Thursday, 31 January 2013

I Can't See Why The Police Are So Dead Set Against Elected Commissioners...

...can you?
Kevin Hurley, the newly elected police and crime commissioner for the county, said he would investigate the case.
‘It seems that if someone has admitted 113 further offences then there ought to be an additional sanction for this,’ he added. ‘ I've never known a burglar who is locked up in D Wing break into someone’s house.’
Oh. Right. I get it now. They can't blame this one on the CPS or 'soft judges', can they?
Officers could have chosen to prosecute but opted instead for a ‘retrospective caution’.
Cautions appear on a criminal’s record but do not result in any further punishment. At the same time they allow the force to declare a crime ‘solved’ and improve its conviction rate.
Whoops!
A spokesman for Surrey Police said: ‘Cautions for a large number of offences were only given out in exceptional circumstances and only when a specific set of criteria had been applied and met.
‘The criteria would include the offender having already received a significant custodial sentence and having the support of the victims.’ He said it brought closure for some victims.
You got the support of all 113 victims, did you? Why am I not convinced?
at

9 comments:

  1. PJH31 January 2013 at 09:25

    "Cautions appear on a criminal’s record but do not result in any further punishment."

    Clearly bollocks[1].

    At least until the government acknowledges the Appeal Court's ruling.

    [1] The 17 yr old who can't get a job requiring a CRB check because of a caution he received when 11 for stealing a bike.

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  2. Mark Wadsworth31 January 2013 at 10:36

    Exactly. It's difficult to make arguments in favour of elected police commissioners, but all the arguments against (most of which came from the police themselves) were clearly nonsense, hence I am in favour.

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  3. Anonymous31 January 2013 at 13:48

    Hurley is a maverick amongst officers of his former rank, he spoke out and got to Chief Superintendent in the MPS. Apart from a brief time with the City of London Police farce where he was on the fringes of some weirdness with the Scientologists he has always been more of a PC in mindset. Bonkers? So what, he'll be the right sort of P&CC and rumour has it he does not like the CC of Surrey police much at all - Lynne Owens who alighted briefly on the MPS leaf as she fluttered ever upwards to her present role. Have a look at the 'who we are' page of the surrey police and see the state of modern police managers - GO KEVIN >>>GO!

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  4. Anonymous31 January 2013 at 20:59

    "You got the support of all 113 victims, did you? Why am I not convinced?"

    Mildly suspicious of plod porkies?

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  5. Anonymous31 January 2013 at 21:09

    It had to happen eventually,here is a anti-police post I agree with.

    When I apply for a caution at my station the following criteria are checked by the CPS and the Inspector;
    1-First offence
    2-Shows remorse
    3-Minor or low value offence
    4-Unlikely to re-offend.
    5-The victim agrees.

    To caution a scumbag for 100's of burglaries is outrageous.As for consulting the victims I bet they were sent a photo-copied letter saying that their crime had been "solved".This does bring into the headlines how figures are massaged regarding clear up rates.
    Jaded.

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  6. Anonymous31 January 2013 at 21:49

    Jaded, it isn't an antipolice story. It's an anti- stupidity story summing up the parlous state of British policing.
    I don't think Hurley or anyone like him will be around for long, the role will eventually be held by time serving politicos across the board and the status quo will be maintained. I'd like to be wrong so will wish him well.

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  7. blueknight31 January 2013 at 21:59

    Not many Officers would complain if every PCC was like Kevin Hurley. -What would Vera Baird have said/done?
    I am not sure of the full circumstances of this but there has always been a policy of not charging further offences if the offender is already appearing for something that would result in a large sentence.
    I spent a lot of work investigating theft from vehicles and drugs possesion, only to see my 'suspect' get locked up for an armed robbery.
    He got 8 yrs and the offences I investigated were not dealt with at Court.

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  8. JuliaM1 February 2013 at 05:22

    "At least until the government acknowledges the Appeal Court's ruling."

    I suspect that'll be a day Satan needs ice skates.. :/

    "... but all the arguments against (most of which came from the police themselves) were clearly nonsense, hence I am in favour."

    It's rather like seeing something proposed by the 'Guardian' or 'Indy' and knowing instantly it's likely to be something we should do the opposite of!

    "GO KEVIN >>>GO!"

    I'll certainly be keeping an eye on him...

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  9. JuliaM1 February 2013 at 05:24

    "It had to happen eventually,here is a anti-police post I agree with."

    Most of my 'anti-police' posts aren't, actually...

    You are almost certainly right about the photocopied letter, though.

    "Not many Officers would complain if every PCC was like Kevin Hurley. "

    But a LOT of chiefs would!

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