in forceThe newspaper for the City of London Police

apRIL 2010

DaRE deliverspage 4

pledge gets personal page 5

Ski buddies page 7

ISSuE 36

Top marks for schools scheme

Time to deliver writes Assistant Commissioner

Helping hands on the slopes

The force can toast a ‘vintage year’, after per-formance results for 2009/10 showed crime was down and confidence up.

It is a year since the Government set forces a single, challenging target – to increase public confidence in the service to an average of 60 per cent by 2012 – and the force is comfortably meet-ing this goal. A recent street survey of workers and residents showed that 65 per cent of the City community were confident in their local police.

equally impressive is the latest London Criminal Justice Board data, which highlights the City as the top performing area in the Capi-tal when dealing with victims and witnesses. An impressive 93 per cent of those who come into contact with City of London Police are sat-isfied by the way their case is handled.

The force’s success in improving confidence and satisfaction is not simply window dressing

maJOR COuntERFEIt RIng SmaShEDoFFICeRS from across the force united in a massive pan-London operation leading to one of the biggest seizures of counterfeit goods in UK history.

For months eCD detectives had been work-ing with the US Immigration & Customs en-forcement and the UK Border Agency to track a criminal gang shipping illegal products from the Far east into the UK and America.

In late March more than 60 eCD offic-ers teamed up with the Dog Unit, TP Crime Squad, Specialist Crime operations and Sup-port Unit to strike against the gang, making six arrests, searching 30 premises and seizing up to £3 million of counterfeit goods.

In the haul were 50,000 items of clothing, footwear, handbags and hair straighteners and using brands such as Nike, Uggs, Gucci, Adidas, Versace, Ralph Lauren and GhD.

During the searches a total of £350,000 in cash was also discovered.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Clark, who co-ordinated operation Blackout, said:

“This was a very large and complex opera-tion which succeeded due to the big commit-ment made by officers right across the force.

“The professionalism and flexibility on dis-

play made sure we struck a big blow against a criminal network that would have caused seri-ous harm to the UK and US retail sectors.”

on the same day US authorities arrested and indicted nine men for smuggling 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, 500,000 counterfeit Coach handbags and 500 counterfeit Cartier wrist watches into the US.

DCI Clark added: “The only way these gangs can be beaten is through a global collaboration of law enforcement.

“Through our work with US authorities and police forces around the world we are putting the City of London Police at the forefront of the fight against counterfeiting.”

Arrests in uk And us As £3million counterfeit goods seized

Crime Down, ConfiDenCe Up

– it is mirrored by tangible improvements in crime reduction. offences during 2009/10 are down by 10 per cent, the eighth consecutive year of falling crime and lowest since 1998. The reduction is set alongside a detection rate of 36 per cent – one of the highest in the country.

Assistant Commissioner Frank Armstrong, the Force’s lead on performance during 2009/10, said: “I would like to thank every member of staff for helping to deliver this impressive yearly performance. We have

Feet of endurancepage 5

I would like to praise the City of London Police, the UK

Border Agency and their international colleagues for the months of hard work that culminated in this operationDavid Lammy, mp, minister for intellectual property

ICE regularly works shoulder-to-shoulder with our law

enforcement partners around the world such as the City of London Police to identify, infiltrate and disrupt transnational criminal organizations

US immigration & Customs enforcement (iCe) Assistant Secretary John morton

Coordinated multi-agency operations like this

make it abundantly clear just how seriously the UK takes the smuggling of fake goodsBrodie Clark, Head of the UK Border Agency’s Border force

citY is toPs WitH Victims And Witnesses

We have excelled in areas that really matter to our

community: crime reduction, visibility and service standards

excelled in areas that really matter to our com-munity: crime reduction, visibility and service standards.

“Whilst this has been a vintage year for crime reduction, we cannot lose sight of the need to push ahead with improvements in the way we support our community – particularly delivery of the revised 10-point Policing Pledge.

“I’m incredibly proud of your achievements and look forward to seeing that same hard work and application continue throughout 2010.”

DC Dave Parkinson inspects some of the fake seized goods

NEWS02 Rough sleepers on the decline - page 6

scribblers soughthow to get in touch

We’re always keen to hear from anyone with a story for publication.

n Contact: Editor Mick Kelly on ext 2598 or email mick.kelly@cityoflondon.pnn.police.uk

n Location: Corporate Communication, 11th floor, 37 Wood St, London EC2P 2NQ

n Telephone: 020 7601 2598

n in force is designed and produced by beetroot on behalf of City of London Police

A ‘day of action’ around the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equip-ment saw 75 people stopped.

The City’s hi-tech network of cameras were used to clamp down on drivers who had bro-ken the law, as part of a national operation organised by ACPO.

