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Winston Roddick elected as North Wales police and crime commissioner

Winston Roddick elected as North Wales police and crime commissioner and ex NWPA chief executive Tal Michael is runner up.

A Message from driving standards agency

A Message from driving standards agency www.dsa.gov.uk/

Remember, the Highway Code is for life - not just for learners. Check out the online version at ….

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm

Online version
This version has been adapted for online use from the Department for Transport's current printed version of the Highway Code. In any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, only the Department for Transport's current printed version of the Code should be relied upon.

POLICE UNIFORM

Tell them what you think
This survey is currently on the NWPF website
In recent years our uniform has developed to provide operational staff with a uniform that is both practical and comfortable. We're hoping to find out what effect the uniform has on your perception of the police and will be carrying out both online and street surveys over the coming weeks. If you have a minute or two to spare, please let us know what you think by completing the online survey below.
The current NWPF hierarchy will probably listen
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If it’s not an emergency but you want to speak to the Police call 101

‘If it’s not an emergency but you want to speak to the Police call 101’

From this week (20th April 2009) people living in Wales can report all non emergencies to Wales Police by dialling 101. The calls will be answered by dedicated call handlers working in the same force area as the calls are made. This means that Wales is the first nation to have just two contact numbers for the Police, 999 in an emergency and 101 when it isn’t urgent. 101 does not replace 999 ....
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A leap forward in the courts from a magistrates blog

Tuesday, March 31, 2009. I have been shown a confidential internal document from the MoJ that sets out some truly original thinking; blue-sky, outside-the-box stuff.

The document states the obvious fact that the public has little confidence in the justice system. Courts are seen as out of touch, and punishments are seen as half-hearted and soft.

This needs to be addressed, so Jack Straw has decided to give the editors of The Sun and the Daily Mail seats ex-officio on the Sentencing Guidelines Council as People's Tribunes. They will also sit as lay assessors in the Court of Appeal when it considers sentences that have been referred to it as unduly lenient.

This is expected to have a two-way beneficial effect. The voice of the man in the street will be heard at the point where sentencing policy is decided, and the readers of two popular tabloids will get up to date stories about how the system is clamping down on thugs yobs lags terrorists and the like.

It could work. Anyone who saw tonight's documentary about Holloway will understand the awesome power of the tabloids - a single rant about a Halloween 'party' in the prison prompted Straw to intervene and forbid any more events like it. The prison's staff had to spend the best part of a day away from their real jobs in a damage-limitation exercise. So let's see how it goes. An announcement in Parliament is expected before 12 noon tomorrow.

Tesco overcharged customers for fuel

Tesco's £18,000 fuel fault fine

The Tesco garage at Ystrad Mynach where customers were overcharged. Supermarket group Tesco has been fined £18,000 after motorists at a south Wales service station were overcharged for fuel for nine months.

Caerphilly Council prosecuted the firm under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 after a routine inspection by trading standards at its Ystrad Mynach store. The grocery chain was also ordered to pay £6,500 court costs after admitting six measuring offences.

A few facts about our car use and costs

The Drivers' Alliance releases study into fuel prices and car use.

They have been looking at the affordability of fuel and how this impacts on the use of a car. Their findings show miles driven have remained static since 1995. This was a surprise as we often hear car use and congestion is increasing which is used as a reason for introducing congestion charging and road pricing.
They also found that:
 Diesel increased by 49% in real terms since 1995
 Petrol increased by 20% in real terms since 1995
 Average mile

Major increases in Crime in Flintshire

From N. Wales police website crime map as of 13th January 2009
Eastern Area 5 Flintshire North.
Compared to this time last year, crime in this area has increased by 8.6% (?)
Burglary in this area has increased by 63%
Robbery in this area has increased by 33.3%
Vehicle crime in this area has increased by 31.9%
Violence in this area has increased by 4.9%
Anti-social behaviour in this area has increased by 10.5%

The growth in the indiscriminate use of TASERS

The PPP have reposted all our articles on TASERS in order to raise the profile of this issue in the light of the recent incident.

Half lorries tested on A55 in North Wales are dangerous

Half lorries tested on A55 in North Wales are dangerous
Jan 12 2009 by Owen R Hughes, Daily Post
SHOCKING figures have revealed more than half the lorries stopped on the A55 were dangerous.
The frightening statistics uncovered 57% of trucks checked at Caergeiliog, near Holyhead port, and 54% of lorries stopped at Ewloe had some type of defect or truckers flouting driving hours.
Offences included defective brakes, overladen vehicles and drivers who had “horrendously” exceeded their driving hours.

