Modern Business Orientated Policing?

[conspiracy analyst]

Where theres muck theres brass?


Durham police officers admit part in gun running plot

Jan 12 2010 by Garry Willey, The Journal



Maurice Allen and Damian Cobain

TWO police officers have admitted being part of a gun-running plot.

Durham PCs Maurice Allen and Damian Cobain were serving officers when they became involved in a plan to sell on weapons handed into their force.

Members of the public had given up the guns during amnesties, thinking they would be making the streets safer.

But Allen and Cobain abused their position of trust to sell the weapons on and have now admitted misconduct in public office. Allen, a firearms licensing officer in Derwentside, County Durham, was also charged with 16 counts of theft in relation to firearms, although no pleas were entered on the theft charges.

A probe was launched last February after a burglary at a Durham farmhouse during which a rifle was stolen.

The owner of the weapon is said to have told officers he had bought it from the police and an investigation showed it had been handed in to officers for destruction but later disappeared from the force’s registration system. The case against the two officers was adjourned until next month while prosecutors decide whether or not to proceed with the theft charges against Allen.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/01/12/du rham-police-officers-admit-part-in-gun-running-plot-61634-25577244/

[conspiracy analyst]

Is the real agenda behind guns being sold to criminals?



Haringey police chief defends armed police to deal with gang shootings

1:38pm Thursday 26th November 2009

By Elizabeth Pears

HARINGEY police's top boss defended the decision to bring armed police officers into Haringey to deal with the sharp rise in gun violence fuelled by gang wars.

Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Dave Grant said that in August 2009 gun crime in the borough was one of the worst in the capital following a spate of shootings in the area. Mr Grant attributed this to serious organised crime gangs within the Turkish Kurdish community and turf wars between young men in Edmonton and Tottenham.

Over the past twelve months, there has been 163 instances of gun-related crime, nearly triple the amount over the same period in 2008.

Mr Grant said: "Everytime I have to speak to a family whose loved one has been shot, my instant reaction is obviously sympathy. But as a borough commander, I have to ask myself what can I do to get guns and knives off Haringey's streets.

"In August, the figures were awful. We had shootings in West Green Road, The Roundway and in Muswell Hill. These were all gang-related. And though they are targeting each other, the way they shoot means it is innocent people who often get hurt or killed."

The relevation follows a second round of convictions between Edmonton Shankstars and NPK street gangs, who take their name from Northumberland Park.

And it is on this notorious estate, where armed officers conducted an "intelligence-led" arms sweep and successfully confiscated a gun. They were accompanied by a member of the Haringey Black Independent Advsiory Group to witness that procedures were being properly conducted.

Mr Grant said: "What I want people to remember is that gang members are a small percentage of the young people in Haringey who cause a lot of trouble. While we don't want to glorify gang violence, it's important people know that we are taking it seriously and give people the confidence to come forward with information and help us get more weapons off our street."

Last Monday, three teenage members of NPK were found guilty of attempting to murder a rival gang member.

St Alban's Crown Court heard how Samson Ogundipe, 19, of Princess Avenue, Enfield, Tion Miller, 18, and Jermaine Nimoh, 20, both of Tottenham, stabbed Jerome Bruce-de-Rouche, 21, six times outside Bar Ab, in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, last July.

He nearly died from the attack and his injuries left him with a lacerated liver and a collapsed lung. The St Albans Crown Court heard that Mr Bruce-de-Rouche, associated with the Edmonton Shankstarz, "shank" meaning knife or stab on the street, had been on the run from NPK following a violent clash in 2007, which the Haringey Independent reported earlier this year.

In early 2008, Bruce-de-Roche was target and assaulted three times by NPK forcing him to flee to Trinidad to stay with relatives to keep out of harm's way.

But on the same day he returned to Edmonton, on July 5, 2008, he was spotted drinking at the bar in Waltham Cross. Following a tip-off, NPL ordered two taxis to take 12 people to the bar.

A witness heard someone say: "There's some youths outside for Smallman" — the victim's nickname because he was short.

Prosecutor Brian O'Neill described how Mr Bruce-de-Rouche was cornered down a dead end road after escaping from the rear of the bar.

He said: "Two of them were holding knives in their hands. One was about the length and shape of a kitchen knife, the other he described as a flick knife.

