Dumb Cops

[rynner2]

Caught a thief? We are too busy to help, police tell shopkeeper who rang 999 four times
By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 7:58 PM on 04th November 2008

When a customer was spotted apparently stealing from his shop, Mark Ward knew the drill - apprehend the suspect, call the police and wait for help to arrive.
But after a two-hour wait in which he made a total of four 999 calls, the locksmith had no option but to bundle the man into his van and hand him over personally at the local police station.
During the increasingly desperate calls, Mr Ward was told that officers were too busy to respond and was furious to be advised at one stage: 'You can let him go if you like.'

'The whole thing was ridiculous,' he said yesterday.
'What use are the police if they won't even respond to a 999 call?
'It makes you think the only way is to deal with crime yourself. I was worried that we would get done for holding this man against his will.
'We had to keep him in the shop for two hours and I thought maybe we'd get into trouble for it.'

Details of the case emerged on the day that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith unveiled ten new police 'pledges' to the public.
These include a promise that burglary victims can expect a visit from police within 60 minutes - but only if they are upset or 'vulnerable'.

The fiasco began at 1pm on October 18 when Mr Ward's employee, Mario Sitek, spotted a customer allegedly slipping an £8 pair of pliers into his pocket.
Mr Sitek chased and caught the man before frog marching him back to Anglia Locksmiths in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Mr Ward, 41, who is married with three young children, dialled 999 and made the alleged shoplifter sit on a stool in the shop while he and two members of staff took turns to stand over him, guard the door and operate the till.
He added: 'I got witnesses to come into the shop so they could tell police what happened but they had to leave after waiting for half an hour.'
At this point Mr Ward called 999 again and was assured his case was 'high priority' but that police in the area were busy.

He rang again at 2pm and was finally given a crime number - but was told no one had yet been assigned to deal with his case.
Worried about being arrested himself for false imprisonment, he contacted Cambridgeshire Police once more at 2.30pm and asked them what to do with the shoplifter.
He claims he was told: 'It's up to you. You can let him go if you like.' :shock:

Mr Ward finally decided to take matters into his own hands.
At 3pm, he pushed the man into the back of his Nissan Primastar van and drove him the half mile to Wisbech police station - only to find that no one there knew about the incident.
Mr Sitek, 27, who is originally from Poland, said: 'I can't believe we were waiting for more than two hours.
'We had so much hassle catching him and didn't get any help from the police.
'Where I come from the police would only take 15 minutes to arrive.'

The incident happened days after police advised shopkeepers in the area to be extra vigilant as shoplifting was on the increase. 8)

Cambridgeshire Police has since issued an apology and blamed the incident on a trainee call-taker who was working in the 999 control room.
A spokesman said: 'Unfortunately, an error of judgment was made whilst prioritising several incidents at once.

The retailer involved has already been spoken to by an inspector to explain what happened. We can only apologise for the circumstances.'
Raimonds Ludbarzs, 39, from Wisbech, has been charged with theft and is due to appear at Fenland Magistrates' Court today.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... times.html

 

[Vardoger]

They were probably too busy arresting citizens putting trash in the wrong bins.

 

[OneWingedBird]

this is horrific. the poor b*astard was checking out while the cops stood around taking the piss:

Police errors highlighted in inquest

A catalogue of blunders by police and medical staff have been he conclusion of an inquest of a man with a brain haemorrhage who was wrongly locked in police cells for being drunk.

West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchcliff has urged a major review of custody procedures across the county following an inquest into the death of Keith Mark Camm

Mr Camm, known as Mark, was left dying in police cells for 24 hours whilst officers made crude jokes about his mental health.

Wakefield Police Superintendent Alan Lees promised to see if there were any lessons to be learned after custody staff at Wood Street Police Station as well as medical professionals at Pinderfields Hospital, both in Wakefield, came in for criticism.

The jury came to a verdict after almost seven weeks of evidence during which they heard from 62 witnesses at Wakefield Town Hall.

Mr Camm, 43, of Sunny Bank Street, Ossett was arrested on June 17, 2004, in the Rhythm and Booze off licence, Ossett, on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

Police held him a cell for 24 hours where they joked about his mental health after they found him unresponsive and unable to speak.

They also later admitted falsifying records to say they'd checked on him in accordance with proper practice, the jury heard

The next day he was taken to Pinderfields Hospital in a police van.

Once there the jury ruled he had become "lost within the system of the A&E" and was left in a cubicle for nine hours.

