Monthly Archive for September, 2007

Return of the Mac

Published on September 28, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by CSI:UK from CSI:UK

Yes, I'm back! Am I glad ? not at all! On my many travels in the last few weeks, I had the pleasure of visiting some of the eastern states of America, including New York and Manhatten Island. There is something just so Cool, Cosmopolitian and Crazy about New York City that makes me want to go back there to live and to work. And of course they have huge budgets and cool vehicles and gadjets in the US. I have heard rumours that the NYPD are considering the complete civillianisation of their CSIs in 2008 and I am seriously tempted to apply and do a PC Copperfield.

I'm sure there will be a lot of competition for these posts, which may be a good thing as I couldn't get a decent cup of tea over in the US for love nor money, its a good job I took my own contraband with me.


This is Boston CSI Van, what do I get a an unliveried Peugeot Partner. Gah! the UK has no style! I bet even expensive shades and sharp suits come as standard issue.

The original post can be found http://csiuk.blogspot.com/2007/09/return-of-mac.html

Mass ‘bobby lobby’ being contemplated

Published on September 28, 2007 in Bureaucracy and pay dispute. Closed

written by Response Plod from Response Plod

Federation representatives up and down the country are considering whether it is time for a mass 'bobby lobby' of the Government over police pay, Police Review has learnt.

It is understood there is a growing support among local federations across England and Wales for some form of mass protest by officers outside the Houses of Parliament.

Police Review sources have confirmed the idea was given serious consideration at last week's meeting of federation chairs and secretaries, although no firm decision was made.

One person at the meeting said "When we talked about pay it seemed there is not much appetite for the right to go on strike. But the general feeling was that we want it to be recognised that we have no right to strike."

The last 'bobby lobby' took place in 2002, when more than 10,000 police officers came to Westminster to lobby MPs over the Government's proposals for pay and conditions and police reform.

Another source, also at last week's meeting, said "As police are seen as the last line of defence, if we were to fight for the right to strike, we would lose public sympathy. It is about making the point that we have not got the right to strike."

The 2007 police officer pay rises are to be decided by arbitration on 2 November after the Staff and Official sides of the Police Negotiating Board failed to come to an agreement over the summer. The Staff Sides's claim is for a 3.94 per cent pay increase while the Official Side offered 2.325 per cent. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is not bound by the arbiter's decision.

Both sources from the federation's chairs and secretaries meeting confirmed that there seemed to be 'a lot of support' fro some form of mass lobbying of Government.

The national federation is understood to be considering what percentage of each force would need turn up to ensure any demonstration would have big enough impact.

All I have to say on this matter is "When and what time?"

The original post can be found http://responseplod.blogspot.com/2007/09/mass-bobby-lobby-being-contemplated.html

There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Published on September 27, 2007 in Bureaucracy, shifts and stress. Closed

written by Response Plod from Response Plod

Sir Ronnie Flanagan made some excellent points about officers not being allowed to use their discretion. Due to the target driven nature of police forces these days, officers are being told to make arrests with absolutely no discretion so their force can make their targets in particular crimes so to guarantee their budgets for next year.

I just wish that someone had told my force about Sir Ronnie Flanagan's findings!

Due to some administrative cock up by person(s) who shall remain anonymous, we all received an email regarding the number of low level disorder detections that had been calculated at our particular nick. We are a very successful police station if I do say so myself but in many ways probably too successful. When the predicted detection rate for the year we are in now was sent, somebody over-estimated it by nearly 400 detections!

So what, you may say but the problem that faces us now is that each officer has now been instructed to detect an extra two low level disorders a week to be able to make that target.

Meeting that target isn't really a problem but what the problem is, is that once again discretion has been chipped away so that there is hardly any left.

In a normal situation regarding low level disorder you could have used your discretion to decide on the outcome. The person committing the disorder could have been moved on or ejected from a location in order to stop that disorder from occurring. That person after being spoken to goes home with a flea in their ear and a little bit wiser and the chances are they will not come to police notice ever again.

