 262 people died in England and Wales after experiencing domestic abuse in the year to March 31, 2024 and 68 per cent of victims and perpetrators were known to the authorities.
The Domestic Homicide Project found that 98 domestic abuse victims died in suspected suicides while 80 deaths were recorded as “intimate partner homicides” during the same period.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The STEP – Suicide Trauma Education Prevention – campaign will raise awareness of the amount of daily trauma officers face in their jobs, and where they can access support when they need it.
Between 2011 and 2022, there were 242 suicides of current police officers and police community support officers in England and Wales. More recently – from 2021 to 2024 – an estimated 80 former and current police officers took their own lives.
Although the causes of any suicide are “complicated and nuanced”, Hampshire Police Federation chair Spencer Wragg says many officers are deeply affected when they attend incidents where a member of the public has taken their own life.
[ more...]
Technology
We are all watched, almost all the time. Closed circuit television is now so routine that we barely notice the cameras in shops, at stations, on buses or wherever there is a danger of overcrowding or accidents. Checking the footage is now usually the first step in investigating a crime. Most people neither know nor care how often their faces and their movements have been captured on footage somewhere.
[ more...]
Technology
Police are setting up London's first permanent facial recognition cameras, despite privacy fears.
The live facial recognition (LFR) cameras, which are intended to make fighting crime easier by identifying criminal suspects faster, will be set up in Croydon, in south London.
Police have already been using mobile facial recognition cameras in vans, which can be deployed anywhere in the city. Hundreds of suspects are said to have been arrested during the years the vans have been running.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In the second in a regular series of articles and opinion pieces from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, Chair of the APCC, looks at the measures included in the Crime and Policing Bill currently progressing through Parliament, and the steps that PCCs, PFCCs and deputy mayors will play in helping to ensure those changes are delivered for the benefit of local communities.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
UK government borrowing was higher than expected in February. Borrowing - the difference between spending and income from taxes - was £10.7 billion last month, according to official figures, which comes ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement next week.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Counter-terror police are leading the investigation into the “unprecedented” electrical substation fire that has closed down London Heathrow, stopping more than 1,300 flights, as engineers tried to restore power to the airport on Friday.
Airlines face days of disruption with hundreds of thousands of scheduled passengers already unable to fly in and out of Europe’s busiest airport, after what ministers said was an “unusual and unprecedented incident”.
London fire brigade was called shortly after 11pm on Thursday to a fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London, with power also cut to thousands of homes.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
At least 150 extra officers are needed to help rebuild policing in the West Midlands, the area's police and crime commissioner (PCC) said.
Simon Foster has written to the Home Office to apply for the additional officers, which would come as part of the government's £100m pledge to deliver 13,000 more police on the streets.
He said West Midlands Police had 700 fewer officers and 500 fewer community support officers than it did in 2010 while other areas benefited from their highest ever numbers, which he described as "inexcusable unfairness".
[ more...]
Justice
A 22-year-old black student has accused police and prosecutors of misusing hate speech laws intended to protect minorities after she was charged for using the N-word in a tweet.
Jamila A, who lives in London, was charged under the Communications Act 2003 in July 2023 after referring to the black Newcastle United footballer Alexander Isak as a “nigga” in a tweet.
[ more...]
Police Demand
UK police forces are receiving more than 110 reports of child sextortion attempts every month, according to the National Crime Agency, as a new awareness campaign is launched about the online scourge.
The NCA said the use of artificial intelligence in sextortion attacks had also increased “substantially” over the past three years as criminals adapted their methods.
The agency said in the first five months of 2024 – the first time it has collected such data – police forces received an average of 117 reports of sextortion from under-18s each month.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A new survey has revealed the significant financial struggles police officers are facing and its impact on their mental health and job satisfaction.
According to Metfriendly’s latest Police Family Finance Index (PFFI), 64% of police officers and 47% of police staff reported having current financial concerns. Furthermore, 55% of police officers and 51% of police staff reported a high level of stress.
[ more...]
Technology
On Monday, a former Scout leader and school housemaster was found guilty of 54 child sex offences, having already pleaded guilty to 43 crimes at an earlier hearing.
Chester Crown Court heard how, between 1968 and 1995, Richard Burrows had systematically abused 24 young boys across the Cheshire, West Midlands and West Mercia areas.
But that reckoning came some 27 years after Burrows – now aged 80 – had initially been due in court following his arrest in April 1997. Rather than attend his hearing that December, Burrows – who had been bailed – fled abroad under the stolen identity of a terminally ill acquaintance named Peter Smith.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A police force has "more officers in this county than we've ever had", according to its police and crime commissioner (PCC).
The Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel also heard there was "greater visibility of policing" in 20 crime hotspots thanks to a £1m government grant.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough PCC Darryl Preston said: "The standard [officer] figure we use is 1,732, but at any one time we have actually got more than that."
[ more...]
Justice
The domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales has said she is "deeply concerned" that government plans to tackle abuse could go on failing victims.
The comments from Dame Nicole Jacobs come after ministers declined to fully accept all of her recommendations for reform in a review published in January.
She added that a "comprehensive strategy", backed by more funding, was required to improve victims' experience of the justice system.
[ more...]
Prisons
Criminals serving long sentences for serious offences such as manslaughter, GBH and drug dealing could be released from prison early under a Labour review to combat prison overcrowding.
David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary heading the review, said such controversial measures were needed if his proposed sentencing reforms were to have any impact on prison overcrowding.
He warned that scrapping short prison sentences for lower-level offenders would not be enough on its own to prevent the Government from running out of prison cells.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Avon and Somerset Police force faces an £11m deficit by 2029/30, according to its Police and Crime Commissioner.
Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol's John Darvall, Clare Moody said "resourcing across the public sector is a challenge".
She added: "The medium-term financial plan is a balanced budget for next year.