He was then transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he later died of a brain haemorrhage.

n Wednesday the jury ruled: "There have been a number of acts and omissions throughout the care of Mark that will have contributed to his death. These are the failure of the custody sergeant to notice that Mark was not drunk and disorderly and the omission on the part of the attending nurse to mention that she could not smell alcohol or that Mark was not speaking."

They added that medical examiners who visited Mark at Wood Street carried out inadequate assessments and that cell checks were not carried out properly.

Mr Camm was also not given any fluids for over 30 hours in both custody and A&E.

The jury said an ambulance should have been called instead of a custody van taking Mr Camm to hospital. They added: "This would have a allowed Mark the chance to be assessed en-route to hospital and the seriousness of his condition identified."

The added that the assessment of the A&E senior house officer at Pinderfields was "wholly inadequate".

Following the verdict, Mr Hinchcliff said he would recommend that the West Yorkshire's chief constable review custody procedures and staff across the force.

Speaking after the inquest, a statement from Mr Camm's sisters Michelle Chadwick and Mel Carlton, read by their solicitor Ruth Bundey, said: "Everyone failed Mark. His sisters lost the chance to be with him whilst he was still conscious to reassure him and remind him how much his family loved him."

They added that the family was considering taking further action

Following the inquest, Superintendent Alan Lees, of Wakefield District Police Division, said: "The West Yorkshire Police operate a system of seeking expert medical advice for the care of detained persons in their custody. It is apparent that in Mark Camm's case that advice was not sufficient.

"West Yorkshire Police referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which managed an investigation following his death and made a series of recommendations in relation to custody practices and training which have been adopted by West Yorkshire Police.

"We shall now study the outcome of the inquest to see if there are any further lessons to be learned."

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... 4706388.jp

 

[rynner2]

Yobs have overturned your car? Call the AA say police
By David Wilkes
Last updated at 2:11 AM on 24th November 2008

When a gang of youths rolled his girlfriend's parked car on its side, Simon White thought there was a good chance that the police would catch the culprits.

But instead of the swift response he had hoped for, they told him to call the AA.

'I couldn't believe they were telling me to call a breakdown service,' said estate agent Mr White.

'I explained to them that a neighbour had seen a gang of about 30 youths hanging about when he was walking his dog and had come back half an hour later to see my girlfriend's car on its side.

'At no point did the police ask me anything to do with solving the crime. There was no mention of witnesses, possible fingerprints, or any desire to catch who'd done it.

'All they said was call the AA or Green Flag. When I told them there was petrol leaking from the car they said they'd call the fire brigade and then ended the conversation.' :shock:

Mr White, 37, added: 'I sat there fuming for a few minutes and then rang them back and demanded someone come to investigate but even then they said all they could do was put out a call to see if there was a police car in the area.'

The vandals struck at about 7.30pm one evening last week.

Mr White and his girlfriend Colleen Donnelly, 28, who have two children Chantelle, 11, and Joshua, nine, were in their home in Bloxwich, West Midlands, watching television at the time and were told by the neighbour who knocked on the door that the Fiat Punto - parked about 300 yards away - had been overturned.

Mr White initially dialled 999 but was told it wasn't a serious enough crime and that he should call his local police.

It was when he called Bloxwich police station that he was told to phone the AA, he says.

Miss Donnelly does not belong to the AA or have breakdown cover.

Mr White said: 'The police are always telling people to report antisocial behaviour and vandalism but when we did it seemed they didn't care. It was only because I insisted someone came out that the crime is being investigated.

'To be fair, the two officers that did come were very helpful, but by then the youths had gone.'

The car is a write-off and Miss Donnelly, a charity worker, now has no means of transport when Mr White is out at work.

No one from West Midlands Police was available to comment.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... olice.html

 

[rynner2]

Police mistake widow's tomato plants for cannabis factory
Police raided a 79-year-old widow's Highland cottage after mistaking her tomato plants for a cannabis factory, it was reported.

By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 7:21AM GMT 27 Nov 2008

The officers burst in with sniffer dogs and took samples of the plants for analysis.

Lulu Matheson, who has lived in the property in Shieldaig for 53 years, said she was shaken up by the encounter.

Mrs Matheson told the Daily Mail: "I got a terrible fright and I couldn't understand what they were doing here because I knew we had nothing more than tomatoes in the window. I don't know what the neighbours must be thinking."

Her 47-year-old son Gus, a former driver, was looking out of the window when he saw police cars stop outside.

He said: "I wondered what on earth was going on. I opened the door and they more or less barged past, saying that I was growing cannabis on the windowsills.

"I started laughing because I knew they were tomato plants but it wasn't so funny when they frisked me and then started tearing the house apart."

