Step up security at public toilets with turnstiles
A sanitation worker received a shock when she serviced a portable toilet, finding what looked like a home-made bomb. The worker made the discovery about 9am at a Tacoma Public Utilities transfer station in America. Police set up a safety zone and evacuated a handful of nearby business and a small apartment complex before disabling the device. Detectives were following up to see where the explosive came from and how long it had been in the toilet.
Critics have suggested that a new cost-cutting proposal to present voluntary redundancy terms to police officers is unfairly targeting those who have been injured in the line of duty. And some fear it could force injured officers, scared of losing their jobs, back on to the streets before they are ready.
Theft incidents from British Telecom sites rose almost ten per cent last year owing to the demand for copper, meaning that the BT wiring network was highly prized by criminal gangs. BT’s Openreach Division fought back by employing SmartWater, a clear solution which forensically tags thieves’ skin, therefor the police can easily trace them.
Furious shoppers have hit out at fees introduced at a town centre car park. Beginning last month, people using the Bay View centre car park in Wales had to pay to use the upper short-stay car park for more than two hours, or the long-stay car park for more than three hours. The Colwyn Bay shoppers say this is a ‘double whammy’ with the parking restrictions that were put in place by the council in February this year, so they may now head out of the town centre.
The cost to society of crime on public transport reaches more than a billion pounds per year, according to the latest government figures. On rail, light rail and London Underground alone the total cost of crime amounted to £925million. British Transport Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther said crime on the rail network had been reduced by 20% since the report was completed.
London, Burnley and Manchester head the chart of the top ten areas affected most by burglary in the UK. London has 46.35 burglaries per 1000 people, a statistic which is almost double that of runner-up Burnley, which has 24.63, while Manchester has 23.76. The rest of the top ten by local authority is: Nottingham, Bristol, Reading, Leeds, North East Lincolnshire, Ashfield, and in tenth position Kingston upon Hull.
Shadow home secretary Alan Johnson has hit back at comments by Britain’s most senior anti-terror officer John Yates, who said predicted 25% cuts in police spending increase the risk of attack. Labour’s Mr Johnson said they were a sign that "this government doesn’t consider policing and counter-terrorism as a priority".
Those possessing expensive cars are advised to be on the alert because thieves are targeting them – BMW and Mercedes are especially sought after. There have been instances over the summer when burglars force entry into homes and grab the car keys before driving off. In the hot weather it is easy for any building, whether office or domestic, to have its security compromised by people leaving windows and doors wide open.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told the attorney general’s office its budget cut by a quarter will "damage frontline services" and "delay and possibly deny justice", according to a copy of its draft submission to the Treasury.
The ringleaders of a large gang carrying out robberies amounting to a quarter of a million pounds have just been jailed. Patrick Smeda and Carlos Corlett were joined by four accomplices who targeted a long list of shops and stores in the West Country and Wales. Corlett, 31, and Smeda, 26, were sentenced to 15 and 14 years respectively. The group burgled convenience stores and houses and conspired to steal cars and licence plates to be used in the robberies.