"He also noticed that one of the group had on a purple bandana. Many of these groups have a particular colour associated with them. Purple is the colour of the NPK."

A baseball cap and a bandana were later found at the scene and tested for DNA. DNA on the bandana linked it to Ogundipe and a blood stain tested positive for the DNA of Timon Miller, Mr O'Neill said.

The trio, who were remanded in custody, will be sentenced on December 22 by Judge Michael Baker QC.

Shaun Edwards, 19, of Trulock Road, Tottenham, Reiko Miller, 19, of Avondale Crescent, Enfield and Dwayne Mattison, 18, of Curzon Avenue, Enfield, were all cleared by the jury of attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent.

Back

© Copyright 2001-2009 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk

[conspiracy analyst]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/20/worboys-taxi-driver-assa ult-victim


John Worboys victim says Met officers 'laughed' at her

19-year-old student was attacked in 2007 but police believed serial rapist's claim she was drunk


'Anna' was attacked in 2007 but the police did not believe her Link to this video

One image seems to recur among the flashbacks and memories of Anna's ordeal at the hands of John Worboys and then her dealings with the Metropolitan police: the sight and sound of officers laughing as she attempted to describe what happened in the early hours, when she was drugged and incapacitated in the back of his cab.

She claims they didn't take her seriously – they thought she had made it up.

Nearly three years after she first went to the police alleging she had been the victim of a sexual assault by the driver of a black taxi, she is only now learning the truth of the failings and the full facts of her case.

Now 21, she was a 19-year-old ­student at the time of the attack in July 2007. "They [the police officers] laughed when I described my injuries and said I must have been drunk and fallen over. I was not believed. They talked down to me as if it was my fault, as if I was the criminal, and I just felt they didn't take me seriously," she said.

Her complaints against seven officers were central to the IPCC investigation, but she has mixed feelings about the outcome of the inquiry. While welcoming the truth the investigation has exposed, she said she was upset and disappointed no officers were to be sacked.

Had the police acted properly upon her complaint, made within hours of her arriving home, she believes Worboys would have been stopped earlier and at least seven other women could have been saved from serious sexual assaults.

"The most disturbing fact was this was supposed to be a specialist unit for rape and sexual assault. I don't think the punishment is what it should be. If the officers had taken my allegations seriously, if they had looked at his car, or gone to his property, they would have found evidence. But they didn't do that and as a result so many women went on to be harmed.

"It is not enough to get a written or verbal warning. I just don't think these people can carry on in the police force in Britain."

Police arrested Worboys after her complaint, but he was released without charge after officers believed his account that Anna was drunk.

In February 2008, Worboys was arrested again and identified as one of Britain's worst serial sex attackers.

Anna said she had never received an apology from the Met for the way she was treated. "This is the first time the whole truth has been revealed to me … It was quite hard at the end of two and a half years finally to learn the truth."

Crucially, it is only now that Anna has realised the case was never passed to the CPS, and she alleges the officer who told her so was simply lying. Yet her complaint against the officer involved was not upheld by the IPCC, who said the officer had "incorrectly assumed the file had been passed to the CPS".

She still has flashbacks of the moments she was in Worboys' cab and has had counselling for the trauma caused by the sexual assault and its aftermath. She is considering suing the Met for compensation.

Recalling the night of the rape in July 2007, she said: "I had gone out with two of my friends to a club in central London. I left separately and I got a black taxi, a licensed black cab because I thought it was safe.

"The driver started going on about some celebration … He asked me whether I would share the celebration and have a drink with him. I said no, obviously thinking it was quite strange.

"Then he took some cash out and said: 'Oh, look I've won this, just please have one drink to celebrate with me.' I thought it was completely innocent, although I did think it strange that the taxi driver was drinking.

"I had a bit of the drink and I started feeling very light headed. The driver then came into the back seat and had got out his hands in which he had three pills and he forced one down the back of my throat.

"After that I don't recall anything.

"The next thing [I remember] was waking up in my bedroom the next day. I started having flashbacks when I woke up … of the taxi driver putting a pill down my throat … I didn't feel right. My tampon was missing. I had injuries on my knees and my arms."