But, if we are now being instructed to detect these extra disorders then people who would have not normally come to notice are being put through the criminal justice system and could end up with a criminal record for something extremely minor! We are therefore making criminals out of people who are not criminals just to make targets!

The problem doesn't stop there.

Who's going to deal with all this extra paper work that goes with these extra detections? Us that's who! Sir Ronnie Flanagan has already stated that there is too much bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork that the police officers have to do and this is just adding to it. It takes at least 2-3 hours to put together a comprehensive file for court and that's not including the time it takes to book the detained person into custody assuming they have been arrested for the offence rather than reporting them for it.

So for those extra two detections they are instructing, you can expect to find the officer spending at least a shift off the streets to deal with the paperwork and procedures. A shift which will no doubt be short of an officer to detect, what is in my opinion, more serious crime which if the officer would have been allowed to use their discretion in the first instance, that more serious crime would have been dealt with.

The Federation have already spotted the potential flaw with constabularies following the recommendations of Sir Ron with their response to his review of policing:

"The Police Federation would agree with many of Sir Ronnie’s recommendations, but you could be forgiven for thinking we have been here before. In 2002 a predecessor of Sir Ronnie’s chaired a Bureaucracy Task Force that made many similar proposals. Regrettably, without the cash and political will needed many of these recommendations will fail to become a reality."

It looks as if Sir Ronnie's words are already being ignored!

The original post can be found http://responseplod.blogspot.com/2007/09/there-are-lies-damned-lies-and.html

A broken covenant?

Published on September 26, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Busy from Panda tales

I had a strange experience a while ago. A comment I had made on another Police blog was quoted back to me by someone I had just met. That's an eerie feeling.

Actually I thought someone was quoting my actual blog the other week but I've checked back and I've never said "Policing, what a bunch of arse!" so there you go. I'm sure I meant to.

Still, however much rump is involved I can't help thinking we're miles better off than our service persons who are engaged in two difficult conflicts with mounting losses and have just been told by Des Browne that there's no money for their accomodation to be improved.

This should be a national scandal. Service accomodation has always been poor and I remember being stuck on a bunkbed in a two man room with five of us in it but at least the most danger I suffered then was in the NAAFI bar. It's disgusting that service personnel and their families are being made to live in sub-standard accomodation while so many of them and their loved ones are putting their necks on the line daily.

The original post can be found http://pandatales.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-covenant.html

Give Us Your DNA!

Published on September 26, 2007 in DNA. Closed

written by Response Plod from Response Plod

I finally managed to watch Monday's BBC Panorama this afternoon regarding the DNA debates and the pros and cons of having a national DNA database.

I was extremely pleased to hear of the success of the two murder cases which because of DNA matches the murderer was caught.

In 1995 18-year-old Louise Smith, went missing after visiting a nightclub with friends. Seven weeks later her body was found hidden in a local quarry. She had been raped and murdered.

The police found the murderer's DNA at the scene. They then took samples of DNA from thousands of local men to find a DNA match, and the killer.

It took 14 months to find him, and he was someone with a completely clean record.
It was this case that led to a change in the law in England and Wales so that samples of the innocent could be kept, moving a step closer to a universal database.

The police dealing with the murder case said to Louise Smith's parents Gill and Rob Smith, that if there would have been a National DNA Database the killer would have been identified within 14 days as opposed to 14 months.

Kim Newson's killer was identified through DNA being obtained as the result of a previous burglary. During a burglary in a bar in Lincoln the thief took bottles of drink and in an alley around the corner of the bar he sorted through what was needed. However, he pulled his glove off using his mouth and saliva on that glove gave the forensic scientists the sample they needed. It matched a sample of DNA taken from a burglary 7 years earlier. It led the police to Steven Charles Hughes and a search of his flat which was below Kim Newson's uncovered a much more serious crime. They found a copy of a birth cerificate of Kim Newson in Hughes' jacked pocket and it had her blood and a foot print in the blood on it. After taking a foot print sample of Hughes it matched. Hughes was eventually charged and then convicted of the murder of Kim Newson.

A specially commissioned opinion poll for Panorama has revealed that two thirds of people would be in favour of a national DNA database.

