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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."

Update on Merseyside and Norfolk chief jobs race

A quick update on the chief officers' merry-go-round. The Merseyside job is a three-way fight with two of the candidates being Jon Murphy, ACPO's organised crime guru, and Sue Sim, deputy chief in Northumbria. Both have served for long periods with Merseyside before moving elsewhere.

Meanwhile Janet Williams, DAC in specialist crime at the Met, has dropped out of the Merseyside race and is making a pitch for the chief's job in Norfolk vacated by Ian McPherson's move to London. She may be an attractive option for Norfolk - we hear she's got a house in the county already so there would be no need to pay her stamp duty. Many of the rank and file, however, would like to see the current deputy in Norwich, Ian Learmmonth, step up to the top job and give the force some stability and consistency.

Ronnie Biggs: I want to go to the Emirates

Ronnie Biggs, the Great Train Robber, has expressed a wish to go and watch the Arsenal one last time. Ronnie's son, Michael, took his dear old Dad out of his Barnet nursing home to watch the North London derby on the television last Saturday lunchtime.
Ronnie enjoyed the match so much that he would love to go and see an Arsenal game, something he hasn't had the pleasure of doing since the early 1960s. Apparently he's angling for a ticket for the next Arsenal v Chelsea clash.
Such good news to learn that one of Britain's most famous old lags is making a good recovery from the pneumonia and MRSA which led Jack Straw to release him from prison on compassionate grounds in August.

CEOP releases viral message in Madeleine McCann inquiry

This may be the first time a viral message has been used as an investigative tool. CEOP has released a 60-second video which it hopes will spread across the web and reach the eyes and ears of someone close to the person or persons who abducted Madeleine in May 2007. The clip also contains two new images of how Madeleine might look now at the age of six.

Jim Gamble, head of CEOP, stressed that the images were not as important as the message which attempts to tell the abductor's friend, partner or relative that it is never too late to do the right thing.

"We know there is someone out there who knows who is involved in her disappearance," says Mr Gamble on the video. "They may be keeping this secret out of fear, misplaced loyalty or even love. Keeping this information secret only increases the anguish of Madeleine's family and friends and increases the risk to other children."

Tim Godwin on armed patrols: "No, no, no"

The Metropolitan Police Authority was told today that when he first heard of the plan to stick armed foot patrols amd marksmen on motorbikes on the streets of Brixton and Tottenham, Deputy Commissioner of the Met Tim Godwin "jumped out of his chair and shouted 'No, no, no".

Somehow, we think, those were not quite the words he uttered.

Ian McPherson confirmed as new AC at the Met

Norfolk has lost the chief constable it paid over the odds to get into the job just three years ago. As predicted, Ian McPherson has secured the job as Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing at the Met, succeeding Tim Godwin.

We're still waiting to here how much the Met is paying over and above the basic salary. Mr McPherson moved to Norfolk with a £70,000 relocation package, which included the police authority in Norwich stumping up for his stamp duty.

No news yet from the MPA about whether Mr McPherson is moving his family to London and requires another incentive package. Or maybe he's going for the commuting option and the Met will provide a central London apartment.

Sir Paul Stephenson full statement on "routine armed patrols"

You don't have to read between the lines to discover that someone has had a hell of a dressing down since the Commissioner returned to the office.

"I wish to be clear: there have not been any routine armed foot patrols, and nor will there be any.

"Fewer than ten intelligence-led specific operations have been undertaken by C019 which involved providing back up to neighbourhood teams. These were pre-planned operations, with specific objectives and timescales and were by no means routine in any way.

"This tactic was put together by officers for the best of reasons, to support and protect the local community and local unarmed officers. However, I believe that unfortunately there has been a failure to appreciate that this could look like a significant change of policing style. The way in which we have communicated this has led to the mistaken impression that we have created regular armed uniform foot patrols. That is not the case and it is not going to happen. I am very proud of the unarmed civilian service tradition of the Metropolitan Police Service and am determined to uphold it. When this apparent foot patrolling extension of existing tactics came to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner on Thursday he immediately instructed that this was not an option.

"Although we have seen a recent increase in gun crime, it remains lower than it was two years ago. Firearms officers will however continue to be deployed in situations where firearms present a threat and in support of their unarmed colleagues as has always been the case. If in the future it becomes necessary to extend uniformed armed deployments I will of course ensure full and robust consultation with the police authority and the wider community prior to implementation."

Positive PCs rave about how brilliant The Job is

In a world generally dominated by moaning and complaining about the senior ranks, the criminal classes, the bureaucrats and the media, it is heartening to see a flourishing thread on the Police Oracle site entitled "What's Brilliant About Policing."

It makes for a pretty good read.