(Home Office) Increase in taser use following rollout to more officers

New figures published today show Tasers were used 187 times and discharged 35 times by specially trained units in the period 1 September 2008 to the 31 December 2008.

Taser figures have shown an increase in use following a successful trial in ten forces across England and Wales to extend the use of Tasers beyond dedicated firearms officers to specially trained police response officers. Following the trial Taser was rolled-out to all forces from December 2008.

Figures published today also include a breakdown of all Taser use across England and Wales since it was first introduced in April 2004. Statistics revealed a total of 4,046 uses and 1181 discharges.

Tasers are an invaluable tool in promoting public and police safety. In situations where there has been a real possibility of someone being seriously injured or killed, Tasers have contributed to resolving the incident without injury. In a significant proportion of cases they have not needed to be fired; drawing or aiming the Taser has been enough of a deterrent.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

"I am proud that we have one of the few police services around the world that do not regularly carry firearms and I want to keep it that way.

"But I am committed to giving the police the tools they need to get crime off our streets. Tasers are making a real difference on our streets, not only keeping the public safe but also protecting our police officers.

"That is why I made funding of £8 million available to police forces to bid for Tasers following the rollout of Taser to specially trained police response officers in all forces. Along with this I also made an additional £2.3 million fund for cartridges to help ensure that this valuable form of defence is rolled out as quickly as possible."

The £8 million fund to support the national roll-out from the trial has already led to forces taking up 7000 new Tasers.

Police should not have been involved in Home Office leaks inquiry - Huhne

Commenting on today’s Home Affairs Select Committee report into police involvement in the Home Office leaks inquiry, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: “Frustration at the leaks within the Cabinet Office should not have led to the exaggeration of the facts."

"Officials seemed to have complained about national security when all they wanted to hide was their embarrassment.

"It is unacceptable for the police to be told that national security had already been damaged if it had not.

"The police should never have been involved in this case, which should have been handled as an internal Civil Service disciplinary matter."

(Home Office) £5.5m seized from criminals gives new year cash boost to Police

Police forces across England and Wales are to receive a £5.5 million cash boost from assets seized from criminals, the Home Office announced today.

Criminal assets confiscated by police forces and other asset recovery agencies between October and December 2008 totalled £31.8 million, half of which is to be shared between police, prosecutors, courts and other agencies.

A total of £5.5 million will be given to police forces in England and Wales, compared with £5.14 million paid out in the same quarter last year.

Since the Proceeds of Crime Act came into effect in 2003, £530.5 million has been seized. An incentive scheme introduced in 2006 allows the police and recovery agencies to retain half of all cash they seize from criminals.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:
"This scheme is a great benefit for policing. Taking money from criminals makes crime far less profitable for them. At the same time, that money is ploughed directly back into the police force that seized it so they can use for their fight against crime in their area.

"Recovering more than £31million from criminals in the space of three months is a great achievement and I want to thank the police and other partners for their hard work in seizing the money and undermining criminal gangs."

(DFT) Tough new powers to make UK roads safer

New powers to ensure that all drivers who break the rules of the road face tough penalties come into force today.

Under the new laws drivers - including hauliers - living outside the UK will no longer be able to escape the penalties faced by UK offenders. The Police and examiners from the Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA) can now collect on-the-spot payments from alleged offenders who cannot provide a satisfactory UK address. Those caught committing an endorsable offence will also have penalty points put on their UK driving record, which could lead to them being banned from driving in the UK.

VOSA examiners will also - for the first time - be able to issue fixed penalty notices to drivers of heavy goods vehicles from both the UK and abroad, in addition to immobilising vehicles where driving hours, weight or vehicle safety rules have been broken.

Jim Fitzpatrick, Road Safety Minister, said: "We want to keep our roads as safe as possible and these tough new measures mean that any driver who breaks the rules of the road - putting themselves and others at risk - will have to face the consequences.

"The only way for drivers and hauliers to avoid tough penalties will be to obey our traffic laws and ensure their vehicles are fully roadworthy."

Chief Constable Mick Giannasi, ACPO Lead for Roads Policing, said:

"The schemes introduced today will help law enforcement agencies deal more effectively with non-UK residents who commit driving offences and drivers committing commercial vehicle offences. Enforcing road safety legislation fairly and consistently against all offenders no matter where they live, have come from or are going to, will ensure our roads are safer and help us reduce death and injury."

From today those drivers without a satisfactory UK address who commit traffic offences will have to pay a financial penalty deposit equal to the amount of the fixed penalty or £300 as a deposit in respect of a potential court fine.

The new measures will also enable the Police and VOSA to immobilise any vehicle that has been prohibited from continuing a journey where a driver is breaking the rules on drivers' hours; is driving an overloaded or unroadworthy vehicle; or in cases where a driver refuses to pay a requested financial deposit.

G20: Make or break for Brown, but not for the obvious reasons

Well here we are, G20 week and already the protests have started. By all accounts yesterdays protest in London organised by the Put People First network was well attended, well humoured and went off with out major incidents or trouble. I would like to think that the protests planned for the rest of the week will be of a similar good nature but the media is keen to tell us that trouble is almost a certainty.

This years London Summit of the G20 has been built up to be the meeting in which the solution to the worlds financial problems will be solved. It will be attended by world leaders who many consider to be responsible for the economic mess we are in, in the first place. Massive political egos and reputations are at stake and the fact that different camps have emerged already prior to the meeting almost guarantees that some political careers will suffer greatly as a result of a lack of unity. There is a definite chance that this meeting of nations with so much more to loose than they already have could fail, in which case the hopes and expectations of billions will be dashed and international cooperation will diminish as nation states and unions will seek to protect their own interests.

Without going further down the hypothetical road to global apocalypse, the immediate aftermath may be much more pivotal for the future of our loony PM than the fact that the rest of the civilised world disagrees with his economic policies. The problem as I see it is that the police who are to be mobilised in huge numbers this week in anticipation of trouble at the protests will be primed and ready for it. This means that trouble is an inevitability and the chances are that the police will initiate it. They will be looking for it and at the first sign of it, they will be ordered to crush it. They will be under orders to crush it efficiently and decisively. After all, this will probably be the highest profile display of our security as a nation ahead of the Olympics in 2012.

With the police primed for a scrap and an angry mob marching towards them, I regret that I predict a riot. It will be well reported by the press and unfortunately, the police will make mistakes. Children will be terrified or worse, hurt. Innocent people will end up bloody and some in hospital or jail. There will be fire, mess and massive damage to property which will not look good to a nation already sceptical and disappointed with the government. This week could do to Gordon Brown's reputation what the Poll Tax riots did to Thatcher.

If open dissent by Bank of England governor Mervyn King was a defining moment last week for Gordon Brown, then the events that will happen this week will be a deciding moment. Usually, I like to be able to say "I told you so" about my political predictions. I hope I am wrong on this one...not for the sake of the PM but for the sake of the UK and to some extent the rest of the world.