Category Archives: Police

UK police deal with thousands of potential Covid-19 quarantine breakers

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Exclusive: Britain approaching ‘pivotal moment’ in attempt to avoid surge in cases, scientists say

Police forces across the country are dealing with thousands of potential violations of quarantine rules involving holidaymakers who may not be self-isolating after trips abroad, the Guardian can reveal.

The requests for “further action” have been raised by Border Force officials and public health authorities, who have been tasked with ensuring that people returning from abroad are abiding by regulations designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

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Investigations into police and prison violence blocked by Fiji authorities, whistleblowers say

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Exclusive: Allegations of brutality in Fiji’s prisons have been effectively ignored by the government’s human rights commission, insiders claim

Complaints against police and prison officers – including of a violent assault against a young inmate – have been blocked from being investigated by authorities, whistleblowers inside Fiji’s human rights watchdog have claimed, expressing concern the body is not independent of government influence.

Current and former employees of the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission have alleged investigators are regularly refused access to victims of alleged assaults by Fijian authorities, and that some rights violations by police or corrections officers are disregarded or not investigated properly.

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Eight police officers in Northern Irish station test positive for Covid

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Antrim station closed for deep clean as police across district self-isolate and await testing

Eight police officers in a station in Northern Ireland have tested positive for Covid-19.

Antrim station and another nearby, in Newtownabbey, have been closed for deep cleaning. Police across the district were self-isolating and would be tested, a senior commander said.

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Black Met inspector stopped by police while driving home from work

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Charles Ehikioya, who has served for 22 years, says he was racially profiled

A black police inspector has complained to the Metropolitan police about racial harassment after two white officers stopped him while he was driving.

Insp Charles Ehikioya recorded the incident, which happened as he returned from work in south London on 23 May, the BBC reported.

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Dawn Butler police stop ‘rooted in bias’, says UK chief of black police officers

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Exclusive: Andrew George calls for urgent reform of system that views black people as ‘criminals or drug dealers’

The police stop of the Labour MP Dawn Butler was rooted in systemic racism that is damaging the legitimacy of policing, the leader of black police officers has said.

Inspector Andrew George, the new interim president of the National Black Police Association, also called for urgent reform of “a biased system that views black people as criminals or drug dealers”.

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Off-duty police officer dies in fall from jetski in north Wales

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Despite medical intervention, officer died at scene following incident off coast of Pwllheli

An off-duty police officer has died after falling from a jetski. The alarm was raised shortly after 4.30pm on Saturday following the incident off the coast of Pwllheli, north Wales.

Emergency services, including the Coastguard and RNLI, attended and the officer was retrieved from the water. Despite extensive medical intervention, he died at the scene. His next of kin have been informed, said North Wales police.

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Kevin Maxwell: ‘We need police officers who think different, not just look different’

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The first step to change is to admit that systemic racism exists. To own it. Only then can we root it out

• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the world

Ever since I was a boy, it was my dream to become a policeman. Growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, amid the riots of the 1980s, it must have seemed crazy: black gay scousers from working-class estates didn’t go into the police.

I joined Greater Manchester police three months after 9/11. From training, through to my transfer to the Metropolitan police in London, racism blighted my career. I fell ill with depression, and challenged the police in the courts. The Metropolitan police was found to have harassed, victimised and discriminated against me, because of my sexuality and the colour of my skin. I was then forced out after 11 years’ service.

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Met closure of Stephen Lawrence case will deny his family justice

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Convicting all the suspects would also have offered the police a measure of redemption

​Convicting all of the suspects in the racist gang of five or six people that killed Stephen Lawrence would have delivered justice for his family, and some measure of redemption for the Metropolitan police. Scotland Yard’s decision to close the case means neither will get what they longed for.

For Doreen and Neville Lawrence the loss of their first child, Stephen, was a personal catastrophe that over the years turned into a symbolic case for the nation, and remains so.

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Activists launch London legal action against UK officers in Hong Kong police

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Pro-democracy activists allege five British officers have taken part in brutal actions against protesters

Pro-democracy activists have launched a private prosecution in London against five British officers working for the Hong Kong police, alleging they have taken part in brutal actions against protesters.

The officers – who have not been named – occupy senior roles inside Hong Kong’s local police force. They are accused of torturing anti-government demonstrators, who have been protesting since June last year over an extradition bill and security law imposed by Beijing.

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Labour MP Dawn Butler stopped by police in London

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Car driven by a friend pulled over by officers who later admitted they made a mistake

Dawn Butler, the Labour MP and former shadow equalities minister, has accused the police of being institutionally racist after she was stopped while driving to Sunday lunch with a friend.