The force is unique in the volume of traf-fic it is able to monitor entering its patch, and 115,700 number plates were read by the

Ring of steel proves mettle

SucceSS on the cardS

Wood Street forum for fraud victimS

NFIB: News from the Western frontThe National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) ‘super computer’ will be a policing intelligence system “unlike anything else”, according to the man leading the operation.

City of London Police’s Det Insp Steve Strick-land is part of a team of City of London Police of-ficers and analysts based in Gloucester who are currently testing the system.

The team is based in SeRCO’s high security of-fices on the edge of the South West town, poring over criminal networks formulated from the 1.6 million reports of fraud already in the system. A brief glimpse on screen of one of these spider-like creations is enough to give observers a clear idea of just how groundbreaking the NFIB will be.

Officers from Kent, Gloucestershire, West Mid-lands and British Transport Police have already made the trip west to see for themselves, along with a number of the project’s key data providers, and all were impressed.

Det Insp Steve Strickland said: “This will be a police intelligence system unlike anything else used by law enforcement in the UK and possibly the world, having the ability to take millions of re-ports of fraud and automatically search, link and identify trends across type of fraud, geographical location and criminality.

“We have already helped a Scottish force make a number of arrests and are currently working with the fraud team at the NhS. I expect more NFIB-led criminal action even before the full launch in June.

“It makes spending your weekday evenings in Gloucester hotels all seem worthwhile!”

heLPFUL, professional and knowledgeable – but could be easier to contact. That’s the ver-dict you gave on Shared Servic-es in the customer satisfaction survey run on Citynet.

Fifty five per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service provided. But the jury’s still out on how the re-structure has affected the force’s admin provision. Forty one per cent thought the launch of Shared Services had improved efficiency, while twenty eight per cent were unsure

More than half of those re-sponding to the survey were happy with the helpfulness

The Business Policing Model has reached its final phase, as research begins to measure the trial’s success.

Researchers from the Universities Police Sci-ence Institute are working with the City project team to arrange interviews with business rep-resentatives in each of the pilot sites, while surveys will also be included on local business group websites.

The project, led by Commissioner Mike Bowron and Det Supt Colin Cowan, has delivered policing teams dedicated to addressing the concerns of local businesses in three of the pilot sites: Broadgate, Victoria and London Bridge. The City team consists of offic-ers and police staff with expertise in counter terrorism, economic crime, business continu-ity, volume crime and physical security.

This final phase of research will culminate in a report, expected in July, which will recom-mend a particular model of policing in busi-ness dominant areas.

COMMISSIONeR Mike Bowron heard first-hand the successes the force have had fighting cheque and plastic card crime over the past 12 months.

Mr Bowron spent the morning with the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Card Crime Unit in their offices off Finsbury Square.

head of DCPCU, T/DCI John Osibote, briefed the Commis-sioner on operational develop-ments and the unit’s future plans.

Over the past year the work of the DCPCU has saved the bank-ing and retail industry in excess of £25m. Investigations resulted in 100 arrests over the year, and some 30,000 ‘compromised’ plastic cards recovered. Mr Bow-

UP to 100 victims of a £25 million boiler room fraud came to Wood Street in April for an update on Operation Soundwave and to hear from the Victim Support Service.

DI Dave Manley and A/Det Insp James Clanc-ey explained that 12 people had been arrested in Northumbria and Manchester over Christ-mas and the primary suspect was in the process of being extradited back from Sweden.

Attendees from across the UK then heard DC John hall, from Asset Recovery, give an over-view of how the force would be working to re-trieve their stolen money. A woman who had lost all her money to boiler room fraudsters also came to talk about how she was building a nationwide victim support network.

The forum was along similar lines to those held last summer for victims of a suspected £80 million Ponzi scheme fraud. These ground-breaking events highlighted once again what a high priority victim support is for the City of London Police.

Staff share views on Shared Services

Review of Business Policing trial begins

ron was shown examples of the fake bank cards.

Conviction rates achieved by DCPCU currently stand at an im-pressive 83 per cent. n At the beginning of April DCPCU had its biggest success to date with the disruption of an international organised crime ring operating across three con-tinents.

UK criminals had been sys-tematically attacking the UK Banking and Retail sectors in a Point of Sale machine card com-promise crime that has caused thousands of people to be unwit-ting victims of this hi-tech fraud.

Case officer DC Richard New tracked down the ringleaders

and professionalism of the new department, while 41 per cent were pleased with the quality of advice they were given.

And the department has moved quickly to address fig-ures showing only a third were satisfied with the ease of con-tact the new department of-fered, issuing a guidance pres-entation on Broadcast to clarify the issue.

Anyone who would like more advice on how

Shared Services is structured should head to the department’s section on Citynet.

onstrates the benefits of collabora-tive working.”