Mr Matheson said he was held in the bedroom while officers searched the furniture and under the mattress. He also said that the police impounded the family's pet dogs. :shock:

"They even 'arrested' Zac, our black labrador, and Moby, our Jack Russell, putting them in the back of one of the cop cars," Mr Matheson added.

"And I just couldn't believe it when they brought sniffer dogs all the way from Alness, which is about two hours away."

He went on: "Despite leaving with their tails between their legs, the police didn't even apologise."

Mr Matheson, a keen gardener, grows tomatoes in the south-facing bedroom window.

He said: "We always enjoy having a juicy home-grown tomato with our dinner and I've had fine crops this year."

Mr Matheson is now making a formal complaint to Northern Constabulary.

A police spokesman said: "We can confirm that, acting on information, we attended at an address in the Shieldaig area.

"No drugs were found as a result of the search."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ctory.html

 

[PeniG]

It's not difficult to confuse tomatoes and pot at a certain stage of their growth, especially if you're expecting one or the other.

When I was in high school, the house next door had a rear apartment that they rented to students at the college a few blocks away. Our compost heap was next to the apartment's fence, and one semester the inhabitants asked if they could contribute their food scraps. Of course Mom said yes - who doesn't want more compost? When she saw maverick tomatoes sprouting in the heap, Mom thought nothing of it, as it was a yearly occurrance. But one day when my brother took the compost out, he came back in and announced: "Mom, there's pot growing on the compost heap!" She laughed at him for mistaking pot for tomatoes, but he insisted that tomatoes don't have five-part leaves - which they don't. He got her out for a dispute-settling inspection, and sure enough, they were not tomatoes. The students had been conscientiously composting the detritus from their baggies, which apparently contained a high percentage of seeds.

To her credit, Mom didn't turn them in, just talked to them.

This resemblance excuses the cops for calling on the woman, but not for continuing to misidentify the plants at close range and not for not apologizing. And what's with arresting the dogs? Were they nipping the heels of intruders or something?

 

[rynner2]

It's not difficult to confuse tomatoes and pot at a certain stage of their growth, especially if you're expecting one or the other.
....
This resemblance excuses the cops for calling on the woman, but not for continuing to misidentify the plants at close range and not for not apologizing. And what's with arresting the dogs? Were they nipping the heels of intruders or something?

I expect they wanted the dogs out of the way so as not distract the sniffer dogs....

 

[rynner2]

Police raid elderly couple's garden looking for cannabis
Police raided the home of an elderly couple looking for a drug factory because a plant in their garden smelled like cannabis.

By Duncan Gardham
Last Updated: 3:11PM GMT 05 Dec 2008

Ivor and Margaret Wiltshire bought the 'moss phlox' four years ago for £2 and it quickly spread through their front and back garden.

But the common garden plant, Latin name Phlox subulata, which grows vivid pink flowers in the spring, gives off a pungent aroma similar to the drug.

The smell was so strong the couple's next-door neighbour was even threatened by a local drug gang who broke into their home and demanded: "Give us the weed man".

Weeks later Ivor, 77, and Margaret, 79, returned home to find the drugs squad had battered down their front door and searched their property.

No drugs were found and a police woman later told them the moss phlox was responsible for the raid after she removed a sample for analysis.

The couple have since received an apology from Avon and Somerset police but have lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Ironically, retired engineer Ivor - who has now pulled up the plant, has no sense of smell following an operation 30 years ago and has no idea what cannabis smells like.

Grandfather-of-three said: "We bought the plant four years ago and it multiplied so fast that it took over our front and back gardens - I was happy because it looked very nice.

"I have had no sense of smell since I had an operation on my nose 30 years ago so I have had to take everyone else's words for what it smells like.

"I haven't got any idea what cannabis would smell like because I have only seen a picture of it on the television and I have certainly never smoked it.

"When we came back from our holiday the police had smashed in our doors and done a drugs raid on our house looking for a cannabis factory.

"After it happened I was so distressed that I felt like digging up my whole garden. We can't believe that such a small plant has caused so much trouble."

Ivor and Margaret, 79, who have lived in their semi-detached house in Kingswood, Bristol, for 40 years said it wasn't until this summer that the four-inch tall ground herb began giving off a strong aroma.

The couple noticed the police helicopter started frequently hovering above their home - now thought to have been looking for the heat source of a cannabis factory with infra red cameras.

......

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset confirmed the raid had taken place and they had apologised but said the force could not comment further because the couple's complaint was being investigated.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... nabis.html

 

[rynner2]

Political correctness? Police State? Or just cops without a sense of proportion?