Anna, who was in student accommodation, asked the campus manager to view the CCTV near her block. "He told me to call the police immediately."

The CCTV footage showed the taxi driver pulling up and at some point embracing Anna outside the cab. But when two police constables visited her, followed by a sexual offences trained officer, she claimed they did not take her seriously.

"When I told them about my injuries, they just laughed and said I must have fallen over. They kept saying they didn't believe it was a licensed black cab. They just didn't believe me from the start, I heard them talking to each other, saying: 'What sort of arrest should this be then?'

"They asked me whether I had just drunk too much."

After visiting a Haven sexual assault clinic early the next morning, where swabs were taken, she was told by police that the matter was being dealt with. "They said he had been arrested, which I thought was weird because they hadn't taken my statement, they didn't know the full allegations." Over the following weeks she was told the case had been passed to the CPS, and then in October that there would be no charges because the prosecutors said there was not enough evidence – all of which, she said, proved to be wrong.

"I felt disappointed. There were so many flaws. They didn't take my statement for a good few days, they didn't collect CCTV footage from the club, they took hours to respond. I had been drugged and they waited ages to take samples from me."

Anna read of Worboys' 2008 arrest in a newspaper and contacted the police again. "It was extremely similar to what happened to me. I just knew it was the same person. I felt quite disgusted and I didn't want to believe it. The worst thing is that he could have been stopped, he could have been behind bars, and he wasn't. He was let back on to the streets."

Anna's name has been changed.

[fish5133]

Business minded cops up here also

[acrobat74]

I wouldn't be surprised.

Whatever the context, for example ruling over the vassals or profiting from war, the formula the sick elitists use is always the same:

create, perpetuate and manage conflict.


Or similarly, in Brzezinski's words:

"Eurasian geostrategy involves the purposeful management of geostrategically dynamic states and the careful handling of geopolitically catalytic states, in keeping with the twin interests of America in the short-term preservation of its unique global power and in the long-run transformation of it into increasingly institutionalized global cooperation.

To put it in a terminology that hearkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are

to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals,

to keep tributaries pliant and protected,

and to keep the barbarians from coming together"

http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/dinamic.php?pagina=testemunho_coa tes

[conspiracy analyst]

We have Fake Terrorism now we have Fake Claims and all coming from the public purse. A total disgrace and usual not a single politician says anything...



July 7 detectives accused of expenses fraud after overcharging for flat rental

By Stephen Wright


Three counter-terrorism detectives have been charged over a £100,000 rent scam while investigating the July 7 bombings.

The trio and three civilians are to stand trial accused of conspiracy to defraud, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

Watchdog investigators have been looking into claims that the officers made inflated expenses claims for flats they rented in Leeds in 2006 and 2007.

The detectives, who were based in Yorkshire for 18 months, were arrested last May as part of a force-wide inquiry into purchases made on Met American Express cards.

The inquiry was opened after auditors found nearly £2million of expenses were unaccounted for.
July 7

Three counter-terrorism detectives who investigated the 7/7 bombings have been charged with conspiracy to defraud over a flat rental scheme

The accused officers - who have been suspended on full pay since their arrests - are Detective Constable Daren Pooley, 40, Detective Sergeant Nevill Caldecourt, 50, and Det Sgt Peter Allbut, 45. All were serving in the counter-terrorism unit when the alleged offences happened.

Pooley's wife Nicola, 39, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, is also charged with conspiracy to defraud along with her sister, Michelle Butler, 49, and brother-in-law Stephen Butler, 58, who live in Spalding, Lincolnshire.

The three officers were also charged with misconduct in public office. The allegations against them include claims they misused their police credit cards.

All six will appear before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on February 3.

The alleged fraud took place over 18 months from April 2006, an IPCC spokesman said.

He said: 'The charges relate to an alleged conspiracy to defraud the Metropolitan Police Service by dishonestly participating in a scheme to overcharge the MPS for flat rentals in Leeds with the intention of making a secret profit thereby and distributing monies so raised among themselves.'

Sources confirmed that the total value of the alleged swindle was in the region of £100,000.

The decision to charge the officers is hugely embarrassing to the Met, as no one has been found guilty over the suicide bombings which claimed 52 lives in 2005 despite a four-year, £100million investigation.