The cross-border investigation brought together support from City of London eCD and CT&SCD plus the Metropolitan Police Service, SOCA, europol and the Police from the Netherlands to work together in dismantling this top-level serious and organised crime gang.

– resulting in one suspect being re-manded in custody in the UK and the other in custody in the Neth-erlands. Other suspects are on bail while enquiries continue.

T/DCI John Osibote, said: “It’s a cracking piece of work and full credit to those involved. Taking out such a crime group of this quality has a real impact on people’s lives and dem-

DS Keith Sharp (far right) shows examples of seized, fake, bank cards to the Commissioner, T/DCI John Osibote and T/Det Supt John Folan.

CITy PC Simon Aston is gearing up to take part in the 300-mile euro Cities Bike Ride this sum-mer organised by Across the Divide.

Before Simon joins the starting line-up at St Pancras Station in June there’s the small matter of raising £1,500 for charity.

Simon , who is currently attached to the Met’s CBRN Unit, said: “having an 11 year old autis-tic son has given me the motivation to enter the euro Cities Bike Ride.

“The National Autistic Society will be the ben-eficiary and the money raised will assist them in their valuable work for the estimated 500,000 people affected by autism.

With £1,100 in donations already pledged, Si-mon is hoping City colleagues will support his fund-raising efforts.

“I have to raise £1,500 before the event to be able to take part,” explained Simon.

Donations to Simon Cycling for Autism can be made online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.

com/simon.aston

Simon rides for autism

cameras over the course of the day. The team of 80 officers working on the operation included the PNC Bureau, who had a dedicated number for officers working on the operation.

Police made 249 arrests nationally, including 79 around drug offences, and a remarkable 431 vehicles were seized.

The success of the day has prompted warrants for traffic offences in the City to be added to ANPR system, which is already showing good results.

CyCLe squad headed to a policing event in Bloomsbury this month, as part of the 35th annual Fin-gerprint Society Conference.

The BTP event saw of-ficers offering tips on road safety and bike security, and for cycle squad officers like Sgt Anthony Wolfson, it was part of an ever-growing programme of community events.

“We try to have a proac-tive approach, going out there and educating people on cycling and cycle safety. We’ve given presentations in businesses, schools and at events like this one – any-where where we can talk to the community and try to educate them to keep the roads safer.”

The timing of the push to educate cyclists couldn’t be better timed, just months away from the launch of the

INVeSTIGATIVe interviewing is moving into the digital age as the force looks to up its game in this important area of crime detection.

The dual tape decks that have been around since the 1980s are to be replaced with digital re-cording equipment.

The move to digital is just one of a series of im-provements put forward by a new working group led by Detective Inspector Glyn Whittick from the Major Investigations Team (MIT). DI Whittick was recently appointed to the new role of Force Interviewing Champion.

DI Whittick said: “If we’re being totally honest,

03

APRIL 2010

Meet the First Contact volunteers - page 7

inforce

cycle Squad get on their bike

Interviewing enters the digital age

Force armourer Al Barney makes it clear that firearms are not child’s play

Det Supt David Clarke is shown artwork for the Gala Awards Poster designed by Ramone from Centrepoint.

Gun workshops hit homeyOUNGSTeRS from City housing estates were given a no-nonsense lesson in the perils of carrying firearms.

A report of youths carrying a gun by residents on an estate led to firearms officers being called.

PC Sharon herbert said: “The young people concerned were a group of locals having fun with a toy gun. Coupled with their be-haviour and horseplay it was easy to see how this incident looked to on-lookers.

“The group concerned were subject to a stop by the TFG. Rather than just give them a good talking to, we wanted to demon-

interviewing has been something of a neglected area over recent years. As well as moving into the digital era, the Interviewing Working Group is looking at how we can become more profes-sional on a number of different fronts.

The Organisational Change Board (OCB) has given the green light to the switch to digital and a project team has been set up led by Brian Pett.

“This is an exciting new development,” said DI Whittick. “The City will be one of the first forces to be compliant in this area. It will offer cashable and non-cashable savings. There will be no need to purchase audiotapes, the quality and clarity of interviews will improve tremendously and there will be the potential for audio to text functions – no typists to transcribe – in due course”.

Other interviewing projects either underway or in the pipeline include:

n A joint, national pilot scheme with Portsmouth University academics looking into the feasibil-

time to get your force awards nominations inTime is running out if you’re thinking of nominating a colleague for this year’s Force Awards. The closing date for nominations is May 20.

There’s a wider range of award catego-ries than ever before with the introduction this year of an award for Team of the year. This will be presented to the group who have done most to support the needs of our communities demonstrating a real ‘customer focus’.

Full details of the eight award categories and a nomination form can be found on Cit-ynet. The winners receive – and get to keep – a much-coveted Dragon Award statuette.