Sixty-six percent of those questioned by ICM said they would approve of a new law requiring all adults to give a sample of their DNA to help with the prevention and detection of crime.
There are currently over four million DNA profiles on the database and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Those who are arrested for a recordable offence - anything from drink driving to murder - have to give their DNA sample for the database. Even if they are innocent their DNA will still be kept.

However of those questioned for the ICM poll for Panorama 64% were against the idea of taking samples from newborn babies.

The success of DNA in solving crimes has been massive! Clear ups in burglary, cold cases with the use of DNA have seen the offenders locked up but senior forensic scientist Professor Allan Jamieson who is Director of The Forensic Institute, based in Glasgow warns that too much trust is already placed in DNA results.

He says: "People put too much faith in DNA. They're giving it an infallibility which it does not have."

He explains that finding DNA traces does not always tell you what you think it does.
"We've shaken hands. My DNA will be on your hand. You may touch something outside of this room that I have never touched, and therefore my DNA will be somewhere where I have never been," he adds.

There has been a documented case of mistaken identity with DNA. In Swindon a man with Parkinson's Disease was arrested, and charged with a burglary in Bolton. He was frail and had never been there. But his DNA sample - it is claimed - matched one taken from the crime scene.

Eventually the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted that he could not have done it.

In my personal opinion I have no issues with giving a DNA sample should it be made mandatory. I have no reservations in giving a sample should a voluntary request be made in the event of an incident. I have nothing to hide! I believe that you should be worried if you do have something to hide.

Civil Liberty groups believe that it is wrong to hold information about parts of you being held on a database but for this doubt I ask just one question...

Suppose your daughter, son, wife, husband, partner was murdered....wouldn't you want the police to use everything in their power to find the person responsible?

The original post can be found http://responseplod.blogspot.com/2007/09/give-us-your-dna.html

The Final Score

Published on September 26, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Charlie Lima from Charlie Lima

Don't you just love domestics!

Its the early evening we have just finished dealing with a crappy neighbour dispute. When we receive a call to a very busy estate, a report of an on going domestic by a neighbour. We are not far away and wanna get out of this street ASAP so we make are excuses and tear off.

We arrive on scene to be greeted by the female, she runs into the front garden in some very revealing pink PJ's. She shouts out 'he's run out the back door!' We run around to the rear lane but he's gone. We search the rear gardens nothing, except in the rear garden of this house there is a pile of clothes and a toothbrush strewn on some weeds purporting to be a lawn.

Never mind, I go inside and start getting her account. My colleague chats with the informant next door.

She says they've had a row and he's kicked her.

I ask if there are any marks but I there are none. I also ask if she wants to make a complaint this time. I've never been here myself but apparently she has made several complaints before and never gone to court with them. She is not entirely sure but in the end she states she does want to give a statement. So I start taking a statement I begin by getting some background, how many kids they have, what lead up to the row etc. All the time I've got Ant and Dec full blast on the TV and their eldest child of 18 months who's just started walking going through my file and pulling at my paperwork.

I've written about a page and a half by this stage.

She states she slapped him first.

Woman 1 Man 0

She then states he kicked her until she fell on the floor.

Woman 1 Man 1

I say that's fine he can't claim self defence as its not really proportionate to a slap. I ask did anything else happen? Well I did get a knife and shout I'm going to f**king kill you she adds does that make a difference? My colleague informs me that's what the neighbour heard and that's why she called us.

Woman 2 Man 1

Anything else I ask. Shall I mention the bit where I him with the chair?

Woman 3 Man 1

Oh dear I say. We explain that if he is arrested there are likely to be counter allegations. She ponders on this, then decides not to make a complaint after all.

PNB signed happy days.

I think he'd already lost this round.

The original post can be found http://charlielima999.blogspot.com/2007/09/final-score.html

Rank stupidity

Published on September 24, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Busy from Panda tales

I saw this and I just wondered. Is it actually the mission of everyone above the rank of Inspector in every one of the 43 forces to make the public hate us?
Statistically, I suspect we're most likely to die on the toilet. They aren't going to ban that as well are they?