A source said: ‘The idea that officers investigating Britain’s worst terrorist attack could have benefited financially is obviously very distasteful.'

The Met continues to complete checks on spending by the holders of 3,500 American Express corporate charge cards in use since 2006.

Auditors were asked to review the way a number were used after fears of widespread misuse surfaced.

The Metropolitan Police Authority has said internal control of payments had been unacceptable.

To date, the Met's Directorate of Professinal Standards has referred 52 cases regarding officers' use of their corporate credit cards to the IPCC, and the MPA has referred two cases.

Of the 52 referred by the Met: former Sergeant John Gallagher, 52, received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office for abuse of his corporate charge card.

He admitted misusing £9,622 on the card but has since repaid it in full.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Mr Gallagher was ordered to undergo treatment for alcoholism, do 100 hours unpaid work and be subject to a 12-months supervision order.

Former Met Sergeant Richard De Cadenet, 40, was sentenced to ten months in prison after pleading guilty to spending over £70,000 on his police-issued credit card.

Former Metropolitan Detective Constable Matt Washington, 37, was sentenced to six months suspended for a year after being found guilty of misfeasance in public office.

A total of seventeen officers have received written warnings, one has received words of advice and another given a formal reprimand.

Two officers have been fined, while one member of staff has received a criminal caution.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245263/July-7-detectives-accu sed-expenses-fraud-overcharging-flat-rental.html#ixzz0dYsRQ2Kw

[fish5133]

Well if your going to do it do it BIG
Former Merseyside police officer in £52 million fraud

[conspiracy analyst]

[conspiracy analyst]

How well does the IPCC police the police?

Six years after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was founded, there are still concerns about the effectiveness and independence of policing the police, as BBC File On 4's Gerry Northam explains.


Nick Hardwick says deaths in custody have been reduced

The IPCC was set up to provide impartial investigations of complaints against the police in England and Wales but former Commissioner John Crawley, who left in 2008, says he is disillusioned with what it has achieved.

"Why should the public have confidence in a complaints system when they know that the odds are hugely stacked against having their complaint upheld and are even more stacked against them in terms of the prospect of a police officer who has done something wrong being held to account?" he told File on 4.

"The fundamental charge against the IPCC appeals system, for the past six years, is that it has not produced any significant change that anyone can point to in the fairness and rigour of the police complaints system," said Mr Crawley, who decided against applying for a fresh term on the commission in 2008.

The IPCC replaced the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in 2004 following the 2002 Police Reform Act giving a public body powers for the first time to investigate the police directly. The PCA had merely overseen a self-investigation system.

Both the 1993 Macpherson Inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and Lord Scarman's inquiry into the Brixton riots had recommended the establishment of an independent body to investigate police complaints.

'Under achievement'

But according to Mr Crawley: "Very little of what was hoped for back in 2004, when the organisation was launched, has been achieved."

It is a fact that the commission only directly investigated a tiny proportion of complaints against police last year - just 88 of more than 31,000.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission
Hears appeals against the way a police force dealt with a complaint
Deals with mandatory referrals such as deaths in police custody
Can investigate a complaint directly
Can either manage a police force's investigation of a complaint or supervise an investigation

The remainder were investigated by the police force against whom the original complaint was made, in a minority of cases this was under the management or supervision of the IPCC.

Last year there were a further 4,600 appeals to the IPPC about the original forces' conclusions - 29% of appeals were upheld.

Custody deaths

The IPCC's chair Nick Hardwick however believes the IPCC has ushered in substantial advances.

"I would say we've cut the numbers of deaths in police custody by half," he told the BBC.

The prospect of civil litigation is a more effective way of getting a police force to sit up and put its house in order
Marian Ellingworth, lawyer

Mr Hardwick added: "I would say more complaints in actual numbers are being substantiated than before."

Some lawyers, however, doubt the effectiveness of the IPCC.

Marian Ellingworth cites the case of her client Courtney Bland, a juvenile who was cleared of assaulting a police officer. She doubts the effectiveness of the IPCC.

The boy's family complained of wrongful arrest, assault and that the officer had used abusive language during a scuffle with Courtney when he was aged 15.

Lawsuit success

The IPCC rejected the family's appeal against the Metropolitan Police, although the force later made an out-of-court settlement of £25,000 with the family and offered an official apology.