Detective Supt David Clarke from the Awards organising committee said: “I’m sure we all know colleagues and teams who deserve to be recognised for their commitment, their enthusiasm and their achievements.

“All nominations remain confidential – to avoid any blushes. So there can be no excus-es for any deserving nominees being over-looked. The great thing about our awards is that it’s colleagues who put forward the nominations. We’re keen to make it a bump-er year for nominations and give the panel of judges a real headache when it comes to selecting our finalists.”

Nominees who make it onto the short-list of possible winners will receive free tickets for themselves and their partners to attend the glittering Gala Awards ceremony at the five-star City Grange hotel at Tower hill.

Ticket prices have been pegged at £50-a-head for the third year in a row, representing great value for money for an evening’s enter-tainment that includes a four-course gour-met meal with wine, a pre-dinner drinks reception, cabaret and dancing.

There is always a friendly, City welcome extended to family and friends who come along on the night as guests of officers and staff.

In keeping with this year’s Gala Awards theme celebrating the very best of young London, guests at the black-tie ceremony could well be entertained by the next gener-ation of chart-topping artists and West end performers.

The exciting cabaret line-up includes stu-dents from the Brit School. Former alumni from the performing arts academy have included chart-toppers Katie Melua, The Kooks and Amy Winehouse. Funds raised through the Gala Awards night will go to Centrepoint to support their work with young homeless Londoners.

All nominations remain confidential – to avoid

any blushes. So there can be no excuses for any deserving nominees being overlooked

The quality and clarity of interviews will

improve tremendously and there will be the potential for audio to text functions

London Bike hire scheme that will see thousands more cyclists on the road. And as Anthony explained, the in-creased coverage of cycling in the papers is proving use-ful.

“Cycling and road safety is a hot topic at the moment, with the superhighways in the Capital and the Mayor’s dedication to cycling. That makes it a great tool for us to engage with the community – there is a common ground and an area of common interest for us to speak to people about, and hopefully improve their perceptions of the police along the way.”

That improved perception certainly seems to be the case so far. The team meas-ure satisfaction at the end of every presentation, and the last 12 presentations saw 92 per cent of attendees giving positive feedback.

ity of Self Administered Interviews. This will enhance the force’s ability to capture impor-tant evidence at crime scenes when there are multiple witnesses.

n Beefing up interview training with DS Jon Munton and DC Andy Jackman from the new crime training department overseeing inves-tigative interviewing to ensure the delivery of training is standardised and aligned to the PIP accreditation process.

n A new mix of in-house training courses and collaboration with other regional forces to achieve better value-for-money external training. Representing BCUs on the Interview Working

Group are: DS Anne Monaghan (TP), DS Rob Stirling (eCD), PC Andy Massey, DS Jon Munton and DC Andy Jackman (Corporate Support), DS Lee Bowen (CT&SCD). The working group links into the national steering group for investigative interviewing.

strate just how dangerous firearms can be in the wrong hands.”

Groups of boys from the estate were brought along to the range at Bishopsgate Police Station where force Armourer Al Barney gave a mat-ter-of-fact firearms presentation. Ac-companying PC herbert at the fire-arms demonstrations were PCs Kelly Barber and PC Debbie Brady, PCSO Ros Sweet and City of London junior youth practitioner, Marlon Gibbons.

Mr Gibbons said: “It’s all about early intervention and prevention and work-shops such as this really do hit home and get the message across.”

DI Glyn Whittick with one of the dual-tape decks due to be replaced soon with digital recorders

DARE graduates with flying colours

The end-of-year performance results for the force are among the best in living memory. Crime figures are down – for the eighth year in a row. The independent research carried out to track public confidence in the policing service we provide is comfortably ahead of target at 65 per cent.

The Pledge geTs Personal

CENTRE STAGE04 Do you have an issue you’d like in force to tackle?

Good results like this don’t happen by acci-dent and I want to thank everyone for the part you have played in achieving levels of perform-ance we can all take pride in.

What excites me about the year ahead is that I know we can do even better.

The inspection carried out by the hMIC in January into our delivery of the promises we make in our Policing Pledge resulted in a ‘Fair’ grade – and showed we are moving in the right direction.

Now we need to concentrate our efforts on what we need to do to get ‘Good’. We have con-sulted widely with City residents and workers and listened to their views on the levels of serv-ice they expect from City of London Police.

As a result, we proposed some changes to our Pledge to bring ourselves into line with the Po-licing Pledge promises adopted by forces around the country. The Police Committee accepted

our recommendations and we now have a re-freshed Pledge that brings us in line with

national guidelines. Instead of 12 Pledge points we now

have ten. The key change is in Pledge point five: our response time to emer-

gency calls. Now, in common with other parts of London, the City re-

sponse to 999 calls is within 12 minutes.