Shopkeeper told to stop putting jokes on adverts
A shopkeeper has been told he faces prosecution unless he stops putting jokes on leaflets advertising his store over Christmas.

By Chris Irvine
Last Updated: 7:56PM GMT 18 Dec 2008

Bob Singh, 36, has been adding jokes to his promotional leaflets for more than 10 years at his Landmark store in Port Talbot, south Wales.

But police officers turned up at his general store to offer "appropriate advice" and warned he could face prosecution for breaching public order if he did not stop.

Mr Singh has been left baffled by the police intervention as he claims the jokes contain no bad language and are not racist. He admits some were "a bit saucy".

He said: "We've been doing this for years and I've never had a problem until now.

"I get the jokes off the internet. They don't target any person or gender and there's no bad language.

"I couldn't believe it when three police officers turned up and said someone had contacted them about the leaflet because they didn't like it."

Mr Singh put a sign in the front window saying: "We would like to apologise to anyone who may have been offended by the contents of our Christmas leaflet. In future we will try to be more politically correct."

He has also started a petition for customers to sign - to say they were not offended by his jokes.

He said: "I am doing as much as I can to apologise to anyone who might have taken offence - but I don't know who they are.

"But it's just mad. Someone has taken it a bit too far."

South Wales Police sergeant Simon Merrick said: "The content of promotional material which has been distributed in the area has been brought to our attention as being potentially inflammatory and offensive.

"The distributor has been appropriately advised and instructed to withdraw the leaflets from circulation."

Some of Mr Singh's jokes include:

:: What is the technical name for three days of horrendous weather followed by bright sunshine? A Welsh Bank Holiday!

:: What do you call a sheep with no legs? A Cloud!

:: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino? El-if-i-no!

:: What do you call a deer with no eyes? I have No-I-Dear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... verts.html

Anyone offended by jokes like those had better not pull any Xmas crackers this year!

 

[rynner2]

Cops with no seasonal goodwill...

Shopkeepers banned from serving customers glass of mulled wine
Shopkeepers have hit out at police after they were banned from serving their customers a glass of mulled wine.

Last Updated: 2:21PM GMT 24 Dec 2008

Traders in Anstruther, Fife, were told they must apply for an alcohol licence if they wanted to continue to offer locals the festive treat.

Officers visited a number of shops after the drink was handed out at the town's traditional late-night shopping event earlier this month.

Drinking and carrying open containers of alcohol is banned in public places.

Fife Constabulary said it would send out the wrong message if shop owners were allowed to continue to serve mulled wine.

Martin Dibley, secretary of the Royal Burgh of Kilrenny, Anstruther and District Community Council, said: "All we were trying to do was to thank our regular customers for shopping locally throughout the year.

"To me it's a bit heavy-handed that police are taking this action. We're not handing out bottles of alcohol."

Mr Dibley, who runs the Pets Pantry in the High Street, said: "This sort of thing has been going on in Anstruther for 17 years.

"I think we've been breaking the law for some time now unintentionally."

Area Chief Inspector David Brown said: "Preventing misuse of alcohol is a key commitment of Fife Constabulary and requires rigorous enforcement of the by-laws banning drinking and carrying of open containers of alcohol in public places.

"While our emphasis is on using the by-laws to target alcohol abuse and under-age drinking in the Anstruther area, it would send out the wrong message if we were to permit drinking in public for other groups of people."

Mr Brown added: "Groups organising events where alcohol is to be served, either indoors or outdoors, can apply for an occasional licence from the licensing board.

"This is an inexpensive option which ensures they can enjoy their event and we can continue to tackle the under-age drinking and anti-social behaviour which we know is a source of concern for the whole community."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -wine.html

 

[Pete Younger]

Bankrobber was cardboard cutout

A SWAT team stormed a US bank to end a 90-minute stand-off - only to find their suspect was a cardboard cutout.

Police had responded to an alarm going off at a branch of the PNC bank in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, and spotted a menacing-looking figure inside.

The shadowy image was behind the closed blinds of the bank, which was closed for Thanksgiving, reports the Star-Ledger.

Police sealed off the area to traffic and evacuated three nearby apartment buildings, while trying to make contact with their suspect by megaphone and telephone.

A SWAT team finally decided to end the impasse by storming the bank but found no one inside except the life-sized cutout.

 

[Pete Younger]

Bungling cops arrest each other

Berlin police officers arrested each other as robbers made off with the cash after holding up an off licence.

Two crooks threatened a female employee with a machete at the cash-and-carry selling booze in the city's Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district.