"Looking over the coming years we do have that challenge by the end of 2029/30, we are looking at an £11m deficit by that point."
[ more...]
Police Finances
Sending state pensioners to prison saves the UK up to £41m a year, new figures show.
According to a Freedom of Information request by The Telegraph, 3,562 people aged 66 and above are currently incarcerated and cannot receive their state pension until they are released.
Radical campaigners are now calling for the payments to be made in full, adding the policy amounted to an “additional punishment”.
[ more...]
Prisons
The government has triggered an emergency measure to use police cells to hold prisoners, as jails are close to being full again.
'Operation Safeguard' is an agreement between the National Police Chief Council and the prison service allowing inmates to be held in police cells where prisons are full.
It was used in May last year for a number of months. Ministers are expected to announce the policy later today.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Government has big plans for more devolution in England, to empower local decision-making on behalf of communities.
It also has big plans for policing across England and Wales, and colleagues and I are working closely with the Home Office, and others in the sector, to shape those changes.
Perhaps uniquely, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and police, fire and crime commissioners (PFCCs) are affected by both programmes of reform.
[ more...]
Justice
It is undoubtedly true that some migrants to the UK have “faced imprisonment, torture or rape” prior to fleeing their home country and may suffer higher rates of mental health difficulties, depression and anxiety. It is one of the reasons why the UK granted asylum to more than 50,000 people in the past year. But other than prompting sympathy, and perhaps charity, how should we respond to such facts?
This description of the plight of refugees appears in the Equal Treatment Bench Book, a 352-page guide for judges on how to treat defendants fairly. Published by the Judicial College, the organisation responsible for training the judiciary in England and Wales, the guidance aims to increase understanding of the circumstances of people appearing in courts.
[ more...]
Prisons
This week government figures are likely to show the prison population back to where it was before the last early release scheme.
But even though hundreds of prisoners have served only 40% of their sentences, there is a cohort of the prison population who have served extended sentences, years beyond their minimum term.
IPP sentences (imprisonment for public protection) were introduced in 2005 and abolished in 2012. But the law wasn't backdated, so the legacy of prisoners serving indefinite sentences continues.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The drop came between April and December 2024, with decreases seen in gun discharges, serious violence and burglary, the Police and Crime Commissioner's public scrutiny meeting has confirmed.
The meeting, which reviews Merseyside Police’s progress against the priorities set by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the region Emily Spurrell, showed there were nearly 9,000 fewer crimes in 2024 compared to 2023.
Officials will confirm later today that residential burglaries decreased by more than 20 percent during this timeframe when compared to the same period the previous year, with vehicle crime dropping by more than 22 percent.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Victims of Hillsborough, Grenfell, the Manchester Arena terror attack and the Aberfan disaster have said decades of suffering could have been avoided if a new charter compelling the police to tell the truth was introduced sooner.
The Hillsborough Charter, external will oblige organisations to think about victims rather than their own reputations.
This is the first time victims from four of the UK's most public and harrowing tragedies have come together to speak publicly.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Developed by the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme (VKPP), it reveals that around a third of CSAE contact crimes take place within the family environment and more than half of offences (where the age was known) were committed by children aged ten to 17.
Offending ranged from experimental image-based abuse to serious contact offences.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) says based on datasets collected from 44 police forces, this national snapshot gives “refreshed, enhanced insight and analysis” into the scale and nature of reported CSAE, trends in offending, including crime types, and presents profiles of both victims and perpetrators.
[ more...]
Prisons
It says dealing with the consequences is “taking valuable resources away from preventing crime and supporting victims”.
At his first press conference as Prime Minister last July, Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged that there were “too many prisoners” as jails across England and Wales were stretched beyond capacity. Within weeks, his government introduced emergency measures to ease pressure on the system.
But even the early release of thousands of people has offered only temporary respite, as the prison population now stands at a higher level than it did on the morning after the general election, says the Howard League.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Criminals are using blank-firing pistols, often purchased legally by farmers to scare off birds or used as theatre props, to commit violence, police chiefs have warned.
The Turkish-made weapons, which can be bought for as little as £100, are sold with a blocked barrel but can be converted into killing machines in just 20 minutes using tools available from any DIY store.
About a third of all shootings in London over the past two years, including at least two murders, are thought to have involved converted blank-firing pistols rather than conventional handguns, such as Glocks, according to Scotland Yard.
[ more...]
Justice
As few as one in 200 crimes results in an offender being sent to jail, analysis of official figures shows as career criminals escape justice.
An estimated 13 million crimes were committed in the year to September 2024, but just 71,573 jail sentences were handed down by judges or magistrates, equivalent to 0.5 per cent, according to the analysis.
Separate data show that more than half of the offences for which someone was convicted were committed by just under 10 per cent of convicts, prolific criminals responsible for multiple crimes.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy shrank at the start of 2025, according to official figures which had been expected to show further low growth. The Office for National Statistics said that output declined by 0.1 per cent during the month following the 0.4 per cent growth seen in December, after a growth figure of 0.1 per cent had been predicted by a majority of economists.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Home Office has paid a police force £2 million to monitor a camp for asylum seekers despite no migrants ever being held there.
Documents released by the Home Office show it paid Lincolnshire Police £1,936,531 to protect and oversee policing of RAF Scampton, which was once the Dambusters squadron’s wartime air base.
The camp was developed by the Tories to house migrants but never used.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Nearly a quarter of Britons have witnessed shoplifting in the past year and seen physical or verbal abuse of shop workers as criminals become “bolder and more aggressive”.
A survey carried out for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) by the market research firm Opinium found Nottingham to be a UK hotspot for retail crime where 32% of residents said they had witnessed shoplifting. London was close behind on 29%.
