Police protection officer had been returning from US trip with foreign secretary
A police protection officer who was travelling with Dominic Raab has been suspended from duty after reportedly leaving his gun on a plane.
The officer had travelled with the foreign secretary on a visit to the US when he allegedly left his gun on a plane at Heathrow airport on Friday.
Continue reading...Government will announce emergency action to strengthen rules and aid police enforcement
The government has announced emergency action to try to stem a feared autumn resurgence of coronavirus, tightening laws to ban virtually all gatherings of more than six people in England.
Amid concerns that the current rules are both widely misunderstood and too difficult for police to implement, Boris Johnson will hold a hastily arranged Downing Street press conference on Wednesday to outline the new restrictions.
Continue reading...Inquiry into Ariana Grande concert attack to hear force did not declare major incident for three hours
Experts will tell an inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing that “significant flaws” by police led to a series of devastating delays in tending to victims.
The public inquiry into the terrorist attack was told on Tuesday the force did not declare a major incident until three hours after Salman Abedi’s attack at the Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people and injured 260.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...The death of George Floyd in the US sparked the UK’s biggest anti-racism protests in centuries. We spoke to 50 young people at the heart of these rallies
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