When the woman opened the till and handed over £5,000, the shop's silent alarm went off.

Plain-clothes policemen arrived at the store minutes later but ended up being arrested when uniformed officers stormed in seconds afterwards.

The crooks escaped and police have issued an apology over the mix-up.

Manager of the off-licence Heinz Huber said: "We all thought the uniformed police had caught the crooks and when the plain-clothes cops tried to tell them who they were, the uniformed police told them to keep quiet.

"It was only when one of the uniformed officers recognised one of the plain-clothes cops that they realised what had happened.

"They knew they had made fools of themselves and the real thieves were long gone."

 

[Quake42]

The mystery of Ireland's worst driver

Details of how police in Ireland finally caught up with the country's most reckless driver have emerged.

He had been wanted from counties Cork to Cavan after racking up scores of speeding tickets and parking fines.

However, each time the serial offender was stopped he managed to evade justice by giving a different address.

But then his cover was blown.

It was discovered that the man every member of the Irish police's rank and file had been looking for - a Mr Prawo Jazdy - wasn't exactly the sort of prized villain whose apprehension leads to an officer winning an award.

In fact he wasn't even human.

"Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," read a letter from 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division.

"Having noticed this, I decided to check and see how many times officers have made this mistake.

"It is quite embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities."

The officer added that the "mistake" needed to be rectified immediately and asked that a memo be circulated throughout the force.

In a bid to avoid similar mistakes being made in future relevant guidelines were also amended.

And if nothing else is learnt form this driving-related debacle, Irish police officers should now know at least two words of Polish.

As for the seemingly elusive Mr Prawo Jazdy, he has presumably become a cult hero among Ireland's largest immigrant population.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ire ... 71.stm?lss

 

[rynner2]

Biohazard officers investigate HP Sauce spill
Police wearing protective suits and breathing apparatus were sent to investigate the spillage of a potentially dangerous liquid which was later revealed to be HP Sauce.

By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 11:40PM GMT 20 Feb 2009

Officers responded after receiving reports that a bottle of brown fluid had been thrown through the window of a parked car on a residential street in Enfield, north London, in the early hours of the morning.

Wearing suits designed to protect against all chemical and biological threats, and with fire crews and paramedics in support, the team examined the inside of the 4x4 where the mystery substance had leaked.

A female officer was even taken to a local hospital as a precaution after getting some of it on her suit, according to reports.

Only later did tests show that the liquid was HP Sauce – a potent condiment but hardly a health hazard.

An eyewitness said: "It was hilarious. What an overreaction – they certainly had egg on their faces by the time they'd finished.

"Maybe they thought the E numbers were a particular hazard."

He added: "The whole street woke up as there were a number of fire engines and ambulances with their lights flashing. The road was sealed off and we all thought we'd have to be evacuated."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'We were called to the scene just after 3am to reports of something thrown into a car, with the car alarm going off.

"With any unidentified chemical spillages we have to treat all incidents equally seriously."

HP Sauce, which is now produced by the Heinz, is Britain's biggest-selling brown sauce.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... spill.html

 

[GNC]

Better safe than sorry, too much HP Sauce can make your eyes water after all...

 

[ramonmercado]

Better safe than sorry, too much HP Sauce can make your eyes water after all...

thats cos its nasty stuff.give me lea & perrins anyday.

 

[Stormkhan]

So something is thrown into a car, owned by (I assume to be) a general member of public; it is in an HP Sauce bottle, it looks like HP sauce and has the consistancy of a table sauce not unlike HP Sauce ... and the fuzz decend on it like it was a biohazard?
Overreaction, methinks.

Gods know what's going to happen in future Rag Week pranks in university towns and idiot (yet harmless) sporadic attacks using thrown eggs! Unless, London is now under such a threat that it's police force exists under a higher level of paranoia than the rest of the country.

 

[rynner2]

Police turn up heat on 'cannabis factory' seen by thermal camera ... only to find workshop STOVE
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 7:34 AM on 27th February 2009

When an infra-red camera on the police helicopter identified a suspicious heat pattern coming from Colin Rowe's workshop, officers were convinced it was the site of a cannabis factory.
They obtained the necessary search warrant and forced the door to raid the property while the owner was out.
But instead of finding an illicit drugs operation, the officers discovered nothing more sinister than a wood-burning stove.

The heat source police regarded as highly suspicious was simply a stove used to warm the garage workshop where Mr Rowe restores cars in his spare time.