Southampton, Leeds and Manchester were all above the national average, while Liverpool, Brighton and Sheffield witnessed less shop theft than other major cities during the year.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Widening terrorism law to include violent killers such as the Southport attacker would skew the threat level, risk overwhelming the police and result in “unacceptable” restrictions on freedom of expression, the government’s terror watchdog has concluded.
Jonathan Hall KC firmly rebuffed a suggestion by Sir Keir Starmer that terrorism law be adjusted to address the threat of loner misfits fixated on violence such as Axel Rudakubana, who killed three young girls in the mass stabbing in Southport last year.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner has announced she intends to stand to become one of the region’s first directly-elected Mayors.
Donna Jones hopes to be the Conservative candidate for the new position of Mayor of Hampshire and the Solent, in 2026.
The government launched a public consultation on devolution and the idea of a strategic combined authority Monday on 17 February.
[ more...]
Police Demand
More than half of child sexual abuse reports in England and Wales in 2023 were made against children aged 10 to 17, according to new police figures.
The offences range from experimental image-based abuse, such as sending nude images of themselves, to serious contact offences, including rape.
The figures, analysed by the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, show that in 2023, 52% of reports of child sexual abuse involved children offending against other children. The most common age of the offenders was 14.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Many early-career officers are considering leaving the force due to financial pressures, job dissatisfaction, the toll on their family lives and mental wellbeing.
The findings, which raise concerns about the long-term sustainability of policing as a career, come from the latest Police Family Finance Index, an annual, independent survey of more than 10,000 police officers and staff.
The latest report reveals that a quarter (24 per cent) of officers with one to five years’ service are contemplating leaving policing altogether, citing financial stress and workplace pressures. Additionally, one in five (18 per cent) Officers in this experience bracket are considering taking on second jobs, and 13 per cent of those with less than 12 months’ service are already exploring additional employment opportunities.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A man arrested for shouting "who elected him?" during a proclamation ceremony for the King has been paid £2,500 in compensation.
Thames Valley Police said it accepted the grounds of the offence for which Symon Hill was arrested in September 2022 "were unlawful".
The 47-year-old had been walking home from church when he stopped and called out during the ceremony at Carfax Tower in Oxford and was handcuffed and arrested.
[ more...]
Prisons
Domestic abusers and sex offenders in England and Wales will be rehabilitated by less-experienced staff with fewer qualifications from June, prompting warnings from a watchdog that the plans must be closely monitored to ensure public safety.
Proposals approved by ministers will roll out behaviour programmes for offenders to be delivered by “band 3” staff who are not fully qualified probation officers.
The work is currently carried out by highly skilled “band 4” probation officers who have extensive experience dealing with rapists, paedophiles, violent partners and online abusers.
[ more...]
Justice
It is still dark when cars pull up to a block of flats and a dozen police officers in plain clothes and stab vests rush their way up to the first floor.
They break down a flimsy front door hoping that behind it they will find the man running an “exceptionally busy” crack and heroin county line in Greater Manchester. The flat does not belong to him but to a vulnerable female drug user who officers suspect may be being exploited by criminals in a process known as cuckooing.
The term, inspired by the cuckoo’s habit of using other birds’ nests, describes how criminals take control of a person’s home to establish a base for illegal activities, most often dealing or to stash weapons. Victims are usually vulnerable adults suffering from a disability, drug or alcohol addiction or social isolation.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Devon and Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner has questioned the validity of allegations of serious sexual offences made against the force's suspended chief constable.
Will Kerr was suspended in July 2023 after an investigation was opened into "serious allegations of sexual offences" in Northern Ireland, which he denies.
Alison Hernandez said she was "frustrated" by the length of the suspension and questioned why no action had been taken against Mr Kerr.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Domestic abuse is a "massive" issue which requires attention from authorities "day in, day out", Surrey's police and crime commissioner has said.
Lisa Townsend expressed her concerns as figures showed Surrey Police recorded 9,724 cases over the last year, an increase on 9,406 from the previous year.
In Tandridge alone, in the first fortnight of January there were 63 arrests in the district, 29 of which were related to domestic abuse.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The new chief constable of Humberside Police has been confirmed as Chris Todd.
Mr Todd, who is the current assistant chief constable of Northern Ireland, was named as the preferred candidate for the role last month.
He was confirmed by the Humberside Police and Crime panel on Friday and will officially start in his new role on 7 April.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police officer has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a mum was killed when her vehicle was hit by an unmarked police car.
Heather Smedley, 53 died after the police vehicle - which was chasing a suspected stolen car in Royton, Oldham on 23 December 2022 - collided with her Peugeot 108.
Police constable Mark Burrows of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been charged after the force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
[ more...]
Police Finances
Potentially “thousands” of policing roles were miscounted by the last government, meaning cuts to officer numbers were “even worse” than expected, the Home Secretary has said.
Yvette Cooper told MPs the Conservative government had cut the number of neighbourhood policing officers “probably by more than 10,000”, but that the method of measuring was “so ropey and so all over the place we can’t even be certain what the precise cuts were”.
The Government’s new Crime and Policing Bill includes a range of measures from tackling knife crime to anti-social behaviour, which will be supported by the recruitment of 13,000 extra neighbourhood policing roles.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A police force has had to take on new staff and build kennels in stations to cope with the extra workload since the ban on XL bully dogs came in last year.
Merseyside Police has spent about £400,000 more on its dog section in the last 12 months compared with the year before.
In February 2024 it became a criminal offence to own an XL bully except with a special exemption.
[ more...]
Justice
There have been renewed calls for reform of the Sentencing Council after it emerged that it recommends criminals be sentenced to less than half the maximum legislated by parliament.
The council’s sentencing guidelines for the offence of domestic burglary state that the range of punishment should be a community order or up to six years in custody. These guidelines were set in July 2022, almost a decade after parliament changed the law to increase the maximum sentence for domestic burglary to 14 years.
For assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), the Sentencing Council recommends a punishment ranging from a fine to four years in custody. This is despite the maximum sentence under the law being five years in prison.
[ more...]
Police Demand
When Sean Edwards found his car and his neighbours’ houses had been broken into in Longsight, Greater Manchester, in 2022, he was not expecting much from the police based on previous experiences.
“I expected them to dust for prints and take statements, then give us a crime reference number and nothing else happen,” he said.
“Similar had happened before,” he added, but this time, “the policeman who saw us was really good”.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Hundreds of police officers have benefited from a loophole that boosts their retirement income, new data reveals.
The figures, obtained exclusively by The Telegraph, show that almost 800 serving officers in England and Wales have used their force’s “retire and return” scheme over the past five years.
The schemes allow officers to return at the same rank after a month’s break to avoid reductions to their pension or lump sum. More than half of those retiring and returning are Metropolitan Police officers.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Government is set to introduce legislation to Parliament today which would grant police the power to enter homes without a warrant if a stolen phone has been tracked to the location. The Crime and Policing Bill also seeks to expand police powers to seize off-road bikes and e-scooters alongside measures targeting knife crime, retail theft, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and children.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Having an XL bully is “like owning a loaded firearm”, police have said after officers had to unload 19 rounds into two dogs to stop a “ferocious” attack on an 84-year-old man.
The victim, who was left fighting for his life in hospital, was walking along a residential street when he was dragged into a garden and mauled at about 6.40pm on Monday.
Cheshire constabulary said an XL bully had escaped from a nearby property before it attacked the man.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Metropolitan Police needs to improve how it handles cases of missing children, according to a police watchdog.
A report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) into the force’s handling of the sexual and criminal exploitation of children found there had been “positive progress” since a previous report in June 2023.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The second in command at the Metropolitan Police is to retire after a career of more than 35 years in policing.
Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, started out as a PC in Catford, south-east London, in 1989.
She has had several other high profile roles, including Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the first female Chief Constable of Surrey Police.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Non-crime hate incidents could be renamed rather than being scrapped, a senior policing figure has suggested.
Lord Herbert, the chairman of the College of Policing, said the idea of rebranding the controversial powers was being considered amid a growing backlash.
Challenged at a meeting in the House of Lords over the use of NCHIs, Lord Herbert acknowledged that they were “contradictory, alarming and confusing”, and said renaming them was one option under consideration.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Under new measures, police will also no longer need to apply for warrants to search premises where stolen items have been electronically located, particularly mobile phones.
The Home Office said it was one of the “biggest legislative updates to crime and policing for decades”, with a comprehensive package of new laws to “tackle head-on the anti-social behaviour, shop theft and street crime that is plaguing our streets”.
The enhanced powers against theft of mobile phones means police will no longer need a warrant to search properties where stolen items have been electronically geolocated.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The government has published its Crime and Policing Bill. In response, APCC Chair, Emily Spurrell, said:
“This is a major piece of legislation designed to tackle a host of issues that we know members of the public really care about – so-called low-level crimes that blight neighbourhoods, as well as serious high-harm crimes, the threat of which make people feel unsafe.
[ more...]
Technology
A rape victim has slammed the police's decision to start trialling the use of AI to transcribe victim impact statements.
Hertfordshire Constabulary has piloted the use of Anathem Digital Assistant to transcribe and generate documents for witness statements or interview notes.
The model, which claims to be the 'AI for frontline workers', says it will save police officers an hour a day and will prevent victims from extended waiting times.
[ more...]
Justice
Barristers have attacked the outsourcing giant Serco for worsening the backlogs in Britain’s criminal courts, warning that judges are “powerless” in punishing private contractors.
Mary Prior KC, the chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), hit out at the private contractors who run prison transport services in England and Wales over repeated failures to bring prisoners to court on time.
Ms Prior said: “Every court user is frustrated. Sometimes it causes a trial to be adjourned. At other times it means that witnesses are left waiting for hours at a time. Every other participant has to be at court on time except for the person that the court cannot start without – the accused.”
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Two months before Rishi Sunak called a July election, Sir Keir Starmer promised to “level up” England in a way never countenanced by Boris Johnson.
The Labour leader released a plan for a wholesale transfer of power from Westminster and Whitehall to the regions, one that could end England’s status as one of the developed world’s most centralised nations.
Since 1974, when Michael Heseltine, as local government minister, ripped up the map of historic English counties, changes to the structure of local government have been piecemeal.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
London’s police force has been hit by a fresh recruitment scandal after it emerged it hired more than 1,000 officers without obtaining references before they started work.
Many of the new recruits are believed to have been employed following the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, an officer in the Metropolitan Police’s elite parliamentary and diplomatic protection squad.
The force’s failure to properly check references over an extended period of time is a setback for Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, who has pledged to root out rogue officers following the jailing of Couzens and his colleague, David Carrick, a serial rapist.
[ more...]
Justice
Reform of joint enterprise laws can help to solve the crisis facing the justice system, a review of the criminal courts has been told by experts.
Lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood launched the independent, “once in a generation” inquiry into criminal courts in December, seeking “bold thinking” on tackling the record crown court caseload.
Two legal campaigners, Keir Monteith KC and Prof Eithne Quinn, of the University of Manchester, have since told the review – led by Sir Brian Leveson – that “considering the overuse of joint enterprise” will “enhance fairness” and help tackle the backlog of prosecutions.
[ more...]
Justice
Changes must be made to the way court cases are prioritised, barristers and victims’ advocates have said, with some trials already being scheduled into 2028.
The existing system means judges must schedule trials for defendants who are held in custody within six months of arrest unless a legal application is made, regardless of the severity of their alleged offence, while those on bail have no set time limit. This means victims of serious crimes including rape face years-long waits for trials, while less serious crimes are bumped ahead in the queue.
Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said the system was formed before the current problem of backlogs. “If someone is supplying drugs but is in custody, that case will take priority over a case where someone is a victim of burglary, fraud or rape and the perpetrator is on bail,” she told the Observer.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police force is training dogs to identify drugs associated with drink spiking.
Thames Valley Police said its pilot scheme would involve dogs that can already track down cash, explosives and sim cards.
"This is a relatively new tactic that we are developing each time our dogs conduct training or go out and about," said Det Supt Jon Capps, the force's head of rape and sexual offences.
Spiking is the action of putting a drug into someone's drink, or into their body through another method, without their consent.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Child criminal exploitation and "cuckooing" are set to become specific criminal offences as part of new legislation being introduced to Parliament next week.
The Crime and Policing Bill will also include measures that could see restriction orders put on people thought to be at risk of exploiting children for criminal means.
Cuckooing is when the home of a vulnerable person is taken over by criminals who use it as a base for illegal activities, such as drug dealing.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The surplus in government finances was £15.4 billion in January, the highest level for the month since records began more than three decades ago. However the figure was much lower than the £20.5 billion predicted by the UK’s official forecaster, raising speculation Chancellor Rachel Reeves will either have to cut public spending or increase taxes next month to meet her self-imposed rules for the economy.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK’s inflation rate increased from 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent in January, the highest level in 10 months.
[ more...]
Justice
A new report from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has exposed the “stark extent of racial disproportionality” in violence affecting children and young people.
It is calling for action across government, youth justice, education, healthcare and policing to tackle the impact of violence on young people from certain ethnic backgrounds.
The YEF report highlights that despite making up just five per cent of 16-24-year-olds in England and Wales, black young people account for 34 per cent of homicide victims in this age group. They are also five times more likely to receive custodial sentences for homicide.
The research says that the systems meant to protect children from violence – across policing, youth justice, health and education – are not equally accessible.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK's inflation rate jumps from 2.5% to 3.0% in January, the highest level in 10 months
It means that, on average, something which cost £1 a year ago now costs £1.03 - here's what else it means for your money
Today's figure was driven in part by air fares, food and private school fees, the Office for National Statistics says
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police commissioner has made a plea for new information after a councillor admitted he had been accused of having sex with an underage girl.
Danielle Stone, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC), was speaking after Matthew Binley, now a North Northamptonshire councillor, told party colleagues the allegation stemmed from 2009 while he was serving with the county's police force.
His admission to colleagues was first reported in the NN Journal blog.
[ more...]
Police Finances
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC) has committed £188,000 to double the region's fleet of mobile speed camera vans.
Simon Foster said it meant the force could monitor more "hot spots" to catch speeding drivers.
He said he had invested £130,000 to purchase three new vans – and approved funding for a fourth worth £58,000 to bring the number to eight in total.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A burglar who was caught after triggering a Home Alone-style trap at a house in Northumberland has been jailed.
Paul Howell, 56, was attempting to break into a property in Blyth - but fled when a bucket of water soaked his feet after tripping a hidden line of string just before 3am on 9 November last year, police said.
The householders set the trap following reports of a number of attempted burglaries.
[ more...]
Prisons
A new report warns that UK prison conditions have "drastically deteriorated" since maintenance work was privatized, with prisons facing rodent infestations, crumbling infrastructure, and security failures. The Prison Officers Association is calling for maintenance contracts to be brought back in-house, citing safety risks and past refusals by European courts to extradite suspects due to "inhumane" conditions.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The UK economy grew 0.1 per cent in late 2024, avoiding immediate recession. Annual GDP rose 0.9 per cent, while GDP per capita fell for two quarters.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Ministers are reportedly trying to “mission-wash” every item of spending in their departments, according to officials, before a spending review at which the Chancellor has demanded they justify every pound they receive. Secretaries of state and their officials are looking for ways to link their spending to one of the Government’s main priorities – growth, net zero, crime, education, immigration and the NHS – in order to avoid sharp budget cuts this summer, sources say.
[ more...]
Justice
Avon and Somerset Police, in collaboration with Somerset Domestic Abuse Service (delivered by The YOU Trust) and Somerset Council, is launching a new initiative to enhance support for high-risk domestic abuse victims in Somerset.
Building on the success of last year’s trial across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset, Operation Balearic aims to provide immediate safeguarding support during a victim’s most vulnerable moments while also strengthening investigative outcomes against perpetrators.
[ more...]
Technology
A new AI system trained to identify knives could help “transform” how police forces tackle knife crime, researchers have said.
Knife Hunter, a system developed by the Institute for People-Centred AI at the University of Surrey, can help police forces identify weapons and then trace their origins more quickly, and has been developed in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police.
The research team said it can allow police to more easily log weapons found, recovered or seized, trace retail or illegal import channels and monitor geographical trends – as well as see reports the system generates on knife crime patterns to help support policing and inform policymaking.
[ more...]
Police Demand
The mother of a school boy who was stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity says she feels “sad and hopeless” over the increase in knife violence among young people.
Pooja Kanda, 47, from Wolverhampton, says it takes her back to the day her son was killed every time she hears of another teenager losing their life to knife crime in the UK.
Ronan Kanda, 16, was murdered by two teenagers – who had bought a set of swords and a machete online – as he walked home from a friend’s house in June 2022.
[ more...]
Prisons
Sex offenders and domestic abusers are among 13,000 convicted criminals whose rehabilitation courses have been cancelled by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) because of probation officers’ “impossible” workloads.
Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, said they had to be axed as they had not completed them before their sentences expired in the three years up to March 2024. She blamed the previous Tory Government that had left the probation service with a workload that was “quite simply impossible” to fulfil.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Sacked police officers accused of rape and grooming a 13-year-old girl could be reinstated following a landmark court case.
