Displaying items by tag: police

Kenya has pledged to lead a multinational security force in Haiti, responding to a plea from that country’s prime minister. Haiti has suffered from gang violence for decades, but the violence has escalated since the assassination of the president in 2021. Kenya will send a thousand police, aiming to lead a force which will neutralise the armed gangs, protect civilians, and bring about peace, security and order. A number of other countries are expected to contribute security personnel. The force will have to confront armed gangs who control, or regularly terrorise, swathes of the capital Port-au-Prince, and often outgun the local police. Critics doubt the ability of the Kenyan police to take on these gangs in a very different environment, not least because of a language barrier (Haiti is predominantly French-speaking).

An armed Metropolitan Police officer, identified as NX121, has been charged with the murder of black rapper Chris Kaba in south London. Kaba, a 24-year-old expectant father, was fatally shot by a police marksman during a vehicle stop on 5 September 2022. Armed officers had been covertly following the vehicle, flagged by Automatic Number Plate Recognition as connected to a firearms incident. After the shooting, no firearms were found in the vehicle. The officer was initially placed on restricted duties but later suspended. The decision to charge the officer followed a six-month investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). NX121 is set to appear in Westminster magistrates’ court. Kaba's family welcomed the charging decision, expressing hope that justice would be served. The police federation expressed concern about future implications for officers involved in dangerous roles. This case echoes past instances where armed Met officers faced murder charges over fatal shootings while on duty.

Last week you prayed for the police to have adequate support and protection after their names, rank, grade, location and unit were made available online to the public accidently. This week the chairman of the PSNI Catholic Guild has called for an urgent meeting with Chief Constable Byrne over fears that the breach will put Catholics off joining the force. A number of groups are claiming they have access to the leaked information, prompting greater safety concerns. Many Catholic members of the force have genuine concerns over safety for themselves and in many cases their family members. Mr Murray said, ‘Our guild was formed to provide a support service for Catholic police, and it is hard to think of a more pressing issue for Catholic officers and staff than this data breach’. Pray for ongoing protection for Catholic police and their families. Pray for those in receipt of the leaked data to be prevented from using it.

A member of the public made a freedom of information (FoI) request to the police, ‘Could you provide the number of officers at each rank and number of staff at each grade?’ What they received was not only a numerical table but, inadvertently, a huge Excel spreadsheet called ‘the source data, which should never have been released for public scrutiny on an FoI website. It was removed after 2½ - 3 hours once police became aware of it. Each line contains information from the top of the force down - surname and first initial, their rank, grade, where they are based and the unit they work in; including sensitive areas of surveillance and intelligence. The sensitive information exposes many in nationalist communities who were taking great care to keep who they work for a secret, in some cases even from friends and family. The scale of this error is enormous; the consequences cannot be evaluated. It is probably the worst data breach in the organisation's history.

Michael Lockwood, ex-police watchdog director general, has been accused of six counts of indecent assault and three counts of rape against a girl under 16 during the 1980s. He left his post in December after it emerged he was being investigated over these offences, and has now been charged under the Sexual Offences Act 1956. MP David Warburton is resigning his seat. Last year he was suspended from the party pending the outcome of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and drug use. On 18 June he said he was resigning because he felt he was denied a fair hearing by the watchdog over the claims that he made unwanted advances to two women. Lord, please guide the direction of our country. Call into politics and the police service people who are in your kingdom.

The Met Police will stop attending emergency mental health incidents from September, only responding if there is an ‘immediate threat to life’, thus freeing up officers untrained in mental health issues to deal with crime. The Royal College of Psychiatrists called this ‘unhelpful’. Police are concerned about ‘mission creep’ - police filling gaps left by cuts to other services. But when Robert Peel birthed the Met the police were ‘paid to give full-time attention to everyone in the interests of community welfare’. Community welfare includes the confused elderly man gone missing or the young girl in the street distressed. The Met’s plan was adopted by Humberside Police’s Right Care, Right Person scheme in 2020. Now mental health calls are dealt with by mental health professionals. It successfully improved outcomes, reduced demand on all services, and has the right care delivered by the right person.

The royal family waved at crowds and watched a flypast at Buckingham Palace's balcony after the King and Queen’s coronation that was full of ancient Christian pageantry and symbolism. The 2,200 guests included the Royal Family, celebrities, faith leaders and heads of state. Thousands lined London streets to catch a glimpse of the King and Queen and members of the royal family in coaches and limousines as they went past. Elsewhere 52 members of Republic, the anti-monarchy group, were among those arrested near Trafalgar Square for public order offences, breach of the peace, and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Their organisers were arrested earlier that morning when police seized hundreds of placards saying, ‘Not My King’. Human Rights Watch said the coronation arrests were ‘something you would expect to see in Moscow not London’. Christian barrister Paul Diamond said that arresting anti-monarchist protestors before the coronation was an instance of ‘serious lawlessness by the police’.

A report into how police forces in England and Wales tackle online child sex abuse has found responses to allegations are slow, leaving vulnerable children in danger while allowing offenders to escape justice. In some cases, it takes up to a year and a half before an arrest is made. Many officers do not follow lines of inquiry into who the suspect is and whether they are approaching children. In most forces, cases reported directly to police are dealt with by non-specialists with inadequate training. These people are unaware of guidance they should follow and what specialist services they should refer children to. The lack of a consistent, effective national approach to tackling online abuse is a concern to the UK's only independent Christian safeguarding charity, Thirtyone:eight. They urge chief constables, policing bodies and the Government to implement the report’s seventeen recommendations speedily with a coordinated, sustained response across the country.

Greek police have prevented an ‘imminent attack’ against Israelis and Jews after arresting two Pakistani nationals who are part of an Iranian terror network. The two arrests came after the police, aided by Israel’s Mossad spy agency, uncovered plans for mass-casualty terrorist attacks, one of the targets being a Jewish restaurant in Athens. It is a kosher restaurant which also hosts other religious services. The two suspects had chosen targets of ‘high symbolism’. A third man, who is not in Greece, is wanted for questioning and has been charged in absentia. A police statement said, ‘Their aim was to cause the loss of life of innocent citizens and also to undermine the sense of security in Greece, while hurting public institutions and threatening our international relations’.

Linzi McLaren, who served in the Police Service of Northern Ireland for 18 years, said a dissident republican threat against relatives of Northern Ireland police could deter new recruits and was a new low that could lead to resignations. She also said that this threat will affect the very junior in service or those at the end of their career. Officers will now have to reassess their own personal security. ‘As police officers you're always very conscious of the threat towards you personally, and conscious of what has happened in the past,’ she told BBC Radio Ulster. ‘You never expect that something as personal as danger to your loved ones would be a consequence of your decision of being a police officer.’