Not surprisingly Mr Rowe was furious when he returned home to find the damaged door and the warrant, which had been posted through his letterbox without an apology.
'I find it quite disturbing that Wild West Yorkshire Police can do what they want. I think it is disgraceful, I didn't think the police would treat anyone like this without good reason,' he said.
'My dad was a police officer for 40 years and he's disgusted about this.'

College technician Mr Rowe, 41, who has no previous convictions, added:'I think it's a pretty poor way for them to behave given that I'm not the sort of person who's known to the police.'

Commenting on the damage, he said:'There was a big hole in the door which was large enough to get your arm through, the hinges were bent, there were bits of wood on the floor and one of my plant pots was broken.
'There was a brush and shovel right by the door so, if they'd had any compassion, they would have at least swept up the mess.'

Mr Rowe went to his local police station in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, to complain and spoke to the policewoman who applied for the warrant. She said a police helicopter 'had noted the heat source from my home.'
It appears Mr Rowe's sensible crime prevention measures may have also heightened the police's suspicions. [Oh, the irony!]

'She said they sent a patrol to my house and found I had bars on the windows at the back. That's to prevent burglary - I don't think it's excessive.
'I've been given a form to claim compensation and I hope the police will pay for the damage.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed officers executed a drugs warrant at 9.45 am last Friday. 'During the execution of the warrant a door to an external building was forced. Officers located no drugs and arrangements were made for the door to be left secure.
'No entry was made by officers into the main house itself. It is standard policy that we will pay for repairs in such circumstances and we would be happy to discuss any concerns Mr Rowe has.'

Mr Rowe shares the house with wife Beth, a 40-year-old health visitor. The door has cost £200 to repair and he has had to take time off work because of the police raid.
He said he had taken a car restoration course and enjoyed doing DIY jobs in the workshop at the back of the garage. Mr Rowe said police sent to investigate his premises claimed they could smell cannabis at the back.
They were also suspicious that he had bars on the windows, which were painted so no one could see inside.

'That's because I have expensive tools in there and it's a sensible crime prevention measure,' he said. 8)

'I was astonished they carried out this raid, I don't see how they had sufficient evidence to get a search warrant.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... STOVE.html

You'd have thought the chimney from the stove, perhaps emitting smoke, might have been a bit of a clue...

 

[MsPix]

...

You'd have thought the chimney from the stove, perhaps emitting smoke, might have been a bit of a clue...

P'raps they thought that it was a giant bong!

 

[Pete Younger]

Vimto police probe cost £200,000

British Transport Police reportedly spent £200,000 investigating officers for "stealing" five bottles of Vimto which they had found.

Two transport officers found the soft drink cordial in a cardboard box beside a railway line, according to The Sun.

Police rules say they should have booked it in as lost or stolen property but they decided to share it with colleagues instead.

When it was spotted in a mess room cupboard the constables were suspended on full pay for 18 months.

The case was later dropped but they were then fined four days' wages, £400 each, for a minor breach of police rules.

Insiders told The Sun that the case, in Stockport, Manchester, had cost taxpayers £200,000 in wages and legal fees.

A source told the newspaper: "These guys and their families were put through hell for something trivial."

Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "This is an absurd and shocking waste of taxpayers' money and utter incompetence on behalf of the senior officers involved."

 

[ramonmercado]

US teen in 'fake policeman' stunt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7925671.stm

The boy managed to aid an arrest during his five-hour shift
Seven Chicago policemen face discipline after a 14-year-old boy impersonated an officer for several hours.

The teenager spent more than five hours acting as an officer after sneaking into the station dressed in a store-bought police costume last month.

Authorities have admitted that he spent two hours behind the wheel of a squad car and went on five assignments.

Supt Jody Weis said that the case exposes troubling lapses in police department policy.

She said the teenager slipped past officers on 24 January, after sneaking into the police station through an unlocked back door.

Despite arriving with no badge or identification, he was taken to be a bona fide officer and handed a radio.

This whole incident is very disturbing

Supt Jody Weis
Chicago police

He was then sent out on regular assignments, including an arrest, when the teenager pinned the suspect's arms behind his back, so that another officer could handcuff him, the police said.

The ruse was only noticed several hours later because the boy's uniform lacked a regulation star and he was not carrying a weapon.

He was released from juvenile detention last week after pleading not guilty to impersonating an officer, and is being kept under electronic monitoring at his home.

The seven police personnel taken in by the hoax could face disciplinary action ranging from a reprimand to dismissal.

"They weren't paying attention. They were lax, I'm very upset. This whole incident is very disturbing," said Supt Weis.

 

[rynner2]

Police apology over suicide rope

Police have apologised to a widow for giving her the rope her husband had used to kill himself.