More than 300 Metropolitan Police officers and staff who were stripped of their warrant cards under a vetting scheme introduced after the murder of Sarah Everard could return to the force following a judicial review brought by a sergeant.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Taking place between February 5 and 7, Counter Terrorism Policing, the Home Office and Ministry of Defence planned and conducted a national exercise to test the response to a large-scale security incident, such as a terrorist attack.
The exercise – known as Octacine 2 – was part of the Government’s regular counter-terrorism efforts. The focus was to test the ability of police and military to work together in extreme circumstances, as well as familiarising personnel with different sites and participating in joint briefings.
Octacine 2 built on a previous, similar exercise and was designed to simulate the deployment of military personnel to support the Strategic Armed Policing Reserve.
[ more...]
Police Finances
A project to revamp and modernise a police contact and control room (CCR) has been praised for "enormously" improving its performance.
Tim Passmore, Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner, said a £1.4m investment in the scheme was "paying dividends" and he was confident better response times would "play a major role in keeping crime levels down".
In September 2023, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services rated Suffolk Police inadequate for the way it responded to calls and also raised concerns about the time it took to answer 101 non-emergency calls.
[ more...]
Police Demand
A Cornish shopkeeper said he's made more than 50 citizen's arrests in the last two years to tackle shoplifting as he doesn't feel supported by the police.
Martin Gaunt, 62, who runs the gift shop 'Happy Piranha' in Truro, said he has been left with no choice but to take matters into his own hands, and has been detaining suspects until the police arrive.
He said his actions have cut the number of thefts in his shop by 80 percent.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Policing has been left in a "hopeless position" following a High Court ruling that forces cannot dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said.
It comes after the court ruled against the UK's largest police force in what has been described as a "test case" that officials say will have major implications for the sacking of police officers accused of misconduct.
It was decided the force was wrong to remove the vetting of Sergeant Lino Di Maria, who had faced rape allegations - which he denied.
[ more...]
Justice
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a new £5.4m service to ensure vulnerable adults in contact with the police, including those taking part in voluntary police interviews, have timely access to an independent appropriate adult to support them.
The first-ever London wide scheme will safeguard vulnerable adults’ rights, entitlements and welfare, ensuring that they are treated in a fair and just manner, and are able to participate in police proceedings effectively.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The Deputy Prime Minister has announced a package of new measures to extend devolution to more areas of England that could see the role and responsibilities of seven Police and Crime Commissioners move under six regional Mayors that look set to be elected in 2026.
In what the government is calling a “devolution revolution,” six areas of the country will be given “sweeping new powers” in “one of the largest ever single packages of mayoral devolution in England.” That could lead to over 80% of England coming under devolved arrangements as a result of the Devolution Priority Programme. The following areas have agreed to join the programme:
Cumbria
Cheshire & Warrington
Norfolk & Suffolk
Greater Essex
Sussex & Brighton
Hampshire & Solent
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
A police force looks likely to retain its 99 community support officers (PCSOs) after previously announcing plans to get rid of them.
Last month, Essex Police said it needed to make drastic savings to mitigate a budget shortfall of £5.3m.
However, the government said on Friday it would invest £100m in policing, of which Essex Police would receive £2.3m.
The force said it still planned to cut 65 staff roles, and increase its share of council tax.
[ more...]
Police Finances
An extra £1.1 billion for the police represents a “drop in the ocean” for England’s biggest force, an MP has warned.
Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney said that central London protests had regularly “abstracted away” neighbourhood police officers from her Richmond Park constituency, while Labour MP Chris Vince warned of a “void of experience” across the country as a result of cuts.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson confirmed police forces throughout England and Wales would receive £17.5 billion throughout 2025/26, up from £16.4 billion this year.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
In a bid to create a more "agile and modern" Civil Service, the Government has announced that top civil servants could face dismissal if they fail to achieve departmental savings. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said leaders must be held accountable for efficient spending, as departments seek to cut five per cent from their budgets.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The Bank of England has halved its growth forecast for this year as it cut interest rates to the lowest level for more than 18 months.
The economy is now expected to grow by 0.75% in 2025, the Bank said, down from its previous estimate of 1.5%.
The government has made growing the economy one of its key aims. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC he was "not satisfied with growth" and the downgraded forecast "just spurs us on".
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A police officer who admitted assaulting a man while on duty has been ordered to do unpaid work.
PC Craig Simpson, 39, repeatedly punched Mark Pettigrew, 30, after he was asked to leave a gig at Glasgow's Hydro venue on 11 March 2023.
The police officer hit Mr Pettigrew on the head at least four times, causing his nose to swell.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Yvette Cooper has backed the use of metal detectors in schools in the wake of the fatal stabbing of a teenager in Sheffield.
The Home Secretary said she wanted “much stronger” action to tackle knife and youth crime amid a record rise in offences across multiple regions including London.
She was responding on a LBC phone-in to Lisa Theobald whose 20-year-old son Ryan was stabbed to death during a night out after an altercation with a group of men in Doncaster.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
Rachel Reeves has been warned by economists that she will have no choice but to cut spending or increase taxes because any leeway in the public finances has “evaporated”. The Chancellor has been given official estimates on the state of the economy by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) but is expected to resist calls to hold an emergency budget when the forecasts are published on March 26.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen’s plans to boost policing and deliver the improvements local people have asked for have been fully approved.
The County Durham and Darlington PCC, who has promised to keep residents and businesses at the heart of her safety plans, presented her budget for policing in 2025-26 to the area’s Police and Crime Panel on Monday (3 Feb).
The proposals, which were unanimously agreed, included her recommendation to increase the amount of council tax paid by residents towards policing by £14 a year – an increase of just 27p a week for an average (Band D) property.
[ more...]