The original post can be found http://pandatales.blogspot.com/2007/09/rank-stupidity.html

Innocent Until Proven Guilty…

Published on September 24, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by maneatingcheesesandwich from maneatingcheesesandwich

...is what I said back in February. The nice, quiet boy from Cambridge is now on trial and is using the cunning defence of "Yes, I sent a load of letterbombs, but didn't mean to hurt anyone."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7009918.stm

NEVER trust a Ginger.... 'nuff said...

The original post can be found http://maneatingcheesesandwich.blogspot.com/2007/09/innocent-until-proven-guilty.html

England 4. Romania 0.

Published on September 24, 2007 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by The general from Intelligence Detective.

There were four of them. I reckon we missed the driver.

These boys were good at what they did. They had arrived on our shores some months before we met them from the beautiful and dangerous land called Romania. I wondered whether they had been to special classes at home, classess for ATM and cashpoint crime. They were particularly adept at this type of villainy. They had been smashing ATM's all over the country and countless numbers of the public had had their PIN's corrupted and their cards cloned or even stolen using the machinery they attached to the cashpoint fronts.

However, they underestimated several factors:

The nosiness of the residents of a middle English market town.
The diligence of the ASDA security bloke.
The diligence and nifty camera work of the Council-owned CCTV system.
The untrusting nature of middle-aged people.
The shit-hot response from the local coppers.
The MINT post arrest investigation and remand application.

So, in short, we have some disgruntled middle aged folk who all report the fact that they had £250 jots nicked from their accounts without their permission. Apparently, they all went to Naples, Italy on the same day. So the local cops go down the ASDA (where the ATM's are) and infect the security guard with their enthusiasm for justice. He is despatched to find some images. Next stop, the Council CCTV. They got the infection too and despatched themselves to find some images. They find some images of a gang of four baddies apparently all wanting to use the ATM machines at the same time and being really protective of their PIN numbers.

Or rather, sticking their clever machinery onto the front of the ATM machines to steal peoples cards, clone the cards and steal the PIN numbers. Are you with me so far?

Now two weeks later, the team make the mistake of coming back to middle England and seeing if they can get some more of the foolish Englishmans cash.

Mrs 'weekdayshoppingintownlady' immediately saw the men and thought "I knew those swarthy looking eastern-europeans were up to no good...I could tell by their uneasy manner...oh and the fact that they all went to the cashpoint about ten times each after anyone went there to get money out...I decided to call the law down to have a word with them..."

Cue phonecall from lady..."you may wish to send some Policemen down to the cashpoints at ASDA, there are some out-of-towners doing something naughty there..by the way, send only the biggest lads at the police station because these men look, well...rough quite frankly"

Cue shout to the cops and CCTV and ASDA security where immediate ID is made from the operators who by an amazing stroke of luck, were the same ones who found the images from the events of a fortnight before. So we had the same team in town.

The cops were majestic. Great CCTV footage of them strolling purposefully up to the men, then a starburst from the baddies, then a foot chase and some great and necessary use of force on arrest.

Little did the team of bad guys know that we had images of them putting the devices up inside their clothing and then hiding them in trees and bushes when they ran off. All items were recovered, including the car, which by another amazing stroke of luck had passed through the automatic number plate reader on our town approach road 12 minutes before the offences two weeks ago and ten minutes before the ones on this day.The CCTV work on this occasion was some of the best I had seen.

"General...the D.I.'s on the phone, he says you've got to interview some Romanian baddies whove been caning the cashpoint machines"
"I Don't fucking think so. I am about to go off duty and have a red-hot evening with Mrs General. It's all planned and everything. The guv can kiss my skinny white ass"
"Have you seen your ass lately Gen, it's not what you think it is.."
"Tell the guv I've gone home..."
"No you haven't I can see you there you skiving little shit" (says the guv as he walks in the room with his mobile held up to his ear)
"Erm, guv, erm please can I go home, I had a night of red-hot action planned.."
"I've spoken to your missus, she reckons ten minutes you mean..ha..ha..ha"
"Very funny guv. Really, I am going home."
"No.I need you to stay on and help with this thing. I've got some others coming over from the other districts"
"oh"

"ring ring...Alright Mrs Gen, somethings happened at work and I've got to stay on and help.."
"was that help or deal?"
"No just help. It's not on my district or my type of crime so I'll just be helping"
"Okay. Try not to be too late then.."
" Sweet. keep it warm for me baby.."
"Shut up and hurry up home 'yes boy'"

They smelled bad. I walked into the block area and the fetid odour caught my throat immediately. It smelled like old rotten spuds.