"I think it shows that the prospect of civil litigation is a more effective way of getting a police force to sit up and put its house in order," said Ms Ellingworth.

But in Nick Hardwick's view the doubling of complaints the IPCC has to deal with about the police demonstrates public confidence in the commission.

"I can point to any number of cases where we have taken action against senior officers," he said.

And he added: "I'm not saying we don't need to improve, of course I'm not saying we don't get it right on every occasion, but I think the IPCC and the people who work for it do a difficult job and have a record they can be proud of."

File on 4 is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 19 January , at 2000 GMT, repeated Sunday, 24 January, at 1700 GMT. You can also listen via the BBC iPlayer after broadcast or download the podcast.

[conspiracy analyst]

Taken to court twice I think at the Old Bailey and then now locked up by allegations of an iraqui refugee and now convicted to 4 years in prison.

Was the Police Federations Black Police officer representative...

Is someone after him as he is Iranian I think as well?


Met Commander Ali Dizaei jailed for corruption

Ali Dizaei

Met commander's 'abuse of power'
Profile: Ali Dizaei

Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei has been sentenced to four years for assaulting and falsely arresting a man in a dispute over £600.

Southwark Crown Court was told Waad Al-Baghdadi was arrested by Dizaei in a row over work on the officer's website.

Dizaei, 47, was convicted of both misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said he was guilty of a "wholesale abuse of power" motivated by self-interest and pride.

Dizaei was ordered to spend two years in prison and two years on licence.

Mr Justice Simon said the sentence included a deterrent element "to send a clear message that police officers of whatever rank are not above the law".

The judge told Dizaei: "You knew how the system worked and you thought you would never be discovered.

"You crossed that line and now stand convicted of these offences."

Commenting after the verdict, Mr Al-Baghdadi said: "I would like to thank all those who listened to me after I made my complaint, in particular the jury who have delivered justice and found Ali Dizaei guilty."

Speaking after the trial, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "It is extremely disappointing and concerning that this very senior officer has been found guilty of abusing his position and power.

Waad Al-Baghdadi
Mr Al-Baghdadi wanted payment for working on the officer's website

"He has breached that trust and damaged not only his own reputation but that of the entire police service."

Speaking outside court, Gaon Hart, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Mr Dizaei's corruption, which would have been deplorable in any police officer, was all the more so given his position as a highly-ranked police commander.

"The public should have confidence that we will pursue anyone, regardless of their position, where there is evidence that they have committed serious offences of corruption."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said "criminals in uniform like Dizaei" were the greatest threat to the reputation of the police.

The dispute between the men came to a head when Mr Al-Baghdadi, 24, demanded payment from Britain's most senior Asian officer for work on his personal website, alidizaei.com.

Dizaei and Mr Al-Baghdadi at a police station

Mr Al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi national who has lived in the UK since 2003, told the court he confronted the police officer after seeing him drunk and dancing at the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington, west London, in July 2008.

Dizaei then produced handcuffs and arrested him.

A police doctor told the court that injuries Dizaei claimed had been caused by Mr Al-Baghdadi were probably self-inflicted.

The court also heard that Dizaei, who had a 24-year police career in the UK, claimed to have received threatening voicemails and text messages from Mr Al-Baghdadi before the incident, but had "accidentally" deleted them.

Mr Al-Baghdadi said he was left "scared" and "shocked" after the incident.

During the trial he likened the "bully" Dizaei to the movie gangster Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino in the film Scarface.

Mr Wright said once Dizaei realised inconsistencies in his account had been uncovered by detectives he attempted to get the case dropped.

CPS spokesman Gaon Hart: "Dizaei abused his position as a senior police officer"

Dizaei is a former president of the Metropolitan Black Police Association.

He had emerged unscathed from a series of earlier inquiries, including a multimillion-pound undercover operation examining claims of corruption, fraud and dishonesty.

He has been suspended on full pay since September 2008, but now stands to be sacked from the Metropolitan Police.

Responding to the verdict, Nick Hardwick of the IPCC said: "He [Dizaei] went on to lie about what had happened and, if he had been successful, Mr Al-Baghdadi may have been sent to prison.