Police Demand
Councils have called for more funding from the Government for council dog-teams after warnings that they are facing substantial financial pressures following the XL Bully ban and reports of a shortage of Dog Legislation Officers. The LGA warned that the ban placed substantial financial pressures on councils and said: “In addition to training, implementation and opportunity costs by council dog-team officers, it caused a sharp rise in private kennelling and other payments that strained already scarce local authority resources”.
[ more...]
Police Finances
West Mercia Police could cut 150 staff jobs despite a potential council tax rise.
The area's Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion wants to increase its council tax precept by almost 5% for the next financial year.
But, said Mr Campion, "the force is facing challenges as a result of inflation and other financial pressures that the central government fund isn't meeting".
[ more...]
Police Finances
The Home Office has announced an extra £100m for neighbourhood policing in England and Wales, as part of its pledge to put more officers on the ground by 2029.
It comes on top of an initial £100m announced in December, when the government made recruiting an extra 13,000 officers into neighbourhood roles one of its central pledges.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas."
[ more...]
Police Demand
Retailers have suffered unprecedented annual levels of shoplifting losses and incidents of violence and abuse against staff, according to industry data, although one major chain has told Sky News there are now signs of a fightback.
The British Retail Association (BRC) used the publication of its annual retail crime survey, covering the 12 months to April 2024, to demand an urgent police and government response to mounting industry losses and incidents of assault.
The survey showed £2.2bn of recorded store losses from theft - up from £1.8bn over the previous 12 months.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A policing chief has torn up a diversity guide that told officers not to use the term “black sheep” saying the public want crime solved not “virtue signalling”.
In a statement to The Telegraph, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said he had ordered a review of all such documents that “damage public trust and confidence in policing”.
It comes after The Telegraph revealed the nine-page diversity guide for staff at Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire forces that told police not to use the terms “black sheep” and “blacklisted” in case they offended someone.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Essex Police has revealed plans to make all 99 of its PCSOs redundant in an effort to balance its budget.
The force - and its police, fire and crime commissioner - also proposed cutting 65 other staff roles and reducing the pay of all other officers.
Essex Police said it had been given "inadequate" funding from government and was faced with a budget shortfall of £5.3m.
[ more...]
Economy & Public Finance
The near record-high level of UK government revenues is not “uncommon” among advanced economies, analysis has shown.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
As a result, forces have had to increase their kennel capacity by a third, according to the latest figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)
The NPCC said it expects a 500 per cent increase in police costs for dealing with dangerous dogs by end of the financial year
Almost one year on from the ban on XL Bully dogs in the UK, the NPCC says its latest figures show the “huge burden” this has placed on policing, with kennel spaces reaching capacity and costs increasing by the day.
Between February and September 2024, police seized more than 4,586 suspected S1 dogs – specified banned breeds in the Dangerous Dogs Act – throughout England and Wales.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Derbyshire's most senior police officer says increasing council tax to help bridge the force's £8.5m funding gap will not completely solve the problem.
In a report, external, Chief Constable Rachel Swann highlighted the force's funding gap of around £1.5m had increased to £8.5m since September.
Ms Swann has called on the county's police and crime commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts to raise the portion of council tax to fund the force by the maximum of £14 a year for a Band D property.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Never judge a book by its cover is a pretty good rubric, especially if you live on a desert island with a dozen washed-up volumes — you’ve got the time to leaf through each one and decide on its merits. As is Martin Luther King Jr’s dictum about judging people by the content of their character. In real life we take risks with the unknown. Most of the time we can afford the odd mistake. Paperbacks don’t break the bank, and can be put aside if the first few pages don’t please. When a friendship fails to bloom, nobody needs to return the call.
But for those in the business of assessing terror suspects the cost of a bad choice could be monumental; and those costs are usually paid by people who have no part in judging who is to be trusted and who is not.
Last summer, three little girls paid a price for someone else’s failure to discriminate between the merely dotty and the truly dangerous. Another 23 children and their teacher will bear the physical and emotional scars of that savage attack for the rest of their lives.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The way Thames Valley Police has managed a scheme to let people know if their partner has a history of domestic violence "hasn't been acceptable", the area's police and crime commissioner has said.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - known as Clare's Law – was launched in 2014 to provide information within 28 days that could protect someone from being a victim of attack.
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Barber said some responses had taken too long but added the force was making changes to improve.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Police officers have been told not to use the terms “black sheep” and “blacklisted” in case they offend someone.
A nine-page document that forms part of a 2023 diversity guide for staff at Bedfordshire Police and Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire constabularies says that the terms risk “portraying certain groups as inferior or superior to others”.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Teenagers are getting away with knife crime in London because fewer police officers feel confident using stop and search in case a complaint derails their career.
The number of under-18s arrested for knife offences fell from 884 to 595 — a decrease of 33 per cent — between 2018 and 2023.
Metropolitan Police officers have detained young people for offences including possession of an article with a blade or point on school premises, threatening a person with a blade or sharply pointed article on further education premises, and possession of a flick knife or gravity knife.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, has published data which shows trust in the police has risen over the last year. In his annual Policing Survey, residents of Kent rated their confidence level in the force as 6.4/10, compared to last year’s 6/10.
Residents were asked to score their trust level on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not at all and 10 being very much. 63% scored their trust as 6 or more, with only 25% rating it 4 or under. Again, this is an improvement on last year when 57% of respondents scored 6 or above and nearly 32% ranked their trust level as 4 or under.
Victims of crime still have less trust in the police, rating it 5/10, but that too is an improvement on last year’s 4.5/10.
[ more...]
Justice
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, Victim Support and West Sussex County Council’s Domestic Abuse Team hosted a dedicated domestic abuse conference at The Amex in Brighton earlier this week. The theme for the conference was ‘Nobody Left Behind’.
The 300+ attendees included service providers, survivors and those wanting to learn more about how to provide support to domestic abuse victims. The large attendance made this the biggest event focusing on domestic abuse ever held in the county.