There are other important promises of service in the

Pledge that we all need to un-derstand, and then be clear on how we deliver them,

Everyone has a Policing Pledge objective as part of their PDR. The time has come to deliver, writes the ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

FOUR ThOUSAND City junior school pu-pils have now completed a ground-breaking, police-led, drug education and life skills pro-gramme since the scheme was first introduced 13 years ago.

Children from Year Five at Sir John Cass School are the latest ‘graduates’ from the 10-week DARe programme. The DARe charity sums up its work as ‘life skills education in a drug aware world.

Back in 1997 City PC harry Player was one of the very first UK police officers to go to the US to receive training in delivering the DARe scheme.

Today, ‘PC harry’– as he is known to the thou-sands of school children who have taken part in DARe lessons – is still the mainstay of the pro-gramme, and is just as enthusiastic about the positive benefits of the scheme.

PC Player, who is now part of the Safer City Partnership team, said: “I think it’s a great scheme. It helps to raise awareness among the youngsters and teaches them to develop the skills they need to make positive, informed choices for a safe and healthy life.”

At the end of each DARe course there’s a grad-uation ceremony where family and friends are invited to the school. The pupils put on sketches to illustrate what they’ve learned from PC harry.

At the graduation ceremony at Sir John Cass School, certificates were presented to the nine-and-ten-year-olds by Supt Lorraine Cussen and the Chair of the DARe City Steering Group, Stuart McInnes.

Delivering on the Pledge is now one of

the personal objectives for EVERYBODY in the force

I think it’s a great scheme. It helps to raise awareness

among the youngsters and teaches them to develop the skills they need to make positive, informed choices for a safe and healthy life

PRIDE In thE bADgE,PRIDE In thE PlEDgE

Greater visibility, tackling commu-nity priorities are part and parcel of the Policing Pledge

Supt Lorraine Cussen and PC Harry Player with two would-be young officers from the DARE programme

The force launches a 12-point local

Policing Pledge

HMIC inspection rates the City as ‘Fair’ on

pledge, but emergency call respons-es and dealing with dissatisfaction are rated ‘Poor’

Delivering the Polic-ing Pledge becomes a

key priority, and a top level group is formed to lift performance

Public consulted on introduction of a new

ten-point plan

HMIC return inspection: pledge performance on

emergency calls and dissatisfaction is upgraded to ‘Fair’

Police Committee approves new

ten-point plan

All officers and staff given pledge objective

as part of PDR

05

inforceaPrIl 2010

email the editor, Mick Kelly, or call him on extension 2598

Five tips on internet safety

no time for cold feet

Police officers and staff hear enough about crime to know when to be on their guard – but a City officer is warning against complacency where kids and the internet are in-volved.

Local schools and youth groups in the City are given regular sessions to teach in-ternet safety, but with so many parents working for the force itself, there’s no harm in a little education closer to home.

Sharon herbert, Youth and Schools Involvement Officer at Snow hill delivers ‘Thinku-Know’ sessions designed by Child exploitation Online Protection (CeOP). Working alongside Lindsay Sprott and the Safer City Partnership’s harry Player, they have so far spoken to more than 300 chil-dren and numerous parents,

A piece of one of the embers got caught

between one of my toes so I decided not to hang about

Susan Laney, head of site teacher at Sir John Cass, said: “DARe gives the children an in-formed choice before they go on to secondary school and the peer pressures they come under when they get there.

“The children are not only learning – they are also teaching their parents and grandparents some important messages.

“One of our parents came up to me at the graduation ceremony and told me that it was

day-in, day-out, around-the-clock, from one month to the next and to the same, consistent, high standard.

We can, and will do better when it comes to addressing dissatisfaction by recording it prop-erly and dealing with matters promptly. We have said we will ensure our Ward Policing teams will spend 80 per cent of their time visibly working in neighbourhoods tackling the priorities our com-munities bring to our attention.

Recognising that calls from the public to re-port anti-social behaviour are just as important to us as any other call to report a crime is a les-son that all forces in the UK are getting to grips with. Our levels of anti-social behaviour here in the City are relatively low. But that does not less-en the impact of anti-social behaviour on our residents and working population when it does occur here in the City. You will be hearing more about how we can improve our response to ASB calls in the weeks ahead.

Most important – delivering on the Pledge is now one of the personal objectives for eVeRY-BODY in the force. This is more than a ‘tick-in-the-box’ exercise to complete your next PDR. The Pledge has become personal.

Copies of the new Policing Pledge leaflet and poster are now available. I hope as many sup-port staff and officers as possible are able to get hold of their personal copies, including a Pledge mug, and enjoy their free cuppa in the canteen.