"Dizaei behaved like a bully and the only way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.

"Corruption comes in many forms and remains a threat to the police service. It requires constant vigilance to fight it."

Last November Dizaei was cleared of misusing his corporate credit card.

He had been accused of spending more than £5,000 on clothes and perfume during a trip to the US but an inquiry by Dorset Chief Constable Martin Baker found no evidence of wrongdoing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8504308.stm

[conspiracy analyst]

Why Britain should declare war on Jersey

If we can attack Iraq, why can't we invade – sorry, liberate – this 21st century pirate cove?


Over the last year I have toured the country getting audiences to propose policies they think will change the world, improve their life or just annoy people they don't like. Before the shows the audience would submit ideas, we'd then discuss them and finally vote to select the policy they wanted to represent them. Over a series of shows these policies have developed into a manifesto, and subsequently this has been turned into a Radio 4 series, a booklet, an action figure and a range of clubwear.

If the people that come to my shows represent a side of Britain, the policies (chosen and rejected) suggest a strong sense of scepticism, a flair for creative revenge and such an intolerant love of decapitation that I imminently expect the twinning of Maidenhead with Riyadh – though the Saudis might find Maidenhead a little reactionary for their liking.

The twin themes of revenge and scepticism featured heavily in the audience choices, and last year homeopaths became the focus of attention at a show in Leicester; overwhelmingly the audience voted in favour of the policy that ruled that "anyone who sells homeopathic remedies should be allowed homeopathic treatment only if they have a major illness". In Cheltenham the two themes merged with the suggestion that "Mediums should be imprisoned but with a combination lock. If they and their spirit guides can find the number they are free to go." In London the mob rule element got the upper hand when one show voted that "Noel Edmonds should be beheaded . . . and his head placed in one of 22 sealed boxes."

Amid the creative curmudgeons who suggested and voted for these ideas were those who displayed a charming and absurdist streak too. In Swindon someone boldly wrote in hearty cheer, "My policy is: Terry Wogan for euthanasia tsar!" To my mind just imagining Sir Terry's breathy brogue muttering the word "Switzerland" spreads cheery charm on the subject of assisted suicide. In Birmingham, one of the most popular policies was that "Mecca bingo halls should be made to face east" and Nottingham voted en masse that "anyone in favour of banning immigration should sign a register and be banned from travelling abroad".

A bizarre and joyous mix of ideas emerged at every show and often it was the plain old-fashioned and decent that won the vote. Bristol, Birmingham and Lincoln audiences chose as their policy "more council houses". Which is bloody marvellous: council housing is the political C word. They are demonised places, painted as the homes of a sub-Dickensian underclass full of people who automatically become parents at 13 and then leave the baby in the pitbull's basket. And frankly it was a breath of fresh air to argue with an audience that saw the failure to build and protect council stock as part of the sub-prime fiasco, rather than view the issue through the spite-filled eyes of a Mail hackette.

One of my favourite ideas was the simple proposal that "Britain should invade Jersey". Now that TV's Bergerac is just a distant memory this policy has become truly popular, not least because Jersey is one of the tax havens that have become the legal pirate coves of the 21st century. The Tax Justice Network (not to be confused with the rightwing Tax Payers' Alliance) estimates the UK loses about £18bn a year in tax revenue due to "corporate tax efficiency" ie companies moving offshore. The Iraq war cost at least £8bn. So war with Jersey would not only be morally right but self-financing too. In fact we could probably do a bond issue for the invasion to pay for everything up front with the promise of a steady yearly return for investors.

However the case for invading Jersey is made even more compelling by whistle-blower Stuart Syvret, the longest-serving senator and "father of the house" in the Jersey parliament. Syvret recently posted documents on his blog claiming that the island's political elite were refusing to investigate malpractice in the health service. He was rewarded with a morning raid by 10 police officers who searched his home (without a search warrant), confiscated his computer (holding his constituents' private data and communications) and imprisoned him while they did so. Syvret now lives "in exile" in London and says Jersey should be invaded "for regime change" – although he prefers the term "liberate" to invade.