Sussex PCC Katy Bourne opened the conference, highlighting the sheer volume of providers working across the county to end domestic abuse and support those affected by it. PCC Bourne explained how her role works to support provisions already in place and to help fund new ones where needed.
[ more...]
Technology
More than 20,000 people have signed up with police in the West Midlands to provide CCTV and doorbell footage for a force database.
The new technology allows people to add their cameras to a secure map of CCTV monitors, enabling officers to quickly identify ones that may have captured evidence at a crime scene nearby.
West Midlands Police set up the scheme in response to the fact thousands of offenders have been brought to justice every year through using such evidence
The force added 20,300 people had signed up to the scheme, set up in September 2024, and they had already helped solve major crimes in Coventry.
West Midlands Police are one of only two police forces in the UK who have started using such a system.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
A new report from the Youth Endowment Fund suggests that more than two thirds of teenagers support the use of stop and search by police across England and Wales, while those with direct contact with officers are more likely to believe the police do a good job – but responses vary with ethnicity and age, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Ninety-six per cent of police officers accused of domestic abuse are allowed to keep their jobs, a watchdog has revealed.
A report by Dame Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, said police forces were failing to root out domestic abusers, with only 4 per cent of officers who faced allegations dismissed from their jobs.
Dame Nicole said that the police, as the gateway for domestic abuse victims to the criminal justice system, should take a tougher approach to evidence of abuse by officers.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
The number of police officers in England and Wales has slipped to its lowest level in two years, figures show.
The headcount of officers employed by 43 forces stood at 148,886 at the end of September 2024.
This is down 883 from a peak of 149,769 at the end of March and the lowest total since the end of September 2022 (144,346), according to Home Office data published on Wednesday.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has welcomed news that licence fees levied on gun owners are set to be more than doubled.
Until now, police forces across the country have lost money every time a gun licence application is processed, because the fee charged doesn’t fully cover the costs to the police force of conducting background checks and issuing the licence.
But now the PCC says he is pleased the government has shaken up the price structure. In the West Midlands, the annual loss on the processing of licences was around £230,000 in 2023, which represents resources that could otherwise be invested into much needed frontline policing.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Derbyshire’s PCC Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts’ first budget and policing precept has received a full endorsement from the County’s Police and Crime Panel.
At a meeting held today (23 January), members of the 12-strong panel heard that this year’s budget has been developed specifically to strengthen local policing and deliver the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: “Ahead of this budget I have consulted local residents at every stage, from the development of a Police and Crime Plan that prioritises their concerns, to a budget that will enable the Chief Constable to deliver against their priority areas.”
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
In June 2022, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) placed the force under its enhanced monitoring process ‘Engage’ and highlighted concerns in a number of specific areas.
On Thursday (January 23), HMICFRS announced it is removing the MPS from Engage entirely as a result of improvements across the board,
Following two and half years of intensive work by the force, improvements have been recognised in areas including call handling, child exploitation, public protection, workforce planning, culture and counter-corruption.
[ more...]
Prisons
The Prison Service is “beefing up” a cadre of officers dedicated to smashing gangs in prisons in the face of escalating drone use and drug-related violence, the prisons minister has said.
James Timpson said the work of the department’s serious organised crime unit is being expanded, and expressed concern that a minority of prison officers have been corrupted by “very manipulative people”.
He also agreed with the prison watchdog’s claim that drone use by gangs is “a national security threat” after weapons and drugs were flown into high security prisons.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Terrorism laws will be overhauled and technology companies be pressured to remove a “tidal wave” of online violent content that is inspiring acts of murder, ministers have said amid growing anger over the Southport stabbings.
After it emerged Axel Rudakubana had accessed violent content in his bedroom before he stabbed three girls to death in July, Keir Starmer said it could not be right that “with just a few clicks, people can watch video after horrific video, videos that in some cases are never taken down”.
[ more...]
Recruitment and Retention
Gloucestershire Police has announced it will be making staff redundant due to "financial challenges".
Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said as part of the savings the force expects to lose "a number of police staff posts".
Despite the redundancies, Ms Blyth has assured the public that police officer numbers - currently 1,345 - will not be cut.
"You can still expect to see officers out on patrol and should you be victim of a crime, we will still be there for you," she said.
[ more...]
Police Finances
Wiltshire's police and crime commissioner has given more details about his plans to raise the police precept by the maximum amount allowed.
Philip Wilkinson is asking to increase the policing element of council tax bills to help plug a £11m gap in Wiltshire Police's budget.
It would mean a rise of £14 per year, or £1.16 extra per month, for band D households.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
More than 40 legal scholars have signed a letter calling for an independent inquiry into the Met’s policing of a pro-Palestine protest in London on Saturday, describing it as “a disproportionate, unwarranted and dangerous assault on the right to assembly and protest”.
The force said it had arrested 77 people at the demonstration, having banned protesters from gathering outside the BBC’s London headquarters, citing its proximity to a synagogue and the fact it was taking place on the Sabbath. The ban led to the protest being changed to a static rally, but the Met claimed people had broken through police lines in a coordinated effort to breach the conditions.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
The teenager who murdered three young girls at a dance class in Southport was referred three times to Prevent, the government’s scheme to stop terrorist violence, the Guardian has learned.
One of the referrals followed concerns about Axel Rudakubana’s potential interest in the killing of children in a school massacre, it is understood.
His behaviour, including his apparent interest in violence, was assessed by Prevent as potentially concerning. But he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme.
[ more...]
Police and Crime General
Yvette Cooper has announced a public inquiry into the murder of three girls by Axel Rudakubana at a dance class in Southport in July.
She said the inquiry would aim to get to the truth about what happened and what needed to change in wake of the “truly horrendous, barbaric and cowardly attack” by Rudakubana on the three girls at the Taylor Swift-themed class on July 29.
[ more...]