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NEWS:
FIGURES ADD UP TO GOOD RESULT
FOR NW Figures add
up to good result for NW
Crime has
fallen on the North West’s railways. Figures
released this week show crime in the region fell by more than three per
cent during 2008/09. Chief
Superintendent Peter Holden, Area Commander for British Transport Police
in the North West said: “The results for the past year are very
encouraging, particularly as they come on the back of good reductions in
2007/08. “BTP in the
North West is striving to make the railway a safe place for all passengers
and staff and I hope these latest figures underline our determination to
achieve this. “I am
particularly pleased to see excellent reductions for robbery (11.1 per
cent) and violent crime (7.9 per cent). These offences, which involve
violent interaction between offender and victim, are often cited as being
responsible for much of the fear of crime felt by the
public. “To see a
second year of reductions in these areas means not only that there are
fewer victims, but that the public can have greater confidence when using
the railways.” He added:
“I would like to thank all officers and staff for their hard work over the
past year. The reductions witnessed are a testament to their dedication
and commitment to making the railway a safer environment for
all. As well as
the reductions for robbery and violent crime, BTP in the North West saw
drops in fraud (33 per cent) theft of passenger property (7.4 per cent),
motor vehicle/cycle offences (7.9 per cent), theft of railway property
(two per cent), criminal damage (8.7 per cent) and public disorder (3.3
per cent). Wirral men
jailed for assault on lone woman
Three
Wirral men will be spending the next few months behind bars for their part
in a drunken assault on a 27-year-old woman at Green Lane
station. Stuart
Whitfield and Michael Totty, both of Birkenhead, were found guilty of
assault and public order offences when they appeared at Birkenhead
Magistrates’ Court on 18th May. At an
earlier hearing David Hill, of Prenton, pleaded guilty to assault when he
appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 13th
March. The court
at Birkenhead heard that shortly before 8pm on 21st December 2008,
Whitfield, Totty and Hill arrived at Green Lane having travelled on a
train from Liverpool. As the
three crossed the footbridge over the tracks they spotted the victim
walking towards the opposite platform for trains heading towards
Liverpool. They
approached her and began to shout abuse at her – calling her a variety of
derogatory names. She moved
onto the platform to get away from the men, but was followed by the trio
who continued to shout abuse at her and spat on
her. She was
corned at the end of the platform and threatened by the men who she kept
at arms length by using her umbrella in a swinging
motion. At this
point the men ran from the platform, leaving the victim extremely shaken
and fearful. She managed
to contact the police and Totty and Whitfield were arrested a short
distance from the station. Hill
managed to run away, but was located at his home address on 4th
January. Michael
Totty, 21, was sentenced to 15 weeks imprisonment after being found guilty
of assault, a Section 4 Public Order offence and failure to adhere to bail
conditions. Stuart
Whitfield, 24, was sentenced to 14 weeks imprisonment after being found
guilty of assault and a Section 4 Public Order
offence. David Hill
pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 12 weeks
imprisonment. Custody suite on
track for June completion
The build
of the new custody suite at Liverpool Police Station is progressing well
and the structure is now in place. The
building contractors continue to pull out all of the stops to ensure we
can be fully operational by the end of June
2009. A project
noticeboard has been set up at Liverpool so staff can see how work is
progressing. If you
require any further information about this project then please contact the
Project Manager, Stuart Holmes by email or by ringing 0161
200 8354. Mock exams for
OSPRE sergeants to inspectors
Mock exams
for sergeants wanting to make the step to inspector will be conducted on
August 6 at FHQ. The exam is
designed to give individuals an opportunity to see what is expected in the
exam, identify areas they need to work on and experience in working
under the pressure of
exam conditions. Superintendent
Jeff Boothe said: "Too often we see people who are operationally very
prepared for the next level but let themselves down in their exam results
and I encourage anyone wanting to progress to the Inspector level to
take part in these exams." The
mock exam will be of three hours duration and those wishing to sit
the exam have a choice of two slots as follows: 6
Aug 2009 FHQ
G1/G2
09:30 – 12:30 6
Aug 2009 FHQ
G1/G2
13:00 – 16:00 Candidates
will be expected to return to their place of duty after the
exam. Anyone
who wishes to book a place in the exams should email Force
Examinations Officer Karen
Seleman. Using
CCTV for appeals
The rail
industry is a CCTV rich environment – and that can give BTP a big
advantage in investigating crime. ‘If there
is CCTV that can help your enquiries, you should be thinking very early on
of the best way of exploiting that,’ says the Deputy Chief Constable Andy
Trotter. ‘It is a
powerful investigative tool – but the more you delay, the more you
lose. If you think you might want to put out a witness appeal, do it
sooner rather than later, unless there are good reasons not
to. ‘Putting
out appeals with CCTV that are more than a few days old can make us look
slow and unprofessional. “News is
exactly that, something new, and the media rarely carries stories that are
more than a few days old. You not only risk losing an investigative
opportunity, but also inviting questions about BTP’s
competence.’ Witness
appeals should be put out through Glyn Hellam, North West
Media and Marketing Manager, or though the national Pressdesk (020 7918
3354 or 0678 43354). CCTV images should not be released without the
requisite level of authority. Anthony Nolan
Trust clinic
The
Anthony Nolan Trust and British Transport Police are launching an appeal
to encourage all employees to register as potential bone marrow donors in
a bid to help save the life of one of the thousands of patients currently
looking for a match. Every
21 minutes someone in the There are
currently 16,000 patients worldwide that are desperately searching for a
suitable donor. As yet
a perfect match has not been found from the search of over 12 millions
donors that are registered worldwide. We need to increase the number
of donors to help give all these patients a chance of life.
The Anthony
Nolan Trust is working with BTP to raise awareness surrounding the need
for more bone marrow donors and has set up this special
event. If you wish
to register as a potential lifesaver & find out more about The Anthony
Nolan Trust please come along to Force
Headquarters on Friday 19th June between
12-3pm. Lynsey
Dickson, of the Anthony Nolan Trust, said: "There are currently 16,000
patients seeking a suitable bone marrow donor, we are urging all BTP
employees aged 18-40 years and in good health to register as one of them
could be the lifesaving match a patient is looking
for. “The Anthony
Nolan Register can never be big enough if we are to fulfil our mission and
provide a transplant for any patient in the world in need of bone
marrow. “We are
hoping many employees give the gift of life and provide hope to many
patients throughout the world. “We
are looking forward to working together with BTP on this campaign and are
extremely grateful for their help and support in our life saving
work.” If you are
interested please contact Derek Reale by email or by ringing 07921
943853.
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