But the Jersey idea, while brilliant, was just one of many. And for every policy that suggested that "fatty foods should be stacked in very thin aisles" there was a policy to "cap bankers' bonuses" , "introduce a maximum wage", "reintroduce the Glass-Steagall Act" or "re-mutualise Northern Rock". For me the variety of ideas is what has made the project interesting – that, and the fact that an audience can one minute bemoan crisp packet sizes and the next vote for a Tobin tax on currency transactions.

PS: Ebury Press has put up a £500 election deposit and £500 campaign costs to an independent candidate who would stand on issues from The People's Manifesto. Go to www.thepeoplesmanifesto.co.uk for details of how to apply.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/08/britain-should-inv ade-jersey

[conspiracy analyst]

Now you know where all hardearned taxpayers money goes...
Thats why when you ring the police or report a crime they either never come or take hours to do the most simple job.



No official role, so why is Pushy's security bill £14m?

By Rebecca English
Last updated at 10:16 PM on 19th February 2010


Scoltand Yard and Buckingham Palace are facing serious questions over Prince and Princess Michael of Kent being given armed police protection costing taxpayers more than £250,000 a year.

The couple carry out no official duties but are given their own Metropolitan Police bodyguards when attending social events both in this country and abroad.

They also receive round-the-clock protection at their five-bedroom, five-reception apartment at Kensington Palace.
Security: The Kents receive around-the-clock protection despite not being official members of the Royal Family

Security: The Kents receive around-the-clock protection despite not being official members of the Royal Family

More controversially, Prince Michael is allowed to take up to three officers with him on his numerous business trips to foreign destinations such as Moscow and China.

Because they receive no money from the public purse, both the prince and his wife have to earn their own living.

He has a business consultancy, Cantium Services, which has accrued debts of more than £800,000, while his wife - often dubbed Princess Pushy - writes historical biographies.

Neither is considered an official member of the Royal Family because the prince, the Queen's first cousin, renounced his claim to the throne when he married his wife, a Catholic.

They occasionally attend royals events, such as state banquets, at the personal request of the Queen.

In recent months questions about the estimated £200million-a-year cost of guarding the Royal Family have been raised at the highest level.
Cousin: The Queen invites the couple to Royal events and banquets

Cousin: The Queen invites the couple to Royal events and banquets

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has also written to the Home Secretary asking for an increase in funds and manpower for the royalty protection squad, codenamed SO14, because resources are so stretched.

A police source said the situation made it 'impossible' to justify giving the Kents any kind of police protection. 'It is pretty indefensible that someone who isn't classed as a member of the Royal Family in any official capacity gets security in this day and age,' they said.

'What particularly grates is the decision to give the prince his own PPO [personal protection officer] when he travels abroad on business.

'He always pencils in some kind of charity event to make it look more official but neither he nor his wife go anywhere unless there is a moneymaking opportunity and normally have a bodyguard in tow.'

Dai Davies, ex-head of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Squad, called for a review of security for minor royals. 'If there is no evidence of an active threat, consideration should be given to whether they should be afforded the same level of protection - if any at all,' he said.

Royal sources have indicated that it is the Queen who refuses to countenance ending the couple's security status because she feels responsible for her cousin and his wife.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment. But a source close to the Kents confirmed they were given bodyguards at the discretion of Scotland-Yard. Who receives security is a decision jointly made by the Palace and the Yard.

'Unlike other members of the Royal Family they are not given a personal protection officer round the clock,' the source said. 'It is allocated on a project-by-project basis in the UK and overseas based on guidelines that stipulate there should be a "work" aspect to the visit.

'It's up to Scotland Yard and the Foreign Office to decide if the occasion warrants a security detail. This not something they request.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252377/No-official-role-Pushy s-security-14m.html#ixzz0gBiadGit

[conspiracy analyst]

In todays Mail it stated the Police were organising burglaries to highlight the weakness of security for homeowners without them knowing it.
Maybe they add up to their crime figures as they know who did it as after all they have more important things to be involved in...


Police spend millions more on protecting VIPs - and cut beat bobbies

By MARTIN DELGADO

Last updated at 21:30 09 December 2006

The Metropolitan Police spent £505 million on VIP protection and anti-terrorism operations last year - twice the amount it spent investigating burglaries, sex attacks, robberies and drug crime.