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Reward for officer fighting crimes against wildlife

A North Wales Police officer has been awarded second place in the WWF's Wildlife Law Enforcer of the Year Award.

Police Sergeant Rob Taylor was presented with the coveted award, last weekend, for his fantastic work in protecting wildlife and bringing those which exploit and profit from wildlife to justice.

Sgt Taylor, was appointed fulltime Wildlife Officer for North Wales Police at the end of 2007, and since he took up the post he has made a significant impact, having received 237 reports.
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Crackdown on criminal damage in Bangor

This story directly from NWPF website 18/11/2008 Police in Bangor are warning people to be on their guard against criminals intent on causing damage. Since the beginning of April there has been a 30% increase in the number of offences of criminal damage being reported to officers compared to the same period last year, with over 450 crimes being committed. Damage has included vandalism and graffiti in and around the Bangor area and police are warning that action will be taken against the perpetrators.
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POLICE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICERS

A report (ref. Link below & disclaimer!) has just been published reviewing the Role of PCSO’s in community policing. Members of the PPP and others with an interest in or a responsibility for community policing should read this report and comment via their own political channels.
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POLICE CONFUSED AT PUMPS

Essex Police have been given talking petrol caps to prevent the boys and girls in blue filling up with the wrong pump products.

According to a Telegraph report, the Essex force has been forced to fork out for repairs an astonishing 222 times over the last five years after PCs have inadvertently filled diesel vehicles with petrol, or vice versa.

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Report suggests foreign trucks are eight times more dangerous

Foreign lorries are eight times more dangerous than British trucks, it has been revealed. Foreign HGVs only make up 1% of the total in the country but were involved in 163 accidents in which someone either died or suffered serious injuries in on year. This was nearly 8% of the total involving heavy goods vehicles. Meanwhile British hauliers, which account for the vast majority, were involved in 1,956. Campaigners argue that part of the problem is that foreign lorries are maintained to lower standards than British ones.
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National DNA database

Over 3 million DNA profiles from individuals are now on the National DNA Database® (NDNAD) and this number ontinues to increase. A series of legislative changes have contributed to the extensive expansion of the NDNAD. While there is overall support for the Database as an intelligence tool, there is a need to balance the benefits to society and individual rights. This POSTnote will provide an overview of the NDNAD and cover issues such as the retention of samples.

PENALTIES FAIL TO DETER UNINSURED DRIVERS

A spokesman for the AA said: "There is a lot of car confiscation and car crushing that goes on for uninsured drivers." But, he added, that the prospect does not appear that bad "when you can pick up a car for £500 or £600 pounds which is cheaper than the insurance policy". Insured drivers face extra costs of between £30 and £50 due to uninsured motorists.
Paul Smith of Safespeed stated this at least 3 years ago, it seems nothing has changed.



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Another incident on the A55

Another incident on the A55.Info courtesy of Daily Post Sept.4th 2008
At around 1pm there was an accident on the A55 at Rhuallt Hill after a caravan overturned. One of the lanes was closed while the caravan was moved to the side. Nobody was hurt.

Think tank calls for fundamental changes to policing and criminal justice

Fundamental changes to policing and criminal justice are needed because Britain has become a nation of "passive bystanders" who expect ministers to be responsible for every crime that is committed, a think tank said.
In order to move away from the current "centralised and technocratic" system of "Robocop justice", Reform argues for the introduction of local justice commissioners, community police boxes and regionalised criminal justice policies.

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Flintshire spend £200k in MORE CCTV.

Flintshire council believes in keeping an eye on you

Flintshire CC spent more than £200k last year on 115 ( yes 115 )CCTV cameras. This equates to one per 1300 people. In addition there are “ stand alone “systems .
The cameras are partly funded by North Wales police.

The council are not able to measure how successful the use of CCTV has been !

For example they do not hold any information on how many crimes have been solved and how many prosecutions have taken place as a result of CCTV’s.

The PPP comments ……
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BBC SAYS SORRY TO IAN LUCAS MP..

THE BBC will tonight broadcast an apology to a North Wales MP after running a programme in which he was branded a “Ned Ludd” character by a senior policeman.
Labour’s Ian Lucas complained after documentary The Chief, about the work of controversial North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom, was screened last November.
It contained a sequence in which Mr Brunstrom and his deputy Clive Wolfendale made “disparaging” comments about Mr Lucas – including comparing him to the man the Luddites took their name from
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Quote of the moment

“Speed cameras..... are fatuous instruments of oppression ..... designed to exercise power and impose subservience purely for its own sake.”