"Sarge, I am interviewing the Romanian baddies. Is it true that one day, someone brought some old potatoes and thrust them into your air-conditioner without telling you about a month and a half ago and that is the odour which is making me want to boff up all my dinner?"
"No gen, its' your prisoners feet and his B.O."
"Splendid. Do we still have the white suits and breathing apparatus in custody?"
"You still have your mask on from last time gen..."
"Very amusing sarge but seriously, can they not shower?"
"the showers are bosted."
"Is bosted a word sarge?"
"Yes.It represents what I will be doing to your balls if you don't hurry up and get rid of the smelly european cousins from my block, sharpish"
"message received and understood skipper...I'll have the first miscreant to my interrogation room please,custody assistant..."

The youngest of them all. The weak link. The one who would tell us all about the job when we put the pressure on. Then we go to the other interviews with an idea of what the score was. Interpreter is a wonderfully mannered fiftysomething, who was definately a looker when she was younger. She was emabarrassed by her countrymen for sure. Young boy looked vulnerable. He was fresh in the country and hadn't been heard to utter a single word in English at any time. His brief was there. A local paralegal woman who din't like me very much and the feeling was pretty much mutual. I knew that I was getting a no comment even before the tapes were switched on.

The tears rolling down the boys cheeks seemed real to me. I mentioned home and family and being bullied by the older one in the group and it was as though I had looked into his soul. I could see just from the CCTV that the oldest one was in charge of them and they feared him.

The second one was a bit older. Knew a bit more English and was cockier. Gave a no comment interview but I took the smirk off his face with the special warnings I gave him for the property we had seized from him. An inference can be drawn in court if the suspect fails or refuses to answer a question put to him in certain circumstances. This was one of them. He continued with a no comment. Shit legal advice I thought, you'll regret that in crown court.

The third was taken by my mate which left the older one. I took him out of his cell. I saw his black leather loafers outside his cell. He had on a black pair of trousers and a white shirt. He got up off his bed and pushed his long, greasy black hair back over his head. He had stone-cold dark brown eyes. The eyes of a murderer I thought. He grinned at me and held out a plastic cup. "Coffee?"
"Yes please mate, just one sugar in mine"
"No. You get me coffee"
"I'm a detective mate, not a trolley dolly. Get your own coffee you cheeky fucker"
"You are bad man"
"Yep. Thats what my ex-wife thinks. You look a bit like her actually"
"DC General, I do hope you aren't upsetting my client?"
"Not at all, I was remarking how fetching his loafers are. I want a pair like that to do my gardening in"

He talked and blamed all the others. Standard format for a ruthless organised criminal who would have the throats cut of the other three if they even dared mention his existence. He didn't reckon on the hours of images of people putting their PIN numbers into cahspoint machines which we found on memory sticks at his house and on him. He didn't like the special warnings one bit either. Because when he was asked about the incriminating stuff, he clammed up. "you are bad man. Special warnings. You are bad man"

"I'm going home where I will smile and drift into a peaceful sleep. You are the bad man my friend"

He held out his hand to shake mine. Now, I have always thought that the worst kind of man-insult you can do is refuse to shake a mans hand if he extends it. I contemplated it for a second, but I shook his hand. "bad man" said the killer as he gripped my hand just a little bit too long. "good luck in court mate. And wash them fucking feet will you, they stink."

The application for their remand in custody was like William "the general" Shakespeare had penned it, it was that good. Surprisingly for once, the local magistrates believed me and sent them down the steps where they remain and will do so for the next couple of years.

I got home at half ten the following morning. A full 26.5 hours after I had called my wife. Legendary.

