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NEWS:
LONDON NORTH SHORT-LISTED FOR NATIONAL RAIL
AWARDS NOTICE:
SUBMITTING
TOIL APPLICATIONS London
North short-listed for National Rail
Awards The
Area Commander has recently been informed that London North’s entry to the
National Rail Awards has made the shortlist
stage. The
Area has been entered into the London Team of the Year category and is due
to give a presentation to an expert judging panel on 10 July.
The
National Rail Awards recognises excellence across the rail industry and
the awards ceremony will take place on 17 September 2009.
Several
weeks ago the Resource Centre Manager circulated an e-mail to all officers
concerning applications to record TOIL that did not give an acceptable
reason for the overtime. All
applications now arrive at the rostering department via the finance
department and there are still a large number that do not show a reason
for the overtime. An NSPIS log number is not an acceptable
reason. At
present staff in the rostering department are spending too much time
chasing up officers for appropriate reasons.
With
effect from 1 July 2009 any application to register TOIL that does not
have a valid reason will not be entered onto the
system. Ian
MacDonald, Resource Centre Manager, said: “All officers, and especially
those authorising timesheets, should ensure that a valid reason is
inserted against all overtime. “In
addition, all officers should be aware of the difference between casual
and planned overtime.” Details
of acceptable reasons for overtime are listed below:
Arrest,
Paperwork, Search Duties, Football Duties, Court, Enquiries, Training, PSU
Duties, Major Incident, Fatality, Accident/Assault on duty, VIP, Planned
Initiative, Meeting, Bail Back, Bank Holiday, Travel, Medical, Recall to
Duty. Rayleigh
armed robber receives indeterminate sentence
An
armed robber who shot a 26-year-old man in the chest during a raid on a
security van in On
21 June, Brian Wall, 62, was found guilty of wounding with intent after a
14 week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court ended last month.
He
was handed an indeterminate sentence on Thursday 18 June and must serve a
minimum of 12 years prison before being considered for parole.
Wall,
of Dagenham, was also found guilty of conspiracy to rob between September
2006 and April 2008 and conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to
commit robberies at locations in the British
Transport Police Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent
Michael Field, welcomed the sentence. "The
sentence that has been handed down to Brian Wall is a clear reflection of
the seriousness of the crimes he committed,” said Det Supt Field.
“He
will now spend a very long time in prison where he will be able to
contemplate the consequences of his actions, in particular his shooting of
a brave young man in cold blood.” Mr
Mapleson was commended for his bravery by the judge and awarded £1000 (the
maximum award possible). The
Rayleigh shooting happened just after 7am when the security guard, who was
delivering £20,000 cash to a cash-point, had a gun thrust into her
stomach. Adam
Mapleson, a local resident who was on his way to work at the time, stepped
in to help her and was shot. Wall's
DNA recovered from a discarded baseball cap was found yards away from the
burnt out car used in the Rayleigh robbery. Enhancing
our recording of football-related crime Where
possible officers recording football-related crimes are requested to
inform Crime Recording Centre (CRC) which clubs and fixtures relate to the
arrest(s) or incident. For
example: “While travelling to the Newcastle v Queens Park Rangers football match
on Saturday 28 August,
Joe Smith committed a
Public Order
offence.” This
information will be recorded in the MO box and will allow the Area to
accurately record all football-related matters.
If
you do not know which clubs/fixtures an incident relates to, you can
contact PC Alvin Soomary, AIB department, or PS Des O’Brien, Crime
Management Unit, and they will help research this for
you. London
North targeted several level crossings across the Area to highlight the
dangers of ignoring warning signs and barriers as part of a European day
of action. The
national awareness day was organised in partnership with Network Rail to
educate people about the dangers and consequences of misusing the
crossings and to detect offenders. Over
600 people die at level crossings across Common
offences at level crossings, across the country, include: failure to
conform to red lights, yellow boxes or double white lines warnings, using
a mobile phone while driving and trespassing by passengers and
pedestrians. The
awareness day was organised jointly by road and rail sector bodies and
government agencies across London
North identified 10 level crossings, covering c2c, London Midland, FCC,
FGW and National Express lines of route, and the Area deployed both high
visibility patrols and plain clothes officers to detect and deter
offences, from 8am to 6pm. Drivers
who were caught committing offences were stopped and dealt with either by
interview and report or by caution or arrest. In addition, the active
patrols afforded BTP officers the opportunity to offer advice, give out
leaflets and safety tips to those who passed through crossings.
Detective
Chief Inspector Hugh Borgeat said the national awareness day was a great
success with 50 potential detections given out for route crime offences.