Angie Gerelli, 52, who was separated from her husband, was given the rope when officers returned his possessions.

Computer trainee John Gilmore, 50, was found dead in a park near his home in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, in November.

Ch Insp Jay Dave of South Wales Police said: "This was a very unfortunate incident and I would like to apologise for any distress caused as a result."

He said the officers concerned would be "spoken to" and steps would be taken to ensure it never happened again.

Mr Gilmore's possessions were returned to his wife, who lives in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, because she was his next of kin.

Police had given Ms Gerelli three bags containing her husband's laptop, wallet and briefcase, but when she looked in the bags she noticed the rope.

"I saw a yellow colour and realised what I had in my hand. I went to pieces and I just sunk to the floor," she said.

"I dropped the rope and put my hands to my face."

Despite being separated for four years, the couple were still close.

"I am appalled - it was the most insensitive thing to do. I asked the officer if a gun would be given to the widow of a man who shot himself," she said.

"He said they wouldn't because a gun is an illegal weapon - but as far as I'm concerned this rope was just like an illegal weapon."

Officers later telephoned Ms Gerelli to apologise for their insensitivity.

An inquest earlier this month determined that computer student Mr Gilmore from had taken his own life in Porthkerry country park where he was discovered on the afternoon of 2 November by a dog walker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7969110.stm

 

[rynner2]

Student finds mobile phone while out celebrating his 18th birthday and is ARRESTED after handing it in to police
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:52 PM on 01st April 2009

A college student who found a mobile phone while out celebrating his 18th birthday was arrested after handing it in to police.
Teenager Paul Leicester was arrested for 'theft by finding' and detained for four hours.
The Southport College A-level student eventually had the case against him withdrawn but said it was a 'shocking experience'.

Paul said: 'Being arrested isn't a way to celebrate your 18th birthday. What are you supposed to do when you find a phone? I told the last caller I would drop it off at the police station the next day. But they arrested me for theft by finding.'

The teenager was kept by Merseyside Police in Southport police station for four hours and had his fingerprints taken, along with a DNA swab and a photo for police records. :shock:

Officers then grilled him for 15 minutes about the alleged 'theft'.

Paul, who is of good character, has a Saturday job at a jewellers and is held in high regard by his teachers.

The former Birkdale High School student, who lives in Seaforth, added: 'I want people to be aware of what happened. I thought I was doing the right thing and had it thrown back in my face.

'I would not go to the police in future. I would arrange for it to be collected by the last caller. All I was doing was the honest thing. It was a shocking experience.'

Paul's father Vinnie Leicester, 37, said: 'I'm disgusted and angry. It should never have happened. Paul's mum and I have brought him up the right way. It's ridiculous.'

A police spokesman explained the complaint of theft was subsequently withdrawn and Paul was released without charge.

Sefton Area Commander, Chief Supt Ian Pilling, said: 'Merseyside Police has contacted Mr Leicester in relation to the incident and he does not wish to make a complaint against the police. As a matter of course we are reviewing the circumstances of the arrest.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... olice.html

 

[GabrielleM]

I wonder if they destroyed his fingerprints, photo and dna sample.

 

[myf13]

Is "theft by finding" a real offence? Sounds like someone made it up to me!

 

[Mythopoeika]

Is "theft by finding" a real offence? Sounds like someone made it up to me!

Well, whether it is or not, it doesn't sound like the police want any of us to 'do the right thing'.

Wow, this new 'theft by finding' thing could potentially make us all criminals. :shock:

 

[Pete Younger]

They probably want us to think "finders keepers" they don't want to be bothered with trivialities, they have more important things to worry about such as people who don't pay their tv licence.

 

[rynner2]

Writer advised on how to evade long arm of the law
Patrick Foster

"If the Police arrive to lock you up, say nothing. You are a decent person and you may think that reasoning with the Police will help. Wrong.” It is not quite the advice you would expect to receive from a serving police officer.

But Detective Constable Richard Horton, of Lancashire Constabulary, gave readers of his NightJack blog the full benefit of the knowledge that he had gained from 17 years in the force as to how to extract oneself from the grasp of the long arm of the law.

“All you are doing by trying to explain is digging yourself further in. We call that stuff a significant statement and we love it.” Other pearls of wisdom included: “Never explain to the police . . . Complain about every officer and everything they do . . . [and] show no respect to the legal system or anybody working in it.”

Mr Horton, 45, who joined the police after a career as an accountant, attracted nearly 500,000 readers each week to his blog at the height of its appeal, drawn in by its pithy observations of life on the front line of policing.