Make time to read the ten Pledge points – and then make sure you put them into action. That’s how we can get ‘Good’.

PlEDgE PRogREss: thE stoRy so FAR

giving them tips and advice on staying safe online.

Sharon offered In Force her top tips for keeping children safe on the web:

1. Children are as inquisi-tive on the web as they are away from the computer, so get to know which sites your children use and what their online habits are.

2. Look out for changes in these habits or any effort to be more secretive – it can be a signal that some-thing isn’t right. Similarly, look out for any change in mood or appearance.

3. Make sure your children know they can always talk to you if they are in trouble on the net.

4. Go online yourself. The more you are aware of the internet and how it works, the more you can help your children surf safely.

5. Install an internet filter-ing program that shows a Child Safety Online Kite-mark on your computer – a Home Office scheme that has been independently tested to provide simple support to parents.

If you want more infor-mation, head to www.

thinkuknow.co.uk, the main UK Government website with advice for parents on how to keep children safe online, or to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) website at www.ceop.police.uk.

FOR the avoidance of any doubt, the organisers of the Victims Support charity City Firewalk had brought with them an infra-red thermometer. The reading taken was 500 degrees Celsius.

City Wards PCSO Mike Proffitt didn’t need a fancy thermometer to tell him that the next four steps he was about to take would be the hottest walk of his life.

“As you stood in front of the glowing carpet of embers you could really feel the heat,” said Mike. “That was nerve-wracking. But once you take your first step you’re off and its over very quickly.”

Barefooted, in their PCSO uniforms – trou-sers rolled-up, naturally – PCSOs Mike Prof-fitt and Sarah Pringle took on the Firewalk

challenge and made it look like a stroll in the park. Or in this case, a stroll in Finsbury Square, Broadgate.

Sarah was wearing something on her feet when she walked on the carpet of coals – toe-nail varnish.

“A piece of one of the embers got caught between one of my toes so I decided not to hang about,” said Sarah afterwards. “It’s all about mind over matter.”

the pressure from his son that made him decide to give up smoking.”

The interactive programme delivered by DARe officers and teachers uses a range of learning styles to help children develop safe and healthy lifestyles. Individual activities, teamwork, role play and discussions are used to cover topics including tobacco, bullying, anti-social behaviour, volatile substances, peer pres-sure cannabis and alcohol.

Mike and Sarah read about the The City Firewalk fundraiser for Victim Support on Citynet. “It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, so we decided to give it a go,” said Mike.

With the warm support of colleagues, fami-lies and friends, Mike and Sarah raised more than £500 for the charity.

Left: The red-hot bed of coals is prepared Below: PCSOs Mike Proffitt and Sarah Pringle put their feet up after their Firewalk

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PEOPLE06

SucceSSeS on the streets could soon be hitting the small screen, after three film crews focused their lenses on the force.

Support Group is the subject of an upcoming documentary on channel 4, TP will be featuring in the next series of Brit Cops and ecD has had an ITV film crew working with them.

Angeline Burton, Head of corporate comms said: “These programmes are an ideal way to show the country what a great force we have here in the city. The work we do is often unique to the Square Mile, and while the cameras can be an-noying at times, the final results are cer-tainly worth the effort.

“We just hope the attention won’t prompt officers to swap their blue, flashing lights for the bright lights of Hollywood!”

Television coverage of an appeal to identify two men who attacked a bus pas-senger on Leadenhall Street in July last year has led to a successful conviction. The men pleaded guilty, with one receiving a prison sentence of 18 months in prison.

Officers from Wards Policing are becoming experts in the shopping habits of city workers and residents.

They’re learning to pick the best time to talk to supermarket shoppers about community policing matters.

cH Supt Alex Robertson re-ceived a ‘thank you’ cheque from the Fraternity of St George in rec-ognition of the police escort pro-vided by the force at the 500th anniversary march of the archers through the city last year.

Brian Mooyaart, who pre-sented the £150 cheque on behalf of the Fraternity, said:

Sc JOnATHAn Frost took advantage of a recent pilot leadership course funded by the nPIA and tailored specifically for the Special constabulary.

The Sc Senior Leadership Programme course is based on the nPIA’s Foundation for Senior Leadership Programme.

The aim of the course, which ran over two weekends at Bramshill, was to provide specials

Rough sleeper Charlie finally has a roof over his head

Lights, camera, action

Sgts Matt Mountford and Rick Longden introduce A/Sgt Jim Green to Alfie, another well-known City character

Supermarket sweep continues

Mounted branch make their mark

Specials take the lead

BAck in 1966 when england last lifted the World cup, charlie was enjoying the charms of sleep-ing rough in the city.

