Displaying items by tag: police

Solving crime, seeing justice done, and working within communities to improve their lives is what motivates people to become police officers. Officers should not have to face assault when they take the risks of standing up to criminals and protecting people. However, after recent serious attacks on police officers and a national increase in officer assaults, an urgent review has been commissioned. It will hear from officers about their experiences and gather all the available evidence and research. It will focus on officer safety training, equipment, deployment and operational planning, investigations into officer assaults, the care provided after an assault, the response from the criminal justice system, and the extent to which it is providing a sufficient deterrent. The findings of this review will be considered at an extraordinary chief constables’ council in November.

In a depressing snapshot of what the media are calling ‘Wild West Britain’, there were 4,129 attacks on police officers, hospital staff and prison officers in six months. That number should be significantly higher because 14 constabularies failed to provide figures. The introduction of new laws increasing the maximum sentence for common assault from six months to a year has done little to stem the rising tide of violence. The Metropolitan Police said the figures show that new laws designed to protect emergency workers are not working. ‘Judges are not using their sentencing powers to the full. We want to see them handing down the maximum sentence and saying, “You have attacked an officer and this is what you are getting”. It is the same with carrying a knife, which has a maximum sentence of four years. How many people have ever been given that?’

HONG KONG (AP) — Police in Hong Kong fired tear gas Saturday at protesters who defied authorities’ warnings not to march in a neighborhood where six days earlier a mob apparently targeting demonstrators brutally attacked people in a train station.

Protesters wearing black streamed through Yuen Long, even though police refused to grant permission for the march, citing risks of confrontations between demonstrators and local residents.

For the protesters, it was a show of defiance against the white-clad assailants who beat dozens of people last Sunday night, including some demonstrators heading home after the latest mass protest in the summer-long pro-democracy movement. Police said some of the attackers at the train station were connected to triad gangs and others were villagers who live in the area.

The streets of Yuen Long became a sea of umbrellas as the march began Saturday afternoon. A symbol going back to the Occupy Central protests that shook Hong Kong in 2014, umbrellas have become tools to help protesters conceal their identities from police cameras as well as shields against tear gas and pepper spray. Some also wore masks to obscure their faces.

“Hong Kong police know the law and break the law,” protesters chanted as they made their way through the streets.

Less than three hours after the start of the march, police fired tear gas to try to disperse crowds that had ignored authorities’ appeals to leave the area. Police said in a statement that they were clearing out the protesters, who were “holding iron poles, self-made shields and even removing fences from roads.”

Some protesters also endangered police officers’ lives by surrounding and vandalizing an occupied police vehicle, the statement added.

As the demonstration rolled into the evening, officers in riot gear faced off with protesters using wooden sheets as shields. Live footage from broadcaster RTHK showed protesters on one street forcing back riot police by throwing umbrellas and waving rods at them. On another street, officers repeatedly raised warnings and fired tear gas at masked demonstrators who were standing their ground.

Hong Kong’s public transit network had announced that its trains would not be making their usual stops in Yuen Long on Saturday, but protesters later reported being able to disembark at stations in the neighborhood. Several area businesses and public facilities were closed in anticipation of the march. Service at a nursing center was temporarily suspended, and sports venues shut down early.

A few hours before the march started, a man was arrested in Yuen Long for injuring someone with a knife, police said.

Massive demonstrations began in Hong Kong early last month against an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to face trial in mainland China, where critics say their rights would be compromised. The bill was eventually suspended, but protesters’ demands have grown to include direct elections, the dissolution of the current legislature and an investigation into alleged police brutality in the Chinese territory.

A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 under the framework of “one country, two systems.” The arrangement promises the city certain democratic freedoms that are not afforded mainland citizens, but some residents say these liberties have been steadily eroded in recent years after the arrests of booksellers and democracy activists.

A distrust of China’s Communist Party-led central government in Beijing has undergirded the protests this summer. After last Sunday’s march, a group of protesters vandalized Hong Kong’s Liaison Office, which represents the mainland government. They spray-painted the building’s surveillance cameras and threw eggs and black ink at the Chinese national emblem, an act that Beijing has vehemently condemned.

In response to the police’s objection to Saturday’s march in Yuen Long, protesters have cheekily labeled the procession a “shopping trip,” as well as a memorial service for former Chinese Premier Li Peng, who died on Monday. Li was a hard-liner best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that ended in bloodshed.

Some Yuen Long residents participated in the march, while others stood outside with signs warning protesters not to enter. For their part, demonstrators pasted calls for democracy on sticky notes around the area.

“After the violence (last Sunday), as a resident of Yuen Long, I think I have the responsibility to come out,” said a 24-year-old man surnamed Man. “After all these protests in past months, the government still hasn’t responded to us.”