He began the blog in February 2008. Critical acclaim followed, with a prestigious Orwell Prize for political writing, in April this year. At that stage he stopped, swapping virtual pages for their paper counterparts after using the attention to land the services of a top book agent.

What the Orwell Prize judges did not know is that he was also using the blog to disclose detailed information about cases he had investigated, which could be traced back to real-life prosecutions.

Each involved sex offences, often committed against children, and could be linked to investigations in the Lancashire area. One entry described the author investigating the rape of “Melissa”, a 14-year-old girl who was plied with alcohol and then raped in a hotel room.

Mr Horton wrote that the offender had an Asian name, had hepatitis and assaulted the girl at a seaside hotel. He concluded: “Now me, if I had video of me molesting a 14-year-old on my phone, if I had used a well positioned door mirror to video my grinning evil self on the job and I was charged with raping her, I would delete it.”

A month earlier Ajmal Mohammad received an indefinite sentence at Preston Crown Court for raping a drunk teenager in a Blackpool hotel room. The court heard that he was infected with hepatitis C and had filmed the attack on his mobile phone.

On the blog, Mr Horton revealed information that could have influenced the case, such as his suspicions that a key witness had misled police. Other cases described on the blog that can be traced to real events include the rape of a woman by a taxi driver and a child pornography investigation.

Mr Horton was adamant that he had taken great pains to keep his identity secret. But on his blog, he also described his visits to a jiu-jitsu club, adding a hyperlink to the website of the organising body for the martial art. Lancashire Constabulary jiu-jitsu club lists only one member who is a detective — Detective Constable Richard Horton.

Mr Horton was also a member of a number of social networking websites. Those who logged on to his account on the Facebook website could follow posts written by his brother, Roger, who currently lives in Texas. The pair had conducted a conversation about the blog on a publicly accessible part of the website.

Mr Horton has deleted the blog and received a written warning for misconduct from his police force. His superiors are now aware of further allegations that he was also using the blog to disclose information gained during his investigations.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 515988.ece

 

[George_millett]

Writer advised on how to evade long arm of the law
Patrick Foster

Mr Horton has deleted the blog and received a written warning for misconduct from his police force. His superiors are now aware of further allegations that he was also using the blog to disclose information gained during his investigations.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 515988.ece

What only a written warning for misconduct???? What are the odds that these cases are going to be appealled very quickly and found to be unsafe.

What if he did with active investagions as he was working on? The perperatators could read it and change the MO based on what he has written making it harder to catch them.

 

[rynner2]

Police could not investigate pony cart, stolen just 70 yards from local station, due to 'lack of evidence'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:55 AM on 26th June 2009

A family have criticised a police force which claimed it could not investigate a theft at their home - even though they live just 70 yards from the local police station.

Paula and David Whitfield, who works as a carer, were confident local officers would investigate after a pony cart, worth £500, was stolen from outside their house.
But after reporting the theft and told not to disturb any potential evidence the couple waited in vain for officers to come round, take a statement and check for fingerprints.
Four days after the Whitfields' reported the crime they were stunned to get a letter from police saying they had closed the case.

Exasperated Mrs Whitfield, 38, said: 'I couldn't believe they were disregarding a crime which happened on their own doorstep.

'We live so close to the police station that we can even hear the cell doors. Officers going to and from the station actually walk past our house.

'What's the point of them being there if they don't do their jobs?'
The letter from Hampshire Police said they had 'recorded' the theft at the Whitfields' home in the heart of New Forest.
It added: 'Unfortunately we are unable to take any action.

'This is because there is not enough evidence available at this stage to make a case for prosecution and so your case has been closed.'
Mrs Whitfield rang police to complain when she received the letter on Saturday and was told an officer would visit.

But when she had still not heard anything by Tuesday evening she walked around the corner to the police station but was told the relevant officer was in a meeting.

Eventually Mrs Whitfield received a call from the officer but said she was still given no assurance that the theft of the cart would be properly investigated.

She said: 'I got the impression from her attitude that she did not think it was important, that they would not trace the cart and that it would just be a waste of police time.

'A crime has happened in their own back yard and their attitude has been an absolute joke.'
Hampshire police have now said the letter was sent 'in error' and promised the crime would be investigated.

However, their belated response has failed to impress the mother of four who plans to make a formal complaint to Hampshire police.

She said: ''Some scenes of crime officers have been round but they say they only managed to get a partial fingerprint.

'That's hardly surprising because they finally came more than a week after the theft and it's rained a couple of times since then.

etc...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... dence.html