This summer, 44 years on, if all continues to go to plan, charlie will have the comfort of watching england’s progress in the World cup in South Africa in a new hostel for the homeless called The Lodge.

charlie started sleeping rough in 1965. The last time he spent a night in a hostel was more than 20 years ago.

city Wards Sgt Rick Longden has got to know charlie well on his regular patrols as commu-nity Policing’s Vulnerable Persons Sergeant.

“charlie has been sleeping in the rear door-way to Temple church in Plumtree court for as long as anyone can remember,” said Sgt Longden. “He’s an example of what we call an entrenched rough sleeper.

charlie’s move into The Lodge – a 40-room, bed-and-breakfast hostel run jointly by city of London corporation and St Mungos – is just one of numerous success stories that has seen the number of rough sleepers in the city fall, month-on-month to a new low.

The latest homeless count is now 29. Rick Longden has now moved to a new role

in custody. During March, Sgt Matt Mountford stepped in as cover while Rick completed his custody training.

“It was Matt’s persistence that finally persuad-ed charlie to try The Lodge. From what we hear, so far it’s all going well for charlie.

The Lodge is purpose-built to accommo-date long-term, entrenched, rough sleepers. “Many of the older rough-sleepers won’t use the hostels because of the drugs and alcohol issues

These programmes are a great way to

show the country what a great force we have here in the City

“Having the police horses and motor cycle outriders as our escort was fantastic. It made a huge difference and enabled us to lay on the event without corporate sponsorship and at the same time raise money for Great Ormond Street.”

The march, which took place back in October, attracted arch-

that come with dealing with the younger rough sleepers,” said Sgt Matt Mountford.

now responsibility for moving closer to the target of zero rough sleepers in the city by 2012 falls to T/Sgt Jim Green who has taken over from Rick.

T/Sgt Green said: “I realise I’ve got big boots to fill. I’ve been working in custody, so this is a completely different job to what I’ve done be-fore. It will be good to see the other side of the community – not just people who have been arrested.”

with greater skills and additional tools to sup-port and influence chief Officers in delivery of force productivity and value for money.

Jonathan benefited from sessions around negotiating and influence, values and ethics, organisational change management and public confidence. His feedback to the nPIA will help them finalise the content of future courses.

ers from the uk, France, Ger-many Belgium, netherlands, Switzerland and the uk.

Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, great marches of 3,000 and more archers across the city were a regular event.

The cheque has been do-nated to the force’s Widows and Orphans Fund.

PC Christine Phillips shares a joke with Barbican resident Lilian Casbard

Maxine Worsfold from Ops Planning, Ch Supt Alex Robertson and Insp Chris Rowbottom hold some of the colourful marks used by the archers. Far right, Brian Mooyaart from the Fraternity of St George. Behind, PC Heidi Eldred on Bowron and Rachel Jenkinson on Bridewell

The experiment to run police surgeries inside the busy Tesco store in Bishopsgate has been extended to the Barbican branch of Waitrose in Whitecross St.

Wards Pc christine Phillips, who has worked with Waitrose manager Andy Faulkner and the Met Police’s Bunhill Safer neighbourhoods Team to get this latest project off the ground, reckons she knows where and when to engage with local shoppers.

“There’s not a lot of point approaching customers who have nipped into the store for a sandwich or fast-food takeaway,” said Pc Phillips. “I’ve noticed it’s the people who are browsing through the DVDs and the men who have gone out to buy flowers or chocolate, that have the time to stop and talk.”

Around 80% of Barbican residents shop in their local Waitrose – among them Lilian casbard who has lived on the Golden Lane estate since it opened 51 years ago.

Lilian said: “I think it’s a very good idea to have our local police officers here in places like Waitrose. It helps us to get to know them.”

inforceThe stories behind our Marathon marvels - page 8 07

APRIL 2010

By Occupational Health Adviser Anne Foster

A RecenT study from cambridge univer-sity’s Institute of Public Health found that four health behaviours underpin the likelihood for longevity.

Hopefully no surprise when I tell you what they were: 1. exercise regularly 2. eat five portions of fruit and

vegetables a day3. Stop smoking4. Have a moderate alcohol consumption.

All four behaviours are achievable lifestyle changes, which can improve the quality of life for you and your family. On average, the study shows we could live 14 years longer than those who adopted none of these behaviours irrespective of social class or Body Mass Index (BMI).

Our bodies are composed entirely of the molecules diverted from food, so remember we really are what we eat. Our diet should be based on getting enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals into our bodies to gain optimum nutrition. But what makes some of us adopt and stick with our healthy behaviours when lots of us don’t succeed?

To help understand the concept of “stay-ing power” researchers and practitioners have shown a relationship between certain fac-tors ie perceived expectations and barriers to change, self-regulatory behaviours and social support.

The concept of self-belief is also now be-coming widely acknowledged as being di-rectly and indirectly linked to successful long-term behavioural change.

