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Opposition to Sir Hugh Orde on call for police reform

Sir Hugh Orde sparked a debate this week when he called in an interview in The Times for a review of the structure of policing and a radical programme of force mergers.

Dave McLuckie, chairman of Cleveland police authority, is leading the fightback on behalf of small forces against the idea of "superforces".

“There is no evidence to support the view that big is always beautiful when it comes to policing," says Mr McLuckie. "Cleveland is one of the smaller forces yet we consistently are amongst the best performing in reducing crime, we have one of the highest confidence levels in the country and we have pioneered modernisation and the use of new technology to maximise resources going into both local policing and key protective services such as anti-terrorism and organised crime.”

These are just the opening salvoes; this one could run...

Thierry Henry: when does cheating become a crime?

After the Bloodgate scandal in rugby, you would have thought that cheating in sport could not really get much worse. But Thierry Henry's exploits in handing World Cup qualification to France have trumped that and more.

Surely it's time that law enforcement somewhere in the world began to take an active interest in this. The excuse for not acting over Bloodgate was that the rugby authorities had imposed internal sanctions. But if neither FIFA nor UEFA are prepared to act over the Hand of Henry, should there not be some sort of criminal inquiry. Was this not fraud? Did M Henry not gain a pecuniary advantage (qualification for the world's richest football tournament) by an act of deception? Were not people defrauded? Clearly the gambling industry thinks so - many bookmakers are repaying punters who bet on Ireland. And the net is awash (above) with attacks on the French captain.

Being Irish, I declare a vested interest. But there is a serious issue about the growing extent of corruption/cheating (call it what you will) in the multi-million pound business of modern sport.

Online banker? Not me, says e-crime chief

Here's a vote of no confidence in internet security and the safety of online banking.

Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, head of Scotland Yard's cybercrime unit, has a national role in forming police policy in relation to e-crime and takes on major investigations wherever they originate in the country.

But does she do her personal banking online?

"Er, I thought you might ask that... No."

Happy birthday Jim Gamble

 
  
On a recent visit to CEOP centre in south London we noticed that some of the furniture was a little past its prime, unlike the boss, Jim Gamble, who we understand is celebrating his birthday today.
Chairs were a little scuffed and one boardroom table wobbled irritatingly.
A lot of the desks and chairs were reclaimed by staff after builders threw them out when they moved into the building several years ago.

So, if anyone is wondering what to get Mr Gamble......

Minstead arrest a coup for old fashioned detective work

There are of course important legal restrictions now in play, but the "significant" arrest in Operation Minstead will be celebrated across policing. Forensic science has played its part but by all accounts it was a long stint of human detective work that finally brought dividends.

In the past Minstead attacks had been publicised, appeals were made and e-fits issued in an effort to track the attacker. More recent incidents have, however, been kept relatively secret and that might have allowed the attacker to think he was less likely to be caught. In actual fact, detectives were watching and waiting for him and struck when they thought they would gather the vital evidence.

How crime hacks have changed (No.2)

Recovering from one of those long lunches that crime hacks still (very occasionally) enjoy, my memory is telling me that one of our number ordered something called "a green salad".
It's an odd dish, consisting merely of some lettuce leaves, and one which is clearly not very popular because it wasn't on the menu.
You'll not be very surprised to learn that the offender in question was one of these new-fangled TV reporters (just like the "mine's a cup of hot water" character we mentioned a few posts ago).

Sir Ian Blair's book barbs at Paddick and Hayman

Pardon the absence, but we've been scouring Sir Ian Blair's book for titbits to include on the blog. Thin pickings to be honest but there is a truly fabulous picture of the former Met Commissioner as a would-be actor at Oxford University - bearded and moody ahead of a performance of Hamlet.

The dramatic references continue when Sir Ian gets round to describing the differences he had with some of his former colleagues at the Yard.

This is our favourite snippet: "If 'love turned to hatred' is the apposite phrase to describe my dealings with Brian Paddick, then perhaps 'loved not wisely, but too well' is the right description of what happened with Andy Hayman."

These are the kind of eloquent barbs the House of Lords is crying out for!

Baltimore and Britain (again)

Justin Fenton, the Baltimore Sun's crime reporter, is in London for a stint doing a job swap with Mark Hughes of The Independent. He's currently struggling to lay his hands on a stab vest to go out on patrol in Brixton tonight and he's already been out on the beat with GMP's Xcalibre team in Moss Side.

After the obsessive debate around The Wire, it's interesting to see what he makes of Britain's inner cities. You can read his views on the UK here along with Mark's take on Baltimore.

Sir Ian Blair on Question Time

Retirement suits him. It's changed him. Never has the man had so many thundering rounds of applause, never has he seemed so popular.

My favourite line, speaking out in favour of a multiracial society, was: "The Poles have provided the most decent plumbers we've ever seen and we should be celebrating that."

Go on, give him a seat in the Lords.

Counter-terror plans will be revised to reflect Fort Hood and Afghan attacks

A soldier turning on his comrades at Fort Hood, an Afghan policeman killing the British soldiers who trained him - two uncannily similar events in two days, but incidents which, across the Western world, security authorities have been planning for and dreading.

Since the Mumbai attacks counter-terrorism planning has seen a major shift. Those charged with thwarting or reacting to future terror attacks were alarmed by Mumbai. The shootings in Afghanistan and Fort Hood carry echoes of the atttacks in India with the added danger that the enemy has come from within.

 

The new-style of attack relies not on the suicide bomb, or the al-Qaeda adherence to massive casualties, but on the shock of a gunman, or a handful of gunmen, opening fire in a place where people felt safe and secure - the luxury hotel, the police base, the US Army camp.

Lord West, the Security Minister, told a Commons committee last month that the prospect of such an attack in Britain was at the forefront of his mind. The minister said he and his team were "doing a lot of work" on "the Mumbai issue". He painted a bleak (and rather prophetic) picture of what might happen: "It is extremely difficult in an open society to stop there being initial casualties, if you have some men who have been trained to military standard, three or four of them, with relatively heavy weapons.

"The damage they can cause in the first few minutes is dramatic. One has to use other methods of intelligence and the agencies and all of these sorts of things; because if it gets to the stage where they are actually on their 159 bus going up Whitehall carrying that [firepower] you have got a problem."