[Behind a pay wall I'm afraid]

ONE of Britain’s largest police forces is arresting people and branding them “suspects” without any evidence, a Whitehall study has found.

Police officers in Nottinghamshire — which in 2010 was named the worst performing force in England and Wales — have admitted in a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) investigation that after burglaries or other crimes they woul…

Police use of dead children's identities 'common'

The use of dead children's identities by Scotland Yard's Special Demonstrations Squad was "common practice", MPs have been told.

Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon updated MPs on Operation Herne, which is looking at the Met's undercover operations.

Claims about the use of the identities relate to the squad's operations in the …

A campaign has begun to free a man detained by police since 11th April for allegedly making a threatening comment during a DWP interview. According to the campaign website, police were called to Steve Topley’s ESA interview by DWP staff who then escorted him to the QMC where he was kept late into the night and denied contact with his family, despite medical staff finding no reason to detain him.…

A NOTTS Police Community Support officer has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

The 28-year-old man was taken into custody yesterday and questioned in connection with the sexual offence and miscondict in a public office. These relate to alleged offences which are said to have taken place several years ago and were reported to the Force on Wednesday.

A second PCSO, who is 45, was arrested t…

Monday 5th November 2012

At 5.30pm the 4 Candidates attended hustings for the Police & Crime Commissioners job.

It's been a month dominated by a battle between Boston bigots: Dean Everitt's anti-immigration demo vs. Elliott Fountain's hard right police commissioner bid. It's not been good for the EDL who've been hacked, stabbed in the back and caught out inciting riots and running community organisations into the ground. And meanwhile the BNP have been praising Jimmy Savile.

Police officers in Nottinghamshire are being trained to improve the way they use stop and search powers.

It follows concerns that community relations are being damaged because more black people are stopped than white people.

Ch Supt Simon Nickless said he was telling officers their use of the powers needed to be lawful and proportionate.

Contains a video report >

A Nottinghamshire Police Officer has admitted misusing the force’s computer systems.

Appearing at Derby Crown Court on Monday (1 October) for what would have been the start of his trial, PC Robert Kirk pleaded guilty to accessing records inappropriately.

 

Kirk, who had been based in the intelligence unit at Central Police Station, had been vetted to a high level because of the sensitivity of …

Another secretive European police working group revealed as governments remain tight-lipped on other police networks and the activities of Mark Kennedy

Statewatch can reveal the existence of a previously unknown international police working group geared towards discussing and developing covert investigative techniques. At the same time parliamentary questions in Germany have seen further details …

Rizwaan Sabir, a former University of Nottingham student who was wrongfully arrested under the Terrorism Act, has now found that police "made up" key evidence against him. An internal report by the West Midlands police also stated that interviews with witnesses in the case were “incorrectly recorded” although no officers will face disciplinary action. Sabir has labelled counter-terror oper…

On Sunday 15th July, the Observer revealed that West Midlands police officers had "made up" evidence against a University of Nottingham student in 2008. Rizwaan Sabir was wrongfully accused of "collecting information of a kind to provide practical assistance to a person committing an act of terrorism" after coming into possession of a document for his PhD proposal. An internal West Midlands police…

An investigation into the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit which arrested Nottingham student, Rizwaan Sabir, in 2008, has concluded that officers "made up" evidence against him.

The Guardian newspaper recently published an article highlighting the extent of sexual abuse committed by police officers and PCSOs. Recent research suggests that the problem "more widespread than previously believed" and that the police are using their position of authority and access to records to target victims of crime to commit rape and sexual assault. The report highlights a number of cases …

A former police spy who infiltrated the environmental movement for seven years has been hired by a private security firm in the US to give advice on how to deal with political activists.

Mark Kennedy has become a consultant to the Densus Group, providing "investigative services, risk and threat assessments", according to an entry on his LinkedIn profile.

He says he has given lectures to fir…

Nottinghamshire Police security arrangements ahead of the Queens visit to market Square, Nottingham

On Friday evening, the PCS union's regional Black Members Network organised a meeting about the use of police stop and search powers in Nottingham's Irish Centre. Around 50 people attended with contributions from as far afield as London and Birmingham.

A night in the cells used to be spent courtesy of the boys in blue.



But from April private contractors will be building police stations and employing the staff to run them as well.



With police forces seeking savings in the face of the government’s austerity-led budget cuts, G4S, the world’s largest security company, has won the first contract in Britain to staff and build a police station. T…

Around 40 sparks were protesting outside Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station on Wednesday 1st February to fight the imposition of the BESNA contract.

They have been out each week for the past couple of months, and usually when they hold a protest are able to stop cars going into the site and cause a lot of disruption on the roads tailing back to the M1. However, due to this success and the fact that …

Last week saw the publication of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary’s "review of national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest." This was one of the array of reports commissioned in the aftermath of the revelations about undercover police officer Mark Kennedy. The report, like the "Rose Report" into the CPS’ failure to disclose key evidence, has not been…

mark kennedy: the hmic report

The latest report on undercover police infiltration of activists came out last week. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary looked into the work of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) who ran the network of spy cops until 2008, and especially at the work of their officer Mark Kennedy.



Radio 4's Today programme said that HMIC are independent and …

Further analysis of the HMIC report on ‘domestic extremism’ from Matt Salusbury.

"Well, we always knew HMIC's ludicrously named ‘review of national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest' was going to be a farce, and we haven't been disappointed." (FITwatch)

Leicestershire police are once again operating ‘Operation Stay Safe’ to keep young people away from demonstrations in Leicester on the 4th February.

Demonstrations and assemblies are expected in the city in response to the presence of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL), who will also hold a rally. Leicestershire constabulary has promoted a strong ‘stay at home’ message, which …

On Friday February 3rd, campaigners in Nottingham will hold a protest against Atos "Healthcare".

Thursday 26 January 2012

"Public Confidence in Policing in the 21st Century" a lecture given by the Interim Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), Len Jackson OBE, at Newton Building, Nottingham Trent University. 

POLICE officers have been slammed for their behaviour after appearing on a Channel 4 TV documentary.

The programme called Coppers was broadcast on Monday night and followed police officers on patrol in Nottingham.

But the behaviour of some officers has now been criticised and two incidents have been referred to Notts Police's Professional Standards Board.

In one incident a female police off…

Some legal information which may be useful for Saturday's Notts Uncut action.

"Police custody suites in Nottinghamshire have been rated as poor after a snap inspection found them to be dirty with minimal quality checks.

"The joint report from Her Majesty's Inspectorates of Constabulary and Prisons was based on visits to Worksop, Mansfield and Nottingham's Bridewell." (BBC News)

Friday 6th January 2012

Passing the Victoria Shopping Centre at about 3.20pm this afternoon, 2 police cars suddenly arrived next to me on the pavement area at some speed. They contained armed officers.