DCI
Borgeat said: “It is imperative that pedestrians and drivers do not take
risks at rail crossings and through our involvement in this operation we
were able to reinforce the safety message by education and
enforcement. “Working
together with our industry colleagues we will continue to carry-out
operations, similar to today’s event, and drive home the message to those
who do not follow the rules.” “For
our part, BTP will seek to penalise those who decide to act irresponsibly
and we will do everything possible to bring those offenders to justice,”
he added. Dealing
with victims of crime – Operation Contact London
North is in the early stages of implementing Operation Contact, a new
project designed to improve the Area’s service to victims of crime and
raising their satisfaction levels. Quality
of Service Project Manager, Chief Inspector Theresa Ferguson, said: “This
is all about taking the time to talk to our victims so we can offer them
feedback, regular updates and to reassure them that we are doing
everything we can to get a result. “Members
of the project team will meet with frontline supervisors and officers in
July and August to introduce Operation Contact and explain what the Area
Commander’s expectations on victim-contact
are”. Stay
posted as future LN Weeklies will be used to commend officers that have
delivered an exemplary service to victims of
crime. Armed
robber sentenced for supplying class A
drugs A
man jailed for armed robbery in which a member of rail staff was tied up
and threatened with a taser has subsequently been
convicted of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.
Last
year, Rasallus Fagan, 26, of Barking, was sentenced to six years for a
robbery at Upminster Station’s booking office, where he stole £14,000
using a taser to threaten the booking clerk. At
the beginning of 2008, Fagan was arrested by the Area’s Stratford Robbery
Squad in connection to the robbery. The While
Fagan was being transported to custody, the COU found a quantity of
pressed white powder, which was found taped to the back of a heater, and a
set of digital scales. During
interview, Fagan denied any knowledge of the drugs, which turned out to be
22.4 grams of coccaine, with a street value of just under £900.
Following
further investigation, Fagan this month received an additional sentence of
five years for possession with intent to supply class A
drugs. Detective
Constable Mark Tabbron, investigating officer, Stratford Robbery Squad
said: “We were originally investigating Fagan for the robbery at Upminster
station, when we found a suspicious substance and a set of digital scales,
in his flat. “What
is now clear is that Fagan was not only prepared to commit armed robbery
and threaten a member of rail staff, he was also clearly engaged in
dealing drugs, for which the courts have further
punished him.” DC
Tabbron added: “This was a great team effort between the Sratford Robbery
Squad and the COU, with a satisfying
outcome.” IPCC Learning
the Lessons Bulletin 7 - Command and Control
Issues The Independent Police Complaints
Commission (IPCC) has released ‘Learning the Lessons Bulletin regarding
Command and Control Issues’, which can be found by clicking here. The
latest bulletin relates to planned operations, the police response to
spontaneous incidents and missing persons investigations. It also includes
information on clarifying and understanding command roles, taking
ownership of incidents, and working with other
forces. Please
can all officers familiarise themselves with the bulletin as a matter of
priority. Driving
etiquette and cyclists All
officers in police
vehicles are reminded to be
mindful of cyclists waiting in the Green Cycle Boxes at traffic
lights. BTP
recently received a complaint on this issue, albeit the offence was
committed by another force, from a concerned cyclist.
This
demonstrates that we are continually scrutinised by the public and we
should be courteous to all road-users at all times.
The
boxes should be left free whether a cyclist is waiting there or not.
Heroin
addict steals railway cable to fund habit A
heroin addict has received a three year sentence for an armed robbery and
theft of cable. Gary
Wildman stole approximately £5000 worth of cable in Wildman,
25, of During
interviews for the robbery, Essex CID officers asked Wildman about
committing cable thefts in DC
Gerald Griffin and DS Bertie Roddy continued the investigation and Wildman
admitted to committing several cable thefts in order to fund his heroin
habit. DC
Griffin said: “Wildman was a persistent thief and was behind many of the
thefts in the local area. I am very pleased that the courts recognised the
seriousness of his crimes.” The
Training Department held a workshop and training session on conflict
management on Wednesday 17 June. Rail
staff from National Express, First Group, Network Rail and Argent attended
the training session at Area HQ and were joined by Kings Cross PC Peter
Croft. The
course was organised to teach rail staff how to identify potential
situations of aggression, how to defuse a situation that could turn
violent and how to change attitudes and behaviours which could incite
violence. There
are two more courses in July, which are fully booked, and another in
August, which is open to all Train Operating Companies and their staff.
If
you would like further information on conflict management training, please
contact Roshi Mendiratta, Training Admin Officer via email.
This
is a new section in LN Weekly and the media team welcomes officers and
staff to inform them of personal good news stories, such as births,
special anniversaries, weddings, charity events etc to be included in
future internal communications. To
start the ball rolling this week we are pleased to announce that the Crime
Management Unit’s PC Tim Charlton has recently
become a grandfather.
Tim’s
son James, who serves with Hampshire Constabulary, and his wife Heidi, are
now the proud parents of Isaac Matthew, who was born on Saturday 6
June at Congratulations
to Tim and all of the family.
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