Specialist Operations - which includes guarding politicians, Royalty and visiting dignitaries, and all terror-related duties - consumed nearly 16 per cent of the force's budget in a year that saw the July 7 London bombings. It was a massive increase of £100 million on the previous 12 months.

The figures show how Britain's biggest police force is spending ever larger sums of taxpayers' money on protection and security work.

Disturbingly, the amount spent on routine patrols - the most visible and reassuring police presence - fell from £331 million to £313 million.

There was also a sharp drop in spending on intelligence-gathering, research and analysis, down from £161 million to just under £94 million.

Nearly £63 million was spent on cover for sick officers, the time officers took for refreshments cost £69 million in wages, and £122 million was spent on administrative paperwork.

Astonishingly, a further £26 million went on "checking paperwork" and £4 million on waiting time unrelated to any crime, such as officers waiting for equipment or vehicles to be repaired.

The Met's total expenditure for the 12 months to April 2006 was £3.2 billion - almost a quarter of the national policing bill.

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: "These figures show that a disproportionate amount of money is being spent on operations like guarding VIPs, which should be funded by the Government.

"Crimes such as burglary and rape have a devastating effect on victims. The public want to see officers patrolling the streets and catching criminals. That is where resources should be concentrated."

The Met's Specialist Operations department includes an elite Special Escort Group of 50 motorcycle outriders who whisk anyone deemed a security risk through the London traffic at high speed.

Scotland Yard refuses to discuss its secret list of people judged worthy of such treatment. But there was surprise earlier this year when this newspaper revealed that two Range Rovers and six outriders had been assigned to escort a fleet of limousines taking the King of Bahrain and 70 guests to the Dorchester to celebrate his son's graduation from Sandhurst.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said last night: "As well as protecting our citizens, investigating crimes and delivering local policing, the Metropolitan Police also have capital city functions that bring national and international responsibilities. This does not detract from our ability to fight crime."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Authority, which supervises the force's budget, defended the millions spent on form-filling. "The Met is the largest single employer in London and this cost reflects the operational feat involved in running an organisation on that scale," he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-421531/Police-spend-millions-p rotecting-VIPs--cut-beat-bobbies.html#ixzz0jhWmNm5o

[conspiracy analyst]

Recent revelations of Met Police embedded nature with Murdochs News Corp or how the public sector police force became an arm of a Private news organisation, brings to mind old corruption...



Digging dirt on Scotland Yard: spiked stories of Michael Gillard & Laurie Flynne


Insight into institutional police corruption in the light of the phone hacking scandal.

Audio Untouchables segment - mp3 4.2M

Former Guardian investigative journalists Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynne were investigating Scotland Yard back in 1999 and 2000 but had their stories spiked. They finally published their shocking book Untouchables, Dirty Cops, Bent Justice and Racism in Scotland Yard in 2004.

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/53441

Untouchables is an integrity test on Scotland Yard. It is the result of a six-year investigation into how the most powerful police force in the United Kingdom claims to tackle corruption, racism and mismanagement within its own ranks. In 1993, the Yard set up a secret anti-corruption operation run by undercover cops whose existence was known to only a few senior officers. The Ghost Squad operated for five years - spying, lying and concealing information - with no independent oversight. In 1998, its shadowy detectives went public as the Untouchables - their motto: 'Integrity is Non-Negotiable'. Commissioner Sir John Stevens promised they would bring bent and unethical colleagues to justice. But instead of thorough corruption investigations, there was corruption management. Instead of justice and accountability, there was cover-up. Based on official documents and over 1,000 interviews - with criminals, supergrasses, police whistleblowers, former anti-corruption officers and judges, many of whom have never spoken out before, let alone on the record - Untouchables is in the best tradition of hard-hitting expose journalism, naming names and packed with revelations.

It tells the secret history surrounding the Jill Dando case and the key unsolved murders of Daniel Morgan, David Norris, Stephen Lawrence and Rachel Nickell. The authors also expose the buried history of the biggest armed robbery in British criminal history ? the 26 million Brinks Mat gold bullion heist, which is still dogging Scotland Yard on its 21st anniversary. Untouchables presents a timely and well-evidenced case for a fully independent system of policing the police.

Friday Drivetime
- Homepage: http://bcfm.org.uk/2011/07/29/17/friday-drivetime-30/7475