With reporting by Associated Press

More at: https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2019/july/hong-kong-police-fire-tear-gas-after-protesters-defy-ban

This article that shares some of the voices of the youth in HK.

As you pray, you may listen to the hearts of those protesting/fighting.

(1.) afraid of post-2048 one country one system HK (with restrictions on personal freedoms and justice)

(2.) no hope for a house / home of their own.

Matthew (from Hong Kong)

Pray: For the democratic rights of the people of Hong Kong to be preserved and respected.
Pray: For a de-escalation of the situation and that anymarches will be peaceful.

In what is believed to be a UK policing first, the Metropolitan Police Service has announced that new police constable recruits will be able to join the service in a part-time role from November. They will complete police training part-time, and hit the streets of London part-time.. The new scheme was born out of the Met’s celebrations to recognise the contribution of women to the service over the last 100 years. However, the opportunity is open to both men and women, and it is hoped it will help achieve the Commissioner’s long-term ambition of a police service in which men and women are equally represented. Part-time policing will give the flexibility to balance their work and family life.

A report by victims' commissioner Baroness Newlove warns that anti-social behaviour is being ignored by authorities across England and Wales. She said police, local councils and housing providers were downplaying the harm caused by crimes, and victims being repeatedly targeted were left to ‘suffer in silence’. Meanwhile police chiefs and local government associations said they took anti-social behaviour seriously; but their resources were under strain, and they needed more funding to tackle the problems. People are scared, whether in their homes or in the streets; syringes are buried in children's sandpits, and there are huge increases in 'petty' council fines. Victims say they often feel persistently targeted by their perpetrators, and ignored by those with the power to prevent and intervene. Anti-social behaviour such as vandalism, street drinking, prostitution-related activity, and nuisance neighbours is often treated as a series of isolated incidents, rather than taking into account the cumulative effect it has on victims; affecting mental health, sleep, work and relationships.

Over 3,000 police will be deployed across Israel, with a focus on Jerusalem, in preparation for and during the Passover holiday, which begins on 19 April at sundown. A spokesman said that tens of thousands of people are expected to arrive in Jerusalem for the first day of the holiday, and another 100,000+ on the second day for the High Priest prayer service at the western wall. This mass priestly blessing only takes place twice a year, once during Sukkot and again on Passover. Attendees receive the historic blessing from hundreds of Jews of priestly lineage as they face the congregation, hands stretched forward, chanting in one voice. The increase in security, involving border police, undercover officers, and members of special patrol units, is necessary due to a history of increased risk during the holiday period.

The Inspectorate of Constabulary has said ‘inconsistent’ approaches to policing fraud in England and Wales leaves people at high risk of scams. One officer told its inquiry that a crime was not a priority if it didn’t ‘bang, bleed or shout’. Police said ‘significant’ work was under way to address the problems. By 2017 identity theft had reached epidemic levels. Recent police statistics show that over £190,000 a day is being lost in the UK by victims of cyber-crime, with people in their 30s the most-targeted group. The elderly are ‘under siege’ from scammers. Inspectors visited 11 police forces and other agencies that tackle fraud. One force filed 96% of the cases it received from a national intelligence bureau without further investigation, despite inspectors finding a good deal of evidence, including names of suspects, in some of the cases. Another force had only two dedicated fraud investigators.

The International Justice Mission (IJM) requests our prayers for continued positive momentum in Kenya to bring about reforms that will curb the rise in police violence against the country’s poorest citizens. Dozens of people were killed or have disappeared at the hands of police in 2018, and Kenyan leaders will meet with IJM and other human rights organisations in the new year to develop strategies to address police brutality. Pray for effective reforms that will transform law enforcement from a source of fear into a force for good in Kenya. Human rights organisations now want a task force to be formed, to investigate extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Praise God for the rescue of an 18-year-old woman in Ghana who had been enslaved for years on Lake Volta. Forced to work in the fishing industry seven days a week, Elinam (not her real name) had endured physical abuse and was denied food if she did not work. She attempted, unsuccessfully, to escape several times, but last week police and International Justice Mission (IJM) were able to find her and bring her to a safe aftercare home where she can recover and heal from trauma. Pray for her continued healing and wellbeing.

In June Ocampo’s entire police force was arrested: see Now, in Acapulco, three senior police officers have been arrested, and all the police have been disarmed and replaced by the military while investigations are made into infiltration by drug gangs. With low pay and little training, police are easy targets for cartels. Last year there were 30,000+ murders involving bloodthirsty drug cartel rivalries. Two of the senior police officers arrested are accused of murder. There has been a military-led campaign to battle the cartels for over ten years. The decision to act in Acapulco was the consequence of increased crime and lack of action by police to deal with it. The port city of Acapulco, once a glamorous beach resort, has been transformed by deep-rooted drug crime into one of the most murderous cities in the world. The area is a hub for opium poppy production.