Reconvention
Success
John Paul
O’Kane, Edward Stewart and Martin Turner were the first British Transport
Police officers to attend the Scottish Police College for the new reconvention –
and were all successful.
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LINK Secretary
Visit
Richard
Chapman from HR/Diversity and LINK Secretary paid a visit to the Scottish
area and attended a LINK social event held in Glasgow on Monday
16th February 2009.
Constable
Linda Shields, the Scottish LINK Liaison officer, said: “This was an ideal
opportunity for him to meet with LINK members together with officers and
police staff in the Scotland area and gain valuable
feedback, comments and ideas. Richard left with a list of suggestions
which he will feed back at the next LINK committee meeting. The evening
was particularly enjoyable as this was the start of LINK social events and
future dates will be advertised soon in our news
letter.”
Membership
to LINK is open to everyone who works for BTP; in whatever capacity both
police officers and support staff and LINK would welcome any new
members.
To contact
Linda Shields telephone: 07919528952 or e-mail [email protected]
– Confidentiality is assured
To find out
more about LINK visit the welfare drop down bar on the Scottish briefing
system.
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Barrie Grant Joins Area as HR Business
Partner
Barrie
Grant joined the Scottish Area as the newly appointed HR Business Partner
this week. Barrie will be based in
Glasgow
and lead the HR function of the area.
A graduate
of the University of
Paisley, Barrie brings a
wealth of experience to his role, having worked for IBM and Tarmac as well
being a self employed HR consultant and is CIPD
qualified.
Welcome to
BTP, Barrie.
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New
Arrivals
Congratulations
are due to Claire Taylor and her husband David who became the proud
parents of baby Connor who was born Valentines Day, weighing 9lb
4oz.
David
Nicholas and his wife Julie are also celebrating. Baby Eve was born on 5
December 2008 weighing 7lb 5oz.
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Photographing
Police Officers
There have
been some media reports that the latest amendments to the Terrorism Act
2000 have made it illegal to photograph police
officers.
This
is not true and
BTP officers operating in public should not normally object to being
photographed.
The
amendments should make
no practical difference to the way we treat photography and photographers
on the rail system.
Rail
enthusiasts carrying out their normal activity are acting perfectly
legally. However, if you have legitimate concerns or suspicions
about what someone is doing, you can use normal PACE or Sections 43 or 44
Terrorism Act powers as appropriate.
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If
It’s Wrong, Report It
From 23
February, a new independent telephone service and internal email address
for reporting wrongdoing is available for all staff and
officers.
The
Crimestoppers Integrity Line – 0800 111 4444 – replaces Safecall, the
independent service introduced in 2005.
Detective
Sergeant Gary Williams from the Professional Standards Department said:
“The Crimestoppers Integrity Line is already used by Sussex Police, and is
a way for staff and officers to be able to report misconduct issues or
general integrity concerns.
“We have
chosen to switch to this new service, as the Crimestoppers brand is very
recognisable with a proven track record. It works in the same way as
Safecall did, with a call centre staffed by independent
personnel.”
At the same
time, an internal email address that can be accessed from the front page
of the intranet will be introduced.
DS Williams
said: “This provides another reporting option, with the main advantage
that it allows an email conversation directly between PSD and the
anonymous informant to promote a better flow of
information.
“The person
sending the email will remain anonymous to
us.”
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Drivers
Feedback
The
following is an extract from an email received from senior First ScotRail
staff following a recent drivers’ meeting at Glasgow Central
station.
“Your
officers attended our brief today and our staff commented on their
delivery of the session and their positive input. Open, honest, answered
questions well and were thanked for coming
along.”
“Please
keep up the good work.”
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Staff
Suggestions
Suggestion: Could the
section 14 statement and Record for Notebook Points be printed in the rear
of the CID notebooks?
This
statement is required to be read out when someone is detained under the
terms of Section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995 and the 10
points recorded in your notebook. At present the uniform notebooks have
various information points listed across the inside 2 pages at back and
front of the book. The CID notebook only has the Scottish caution and
voluntary statement.
It used to
be possible to get a laminated aide memoir card for S14 from training but
I have been told that due to cost implications these are no longer
produced.
Response: Thanks for
the suggestion. We will look into producing a laminated card for notebook
use.
Suggestion:
In the
event of a major incident in our area, such as at Stewarton, would it be
possible, once the command post/incident vehicle is set up to have the
site radio traffic changed to the event
channel.
If this was
possible this would free up the airwaves on sacc1 for the rest of the
country to use for day to day policing requirements.
Response:
This is
part of a planned debrief. Given our location at Stewarton, we were unable
to receive sufficient signal to use any form of IT (NSPIS etc) and
therefore the decision was made to remain on the main channel.
A good
point however and thanks for the suggestion.
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London Olympics and Paralympics Project
Team
BTP has a
project team in place to co-ordinate planning for the 2012 Olympics
and Paralympics in London and to ensure that as a Force
we are in a position to deliver a safe and secure railway during these
events.
Planning a
multi-agency approach years in advance is necessary because of the
magnitude of the Games, and the complexity of the governance structure and
organisations involved.
London 2012
is going to be the first ever “public transport Games”. The plan is for
all spectators to travel to sporting venues around Britain using public transport.
It is estimated that more than 80% will travel by rail, and the challenge
for BTP is to work with our partners to ensure a reliable, safe and secure
railway system to enable this.
If officers
or staff receive enquiries on Olympic-related matters or invitations to
attend meetings relating to the Olympics, they should first make contact
with the Olympic Project office. This will ensure they are fully
briefed before attending and/or ensure appropriate representation at
meetings. This is also to ensure BTP delivers consistent
messages in relation to specific enquires and avoid duplication of
effort.
If you have
any queries in relation to the BTP London and Olympics Project, the team
can be contacted on 020 7830 8941 (00 48941), or email enquiries to
Olympic Project Manager Odette Butson. A
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games section has also been set up on
the Intranet (click here).
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Health in
Pregnancy Payments Available for Expectant Mothers
Expectant
mothers whose babies are due on or after 6 April will be eligible for a
one-off, tax-free payment from the government under the new Health in
Pregnancy scheme.
Mothers-to-be
who are at least 25 weeks pregnant will be able to claim £190 to help them
prepare for the birth of their baby, after receiving advice and the claim
form from a midwife or doctor.
The
form must be returned to HM Revenue and Customs within 31 days of the form
being signed by a doctor or midwife.
The
payment is not means tested and will not affect the recipients’ tax
credits or any other benefits. It is not available to mothers-to-be who
are subject to immigration control or who are not present, ordinarily
resident in or have the right to reside in the UK.
Click
here to see the DirectGov website with all the details about the
scheme, and to register for a text message or email reminder to help you
remember to make a claim if you are not yet 25 weeks pregnant.
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|
S Weekly is the news
update for BTP Scotland Area. It is sent
out to all Scotland
Area officers and staff
every Friday. If you have a story you think should appear
here, email David
Hodgson. Copyright ©
2008 British Transport
Police. |
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