By the way, next time you get money out of the cashpoint, take a second or two to look over your shoulder for sus looking Romanian types and also, try and pull off the bit where your card goes in to the slot. If this device thing comes off in your hand, run away really quickly taking the thingy with you and try not to get shot or knifed by some organised criminals. (if you do, try and get a photo of them on your phone during the assault to help me with my enquiries.) Either bring the article to the police or throw it into a nearby lake and go to bed with a huge grin on your face, patting yourself on the back for a job well done.







The original post can be found http://intelligence-detective.blogspot.com/2007/09/england-4-romania-0.html

Night Shifts

Published on September 24, 2007 in shifts and stress. Closed

written by Response Plod from Response Plod

Nights are a strange set of shifts. For me my entire life is upside down for 7 days. You eat when you should be sleeping, you're sleeping when you should be up and about and now the nights are drawing in the chances of seeing any daylight for the week is nigh on impossible. I work a 5 week roster so the other 4 weeks of the shift are during daylight hours.

Now, I understand and accept that due to the nature of the job night shifts are inevitable but why in the modern age I have to do 7 of them is beyond me?

The most common performance challenges of night-shift work come from the human biological clock or cycles. Three main cycles, or rhythms, have been identified: ultradian (20 hours or less), circadian (20 to 28 hours), and infradian (28 hours or more). Circadian comes from the Latin (circa, about; dies, day) and is based on the human internal-body clock that runs on a schedule of about 24 hours. To understand this 24-hour cycle, let's look at what influences it.

Biological factors include the rise and fall of human-body temperatures throughout the day and the daily cyclical production of different hormones. Human-body temperatures can vary by nearly five percent in a single 24-hour period. A low temperature peak at approximately 4 a.m. and a high temperature peak near 5 p.m. coincide with a police officers typical alertness extremes.

The social cycle is dictated by societal norms, such as when the smell of breakfast wafts into your dream, or when the bin men tumbles the dustbins down the street. It's difficult to overcome these sleep influences, even with reduced light and noise for daytime sleeping. The clock on the wall, habitual sleep, meal times, and work and leisure activities are prime examples of social time cues. People seldom or never adjust completely to the night shift or to a new rhythm.

Sleeping at the right times, in best coordination with the circadian rhythm, is referred to as having good sleep hygiene. Postshift sleep should be coordinated with the circadian rhythm. Studies show daytime sleep periods are typically 41 percent (three hours) shorter and less restorative than nighttime sleep. A shift from the normal sleep, work, leisure schedule to one of work, leisure, sleep is required to allow sleep during the normal afternoon trough in body temperature and peak in error tendency. Studies show a moderate error peak around 3 p.m., with a much more severe error peak around 3 a.m.

There is an old saying that shift work takes ten years off your life and in many ways I believe it. It takes two days for the human body to adjust its hormones to cope with night shifts. This switch from diurnal to nocturnal mode then allows your body to cope with extended night shifts. Hence the reason you tend to sleep better and longer towards the end of your set of night shifts. The problem lies when you need your body to switch back from nocturnal to diurnal. This takes 6 weeks. So if you are working a 5 week roster and it takes 6 weeks to switch back, technically you are working with your hormones on permanent nights. To counter this problem, night shifts shouldn't be over more than two shifts then switch back to days to counter the hormone imbalance.

Then there is the problem with fatigue. You have to be extra careful with response driving at night. The glare from headlights, poor or cold weather takes its toll on a drivers ability to concentrate but when you're responding on blues and twos in the middle of the night you have an extra responsibility to be able to get to your destination safely.

All of this and you have to deal with potentially dangerous and or violent situations involving people who maybe more alert than you when you arrive!

Over time this accumulates into stress which can lead to illness. I already suffer with a thyroid problem which is upsetting the balance of my hormones. The Federation are looking into the possibility that it may have been caused by the shifts. There are scientists studying the effects of night shifts and an increased risk of cancer and heart problems.

I love the job to bits but as the song goes "Too much love will kill you!"

A healthy bunch aren't we?

The original post can be found http://responseplod.blogspot.com/2007/09/night-shifts.html