Police – Page 5 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

23Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Sudden hotline closure ‘an unexpected blow to GM crime victims failed by Mayor

Borough news

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE is dismayed that a hotline established to respond to the failure to record complaints from the 80,000 victims of crime across Greater Manchester is close on Friday 19 February. Councillor Sykes had just recently written to the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to seek reassurance that such victims would continue to receive specialist support from Victims Support staff for the foreseeable future. The Greater Manchester Crime Support Line was only launched back in December after a damning report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found systematic failures at Greater Manchester Police which led to the force failing to record 80,000 reported crimes – including one in four violent crimes and many instances of domestic violence. The report led to Greater Manchester…

21Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrat Leader questions GM Mayor over Crime Support Line

Borough news

Questions over the operation of the new Crime Support Line, established by the Greater Manchester Labour Mayor after the damning revelation that 80,000 crimes reported by the public had gone unrecorded by Police in a year, have led to the Leader of Oldham’s Liberal Democrats, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, to write to Andy Burnham seeking answers. In his letter, Councillor Sykes refers to the ‘calumny’ of the 80,000 unrecorded crimes, and explores the support offered to victims who ring the helpline, and clarification about how the information will be used by Greater Manchester Police to improve their future performance, and, most importantly, secure justice for the victim. Councillor Sykes said: “I welcome the establishment of this telephone service as a small step in the right direction to address the terrible…

15Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Police database blunder is a ‘fiasco’

Parliamentary news

Reacting to the news that 150,000 records were accidentally deleted from the Police National Computer, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael, said: “People will rightly be alarmed that a blunder on this scale is even possible. The Home Secretary must take responsibility and come forward to explain exactly what went wrong, how it went wrong, and what she is doing to make sure it never happens again. “It’s already the case that far too many crimes go unsolved and too many criminals are never identified. This fiasco risks making our communities less safe and the police’s job even harder, at a time when they are already under enormous pressure. “Instead of spending her time coming up with ever crueller and more impractical asylum policies, Priti Patel should focus…

13Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dem peers defeat Government again to add “Spy Crimes Bill” safeguards

Parliamentary news

Liberal Democrat peers have today helped to pass cross-party amendments to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, as the number of Government defeats on the controversial new law rose to four. A cross-party amendment [Amdt 15], co-sponsored by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paddick, places limits on the types of crimes that can be authorised under the Bill – ruling out murder, torture and sexual assault. It was passed by 299 votes to 284. It follows a Liberal Democrat amendment [Amdt 6] that was passed on Monday, which raises the test for authorising criminal conduct from “believing” to “reasonably believing” that it is necessary and proportionate to do so. The vote was 282–259. The Government suffered two further defeats this evening on cross-party amendments [Amdts 22 and 24], both…

13Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Home Secretary adds to COVID rules confusion

Parliamentary news

Responding to Home Secretary Priti Patel's COVID press briefing, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “The Home Secretary can insist as often as she likes that Government guidelines are “actually clear and simple”, they aren’t. In her own press conference, the Home Secretary added to the confusion by talking about “outdoor recreation” instead of exercise. “The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Home Secretary to properly support the police and the country as a whole by making sure the guidelines on lockdown are crystal clear and understood. "At the end of the day the spirit of the law is just as important as the letter of it in protecting people from the pandemic. The police cannot respond to every potential breach of the rules and so it…

12Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dem peers win vote to strengthen Govt’s crimes bill

Parliamentary news

The House of Lords has passed a Liberal Democrat amendment to raise the threshold for government agencies to authorise undercover agents to commit crimes. The Liberal Democrats’ amendment [Amdt 6] to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, which raises the test for authorising criminal conduct from “believing” to “reasonably believing” that it is necessary and proportionate to do so, was passed by 282 votes to 259. Liberal Democrat peers also voted in favour of cross-party amendments [Amdts 1 and 2] to remove provisions from the Bill that would give informants complete immunity for crimes authorised under it, and preserve the status quo where prosecutors decide that prosecution is not in the public interest. However, those amendments were defeated by the Government. Following the votes, Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson…

15Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems demand response, as one in five crimes in Greater Manchester go unrecorded

Borough news

Last week, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) which is responsible for providing national oversight of the performance of police services, published a report which found that over one in five crimes, over 80,100 in total, went unrecorded in our city region by Greater Manchester Police between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020. Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was particularly shocked that women, children and other vulnerable persons were often being failed with one in four violent crimes unrecorded and unpursued. These include offences such as stalking, coercive behaviour, domestic violence and other offences against vulnerable persons and children. More worryingly the performance in recording crimes by Greater Manchester Police has gotten worse since the last HMICFRS report in 2018 when 89…

07Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Sykes reassured by police commitment over child sexual exploitation review

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence

In advance of the publication of an independent review into allegations of historic child sexual exploitation in Oldham, the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, wrote recently to Greater Manchester Police seeking assurances that they ‘will act without fear or favour to reassure the public and bring all offenders to justice’. In November 2019, Oldham Council and the Oldham Safeguarding Partnership commissioned the independent review from the Mayor of Greater Manchester. Two experienced investigators, Malcolm Newsam MBE, a childcare expert, and Gary Ridgeway, formerly a senior police officer specialising in public protection, were appointed to head up the review team and they are now working to finalise their report. In his letter, Councillor Sykes was keen to impress upon Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain MBE that Oldham’s Liberal…

03Sep 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats say road policing ‘not optional’

Borough news, Campaigns, road safety

Traffic cops often feature in our television shows, but the harsh reality is that the traffic officers forming the thin blue line are too few and grossly underfunded, and the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council wants to do something about that. Liberal Democrat Councillors are taking a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council (9 September) calling for a restoration of funding for traffic policing to help prevent road deaths and for traffic policing to be made a priority in Greater Manchester. Figures published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy show a 34% cut in funding in real terms for road policing between 2012/3 and 2019/20 meaning less officers available to keep our streets safe. The Deputy Group Leader, Councillor Chris Gloster is proposing the…

11Aug 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems: Govt must halt use of facial recognition by police

Parliamentary news

Responding to the ruling from the Court of Appeal that the use of automatic facial recognition technology by the South Wales Police is unlawful, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokeperson Christine Jardine said: “This ruling is hugely important in the battle to protect civil liberties in this country. The unlawful use of facial recognition in Cardiff raises serious questions about its use by British police forces in the future. “This new form of mass surveillance is being rolled out without any safeguards to protect innocent people from being discriminated against or having their privacy invaded. The Liberal Democrats have long been clear that this is unacceptable - we do not want to see the UK become a society where innocent individuals feel their every movement is being monitored by the police. “Liberal Democrats will…

Tag: Police