Senior officers' forced retirement 'only option'

THE chief constable of Surrey Police has admitted?a cost-cutting decision to force senior officers with more than 30 years' service to retire had left some of them "angry and upset", but that it was the "only tool available" to deal with a shrinking budget.

The move was approved last week by Surrey Police Authority, along with another plan to put on the market?several police stations that have?been deemed surplus to requirements.

The force is now the first in England to invoke 23-year-old legislation compelling senior officers to retire, with the cull due to begin early next year.

This week, Mr Rowley said forced retirement?was "not the best way of doing things but the only tool we’ve got".

Preparations to restructure the force were first considered by senior officers and the police authority late last year.

Mr Rowley said: “We came to the view six months ahead of the [general] election that there were going to be big cuts in the public sector, and rather than waiting for them to happen, [we should] get ahead of the game.

"We are determined that delivery of policing in Surrey won’t suffer. We are probably going to have to save 15 to 20% of our?budget. That’s going to be difficult.

"One of the things we have done is change the way we organise the force so that I can try and run the force with fewer senior leaders. In terms of inspectors and through to chief superintendents, it is trying to run it with 40 fewer of them.

“If we wanted to make the savings that we wanted from cutting back senior leaders, we had to find a way to force it.

“There is this odd provision in police regulations that goes back a long time... to force people to retire who have got more than their 30 years’ service and take a full pension.

“It was always there. We didn’t think we would need to use it. Over the last few months it's become increasingly clear if we want to save the savings we want to so that we can protect the frontline PCs and sergeants who are out there doing their day-to-day job, then that was the only thing that we could do.

“We took specialist legal advice and last week took the decision to the police authority, saying this is not the best way of doing things but it is the only tool available to us.?

"The reality is it's probably 30 people over the next three years who will get forced out. Probably half of those would have retired anyway and this is just making it a certainty.

"Of the others, some are relaxed about it, some are angry and upset as you would expect.”

When the cost-cutting proposals were first announced, Mr Rowley said that the money saved would pay for an extra 200 officers patrolling the county’s streets.

The number recruited this year was a few short of 100, and?given the scale of government cuts the chief constable said he?could now not guarantee that the initial target would still be met.

“How the Home Office shares out their cuts to the 43 police forces isn’t clear yet and they should be announcing that in December.

“I certainly don’t see us going backwards from the extra officers we have recruited this year and I still hope we are going to meet that target. We are not going to be certain for a little while yet though.”

As for the proposed sale of police stations including Byfleet, Ash, Ripley, Sunbury, Lightwater, Frimley and Lingfield - with neighbourhood teams set to move into council offices or other community buildings instead - Mr Rowley said: "What this is not about is withdrawal from communities.

"Over the past three years or so we have been looking at if we can do better if we have local police officers working more closely, for example, with the local council.

"In Woking and Runnymede and other areas, the local police officers who patrol the local beats have been working out of the council offices there for two or three years.

“What we see through that is that they do a much better job because they are joined up with wardens and council officials who do housing. Having a joined up approach means they are tackling those problems in the area much more effectively.

“People do value local police stations, but far more they value the officer on the beat, the PCSO on the beat and that visible activity.

"We are not withdrawing, we are going to share buildings in neighbourhoods, we are going to be more visible, and we are trying to make sure we are in the right places because some of these old buildings aren’t even in the right places anymore.”

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here

GRA officers on bail, a return to work

Blackmail plot…
Held Customs arrested three follows a curve of blackmail was released on $100,000 bail station each as investigations.
The three policemen were arrested Friday for allegedly attempting to blackmail on two officials of Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) top, who were involved in a massive cigarette smuggling racket.
Kaieteur News has learned that one of the policemen involved, revealed yesterday for the work.
Sources yesterday to GRA said that a meeting was held yesterday afternoon between a number of high-ranking officials.
The newspaper said that two officials of the company not were step réunion.Dans interval police sources confirmed that charges are likely.
A police official said that a file is in preparation and should be sent to the Director of public prosecutions for advice.
Reliable sources had disclosed to that log the GRA cabinets are among a number of rows that were involved in a conspiracy recently by smugglers ship containers of cigarettes counterfeit in Suriname.
Last August, in Suriname, the authorities stopped one of cigarettes which arrived as another produced and shipped on their return to Guyana.
According to the information, three of the GRA employees received information that they give their dismissal letters shortly.
It is alleged that between firms face dismissal videotaped and also an audio recording of a high official GRA.
The employee would have then tried to use information recorded to force officer to overturn the decision of him and his colleagues from fire.
Instead, the GRA official was contacted by a senior political and requested that the alleged extortion immediately rejected .the ' case was also reported to the police and the Member of staff and other colleagues were arrested.
It is alleged that in August, a 20 foot container has entered the country recently as a commodity, but for some reason, it has been saved as "transit."
It contained was reportedly shot counterfeit State Express 555 cigarettes.
The container was released and taken to Moleson Creek where it is allowed in some way to enter the ferry Suriname and Guyana.
But the Suriname authorities the draining of the South, which would have been found as the driver to carry container no insurance and pushed the container document.
It is in the region of Berbice Berbice (BASS) combat brigade members would take place on it and held driver.