Auberon Waugh ……….. via the ABD website


The PPP comment…. We have said it so many times and in so many ways but never so succinctly.

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NORTH WALES POLICE AUTHORITY--- POLICY OFFICER.

POLICE AUTHORITY OFFICE, POLICE HEADQUARTERS, COLWYN BAY Salary scale POA (£27,582 - £29,844 per annum)
Applications are invited for the above post, the overall purpose of which is to advise the Police Authority on matters relating to planning, performance and policing policy, and to prepare, implement, monitor and review consultation and engagement with the general public and public individuals and bodies.There is a requirement to attend meetings throughout North Wales and sometimes beyond.
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Gwyneth Dunwoody MP dies at 77

Veteran Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody, the longest-serving female MP in Parliament, has died at the age of 77. Mrs Dunwoody, MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 1974, had been ill for the past week, her son said. Prime Minister Gordon Brown described her as "politics at its best" and said she would be sadly missed.

As well as chairing the transport select committee, Ms Dunwoody was known as a prominent and much-admired fighter for backbenchers' rights. She is reported to have recently undergone emergency open-heart.

North Wales police HQ on fire

An anonymous blogger said.....Hell of a smell of smokey bacon around the Old Colwyn area this lunchtime.I was sitting on a bus, & I am not lying when I say the whole bus was laughing when they saw the fire at North Wales police HQ. How sad is that?.

A colwyn Bay resident told us that the Police closed the roads adjacent to the HQ because dozens of cars were stopping & the occupants were standing around laughing and applauding. Brunstrom said that the fire would have no significant effect on Policing in North Wales.

Police Watchdog, The IPCC ,to probe stun gun death.

The death of a man who was shot by armed officers with a stun gun during a domestic dispute has been referred to the independent police watchdog.
Armed officers were called to the incident in the Goldington area of Bedford at 7pm on Saturday night after reports of a dispute.
A spokeswoman said: "Armed officers went to the address after being called to a domestic dispute involving a mother and son. On arrival at the property police found an man in his 30s suffering from injury but armed with a knife.
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Road safety in North Wales … THE TERRIBLE FACTS

In 2007 there were 37 fatal collisions on North Wales roads – a slight drop from 45 in 2006. There have been four fatal crashes so far in 2008.
The number of people killed or seriously injured on the region’s roads has steadily increased from 242 in 2005, to 270 in 2006, & up to 304 last year. That is an increase of 26% in just two years. Of the 180 people killed on Welsh roads in 2005, 38% were between 16 & 25 – leading police to pledge they would target younger drivers for better training.
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A few stories from the Daily Mirror website

These few stories from the Daily Mirror website (see PPP links) highlight the parlous state of law and order in the UK. The PPP believe that our campaign for real policing by fully trained and experienced officers followed by appropriate sentencing by the CPS and the courts is justified on a Daily basis by similar events nation wide and across North Wales.
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A detection is where the investigation of an offence has been resolved by way of:

A detection is where the investigation of an offence has been resolved by way of

Charge; Summons; Caution; Offences Taken into Consideration; Reprimand; Final Warning; or: A FIXED PENALTY NOTICE, so 65,000 speeding tickets issued in North Wales/year makes their detection rate look GOOD...what a SCAM
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PRICE OF POTHOLE DAMAGE SOARS Car damage costs 10x that of pothole repairs

PRICE OF POTHOLE DAMAGE SOARS Car damage costs 10x that of pothole repairs ….. story courtesy of Piston Heads website. Council spending on repairing potholes on the UK's roads is just a tenth of the estimated cost of the damage caused to vehicles every year, according to data from warranty specialist Warranty Direct.
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BRITAIN'S ROADS WILL GET DARKER.

In a bid to save money and energy and add a greenwash to the idea the Department for Transport is planning to turn off or dim street lighting during lightly trafficked hours.

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Government Car Crushing Waste Scandal must end

It seems that every day we hear of vehicles being seized and crushed by various government departments including police, customs and excise, local authorities and trading standards. The ABD asks why these vehicles are not being auctioned off to raise funds.

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Mobile phones

Drivers who use their mobiles at the wheel could face jail. Daily Mail
Last updated at 10:29am on 14th December 2006
Visit Website

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Home Office missing crime target

Home Office missing crime target. The Home Office is falling behind its five-year target for reducing crime, a government report reveals. The number of offences reported in the year to June was 11 million, while it should have been down to 10.5 million by this stage.
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