Butler, a strong critic of police stop-and-search tactics, said the car was being driven by her male friend, who like Butler is black, when two police cars pulled it over in Hackney, east London. Officers said the vehicle was registered in North Yorkshire.

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Ravers and boomers: is intergenerational Covid tension real?

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With ‘don’t kill granny’ warnings and talk of an over-50s lockdown, there are fears unity is fraying in the UK

On a Saturday evening in mid-July, Michael made a video call to his grandmother and checked she had everything she needed. Then, along with about 3,000 others, he set out for an illegal rave.

Despite coronavirus lockdown measures, Michael, a 20-year-old student from Bristol who asked to use a pseudonym, went to the event at a former RAF airfield near Bath three weeks ago with a group of friends. Before they met up, he said, their group chat was “mostly excitement, but a little bit of trepidation”. Michael added: “But we just thought, none of us live with old people, and the rules are all confusion.”

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Tottenham protest marks anniversary of Mark Duggan’s death

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Action supported by Black Lives Matter calls for end to ‘institutionally racist policing’

Chants of “no justice no peace” echoed around Tottenham police station on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of peaceful demonstrators gathered outside the building calling for an end to what they say is institutionally racist policing in this part of north London.

The event marks the ninth anniversary of the fatal shooting by police in Tottenham of Mark Duggan. His death was followed by the biggest riots in recent times. The event is supported by Black Lives Matter, Tottenham Rights and Stopwatch.

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Two stories, different witnesses. So where was Dominic Cummings on 19 April?

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Witness accounts pile on pressure for PM’s aide to show proof he did not visit Durham a second time in lockdown

The official version is Cummings’s own, and places him squarely in London. While the prime minister’s chief aide notoriously acknowledged a trip to Durham in late March, his denial of a second visit days after he returned was unequivocal.

On a sunny afternoon in the Downing Street rose garden, he insisted the witness who said they had seen him admiring bluebells in Houghall woods was wrong, and he had the evidence.

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Cardiff sergeant facing tribunal for sex at police station while on duty

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Adam Reed also facing disciplinary charges for allegedly secretly taking photos of a colleague’s feet

A police disciplinary tribunal is to hear claims a sergeant had sex with junior colleagues in police stations while on duty.

Adam Reed, a former police sergeant with South Wales police, is also facing disciplinary charges over allegedly secretly taking photos of a female colleague’s feet.

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Forest of Dean rave: police disperse ‘large volume’ of people at dance party

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Gloucestershire police say they have broken up an event in the forest and warned others to stay away

Police have warned people to stay away from the Forest of Dean, where they have been forced to break up a rave attended by a “large volume” of partygoers.

Gloucestershire police said in a tweet early on Sunday morning: “Police are currently in the Forest of Dean near to Speculation car park dispersing a rave. People are advised not to attend the area due to safety and Covid risks.”

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‘I was shielded from my history’: the changes young black Britons are calling for

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Exclusive: from schools to policing, 50 people share their experiences of growing up in the UK

Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK and across the world, the Guardian interviewed 50 young black Britons, many of whom have been at the heart of the recent anti-racism protests, to ask what changes they would like to see in their lifetime.

Three demands came up repeatedly: decolonising the curriculum; divesting funds away from police forces in favour of a public health-focused approach to crime; and better representation of black Britons across a wider section of society.

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Police in England and Wales ‘twice as likely’ to fine young BAME men during lockdown

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Analysis of fixed-penalty notices found group as a whole were 1.6 times more likely to be fined than white people

Police were twice as likely to fine young black and Asian men under the lockdown rules than their white counterparts, according to new figures that underline concerns about racial bias in policing.

Analysis of fixed-penalty notices issued under the coronavirus regulations by National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) found that black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME) were 1.6 times more likely to be fined than white people.

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Portland mayor teargassed by federal agents during protest – video

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The mayor of Portland was teargassed by federal agents during protests against the presence of the agents sent by Donald Trump to quell unrest in the city.

Ted Wheeler, the Democratic mayor of the city in Oregon, said it was the first time he had been teargassed. Protesters had lit a large fire and armed agents launched teargas and stun grenades into the crowd.

Wheeler was mostly jeered by demonstrators who have clashed nightly with federal agents. The mayor has opposed the federal agents’ presence, but has faced harsh criticism for not taking more action to protect citizens

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Trump announces ‘surge of federal law enforcement’ into cities including Chicago – video

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Donald Trump announced at a White House event on Wednesday he will send 'a surge of federal law enforcement' into US cities that are 'plagued by violent crime'.

Trump's administration has been criticised for sending federal agents to crack down on protests against racism in Portland, Oregon

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