This entry transmitted via the service for full-text RSS - if this is your content and you read on someone to another site, please read our FAQ page fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Article five filters features: After Hiroshima - non-rapport Cancer Catastrophe of Fallujah.

View the original article here

Officers of customs, which was held in extortion plot

-many others faced dismissal

Police have arrested three Customs would try to blackmail a Guyana revenue authority top had involved in cigarette smuggling racket mass.
Kaieteur News includes GRA employees are in police custody since Friday and are on the grill at the headquarters of the CID, Eve Leary.
Reliable sources revealed that firms GRA are among a number of rows that were involved in a conspiracy recently by smugglers ship containers of cigarettes counterfeit in Suriname.
Last August, the authorities in Suriname had intercepted cigarettes shipped and false return container in Guyana.
According to the information, three of the GRA employees received information that they give their dismissal letters shortly.
It is alleged that between firms face dismissal videotaped and also an audio recording of a high official GRA.
The employee would have then tried to use information recorded to force officer to overturn the decision of him and his colleagues from fire.
Instead, the GRA official was contacted by a senior political and requested that the alleged extortion immediately rejected .the ' case was also reported to the police and the staff member and his two colleagues were arrested.
In the meantime, Kaieteur News includes that two other firms GRA have already been drawn to the scam counterfeit cigarettes, while others are receiving their dismissal letters soon.
It is alleged that in August, a 20 foot container has entered the country recently as a commodity, but for some reason, it has been saved as "transit."
It contained was reportedly shot counterfeit State Express 555 cigarettes.
The container was released and taken to Moleson Creek where it is allowed in some way to enter the ferry Suriname and Guyana.
But the Suriname authorities the draining of the South, which would have been found as the driver to carry container no insurance and pushed the container document.
It is in the region of Berbice when BASS members reported take place thereon and detained the driver.

This entry transmitted via the service for full-text RSS - if this is your content and you read on someone to another site, please read our FAQ page fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Article five filters features: After Hiroshima - non-rapport Cancer Catastrophe of Fallujah.

View the original article here

Set to go in the reduction of costs drive senior police officers

SURREY police is axe strokes 11 of its most senior leaders despite concerns the loss experience perhaps hitting ability to cope with a crisis force.

Agents from inspectors to directors head recently received notice of redundancy and are set to leave the Surrey Police next April.

Another 24 senior officers should also be deleted within four years, within the framework of drive force to save 23 millions of pounds in the next three years.

However, Federation of Surrey police criticised the move, raising fears that redundancies fundamentally affect the ability of the strength of the function in the case of a major incident.

SPF Chairman Kieran Diamond said: "it seems to be somewhat baffling that we managed to save continuously for several years and we are in a much healthier than some other forces place."

This option must be a last resort and if all the valuable experience of police is forced to mandatory retirement, we certainly will be throwing the baby with the bath water.

"It probably puts risk on our ability to deal with any future major incident or critique and ability to manage large public events policing."

Mr. Diamond said that any reduction of redundancy should have placed waiting until after the Olympics when further examination could take place, adding that further significant savings could be made by bureaucracy and supply costs.

He said that SPF recognized the considerable spending challenges force face, but that now is not time to cut the senior officers and focused on the impact on the remaining staff.

Although the police is not legally authorized to make staff redundant, they have the power to retired officers who service 30 years of.

Redundancies are still approved by the Surrey police authority who will render its decision to a meeting on 4 November.

According to the proposals revealed in 2009, force wants to recruit up to 200 additional agents first line in the next 18 months.

Surrey Police denied that senior officers unemployed are made redundant, saying the move on the retired officers who have completed their 30 years of service.

Deputy Chief Officer Craig Denholm said: "Surrey police works hard to protect front-line services that we believe is that we want the public."

"This means make difficult decisions in what is an extremely difficult financial climate."

He said that as a result, force is implementing a range of measures aimed at strengthening its first line.

This included restructuring reduce senior officers of police officers were pointed tip although much depends on the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.

Wednesday, the Government announced that police funding will be reduced by 20% in real terms.

Dr. Denholm said: "If the measure is accepted by the Authority (police), inspectors and above reaches 30 years of service or are about 30 more plan in March of next year will be needed at retirement for reasons of effectiveness of strength, with some exceptions for operational necessity."

"Surrey police recognizes the valuable skills and experience of our agents and the decision to seek police authority to invoke the A19 regulation was difficult, but we need to take all available measures to protect our front-line services and reduce the financial burden that we face."

This entry transmitted via the service for full-text RSS - if this is your content and you read on someone to another site, please read our FAQ page fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Article five filters features: After Hiroshima - non-rapport Cancer Catastrophe of Fallujah.

View the original article here