If your self-belief to attain the goal is strong you stand a much higher chance in reaching your goal and eventually adopting the new behaviour for life. If we all start with this posi-

tive mental attitude and keep believing it even if some-times we stumble a little, everyone will achieve their

health goals.

For more information on

this topic go to the Citynet Occupational Health pages and click on the external links section.

THe Guildhall buzzed on Friday 12 March as women from across the city gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day

comedian Jo Brand once again compered the breakfast event, and several members of the force attended – in-cluding Supt Lorraine cussen who had been part of the or-ganising committee.

Tickets for the event had once again sold out, ensuring a packed venue, and more than £20,000 was raised for domestic violence charity Refuge.

THe force’s First contact Scheme – a confi-dential advice service for officers and staff struggling to resolve quality of life issues – has received a shot in the arm.

The volunteers, who act as ‘sounding boards’, have all received refresher training and will, in future attend regular courses to keep them up to speed on a wide list of top-ics from where to go for advice on managing debt to who best to approach to help cope with stress.

Diane Gill, who works in the recently re-named equality, Diversity and Human Rights unit, and is herself a First contact volunteer, is hoping the scheme will be used more fully.

She said: “Our network of volunteers come from different areas of the force and have a wealth of experience and skills. The First contact Scheme is there to be used and we’re hoping the investment in further training

First Contact: how drama needn’t turn into a crisis

will encourage more officers and staff to make use of the service.”

First contact volunteers are there to talk through issues and concerns troubling officers and staff and offer options on how best to re-solve matters.

Diane Gill said: “The volunteers are trained to discuss any concerns you may have. These do not necessarily have to be job-related. Any is-sues such as money worries or family problems that may be causing anxiety might benefit from being discussed with a First contact volunteer.

“We don’t provide counselling or advice, as such, nor can we act as your representative. We’re here to be used as a sounding board. It’s an opportunity for people to stop and think, take stock before coming to a conclusion on the best steps to take to resolve the issue that’s trou-bling them.”

In the vast majority of cases the identity of

SIx cITy officers joined Met colleagues in an Austrian resort to work as ‘ski buddies’ for disa-bled skiers.

The Peel Ski club (PSc) was formed in the 1990s to provide skiing opportunities for disa-bled colleagues from northern Ireland. now PSc events are open to disabled police officers

RePORTeD cases of swine flu among officers and staff since the H1n1 pandemic outbreak in June last year reached a total of 46. none were serious. The total number of confirmed cases of influenza was 160.

Sickness records tracking the Swine Flu outbreak throughout the pandemic months showed a sharp drop in cases among the force during the school holidays, reflecting the impact and spread of the H1n1virus had among younger age groups.

At a de-briefing session of the Flu Pandemic committee, Det Insp Tony Thompkins reported that sickness levels had not affected operations. none of the directorates were required to activate business continuity plans.

DI Thompkins added: “Thankfully the impact was not severe. In one sense swine flu was the best thing that could have happened because it led to everyone looking at their business continuity plans. It was a timely reminder.”

To improve business continuity, the force is now looking at better ways of providing officers and staff with access to information in emergencies.

Ski buddies help disabled officers take to the slopes

Swine flu alert leads to review of emergency plans

FOUR WAYS TO LIVE LONGER

International Women’s Day

equipment and a bit of expert coaching, any person with any disability can share this fantas-tic experience.

There were 11 disabled skiers on the trip and 40 support staff fulfilling a variety of vital roles besides being ski buddies.

Former city commissioner Dr James Hart and his wife Julie also joined the trip.

The sit-ski used by a wide range of adaptive skiers, (am-putees, muscle wasting dis-eases, cerebral palsy etc) allows a team of three able-bodied ski buddies to ski safely around the mountain supporting a disa-bled skier.

Two skiers on the trip were blind and their guides used a specially made ‘boom box’, which worked using sound and bass notes.

The city ski buddies gave their time free and funded their own travel costs and training. Fund raising by PSc mem-bers helps to reduce some of the costs for these worthwhile holidays – so look out for future events.

The six city officers were: Insp. David Hargreaves; PS clive Gwinnell; DS nigel Howard; PS Richard Peacock; PS Dave Red-man; Pc Sue Worthington.

members of staff who use the First contact Scheme is not disclosed and the information discussed with volunteers remains confiden-tial.

There are rare instances when the force’s duty of care as an employer takes precedence.

“If, for example, you disclose something that indicates you are likely to cause harm to yourself or commit a criminal or discipli-nary offence then confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. In all other cases anything you disclose will be treated with complete confi-dentiality,” said Diane.

The First contact Scheme is open to all members of staff regardless of rank or grade. Any of the First contact volunteers can be approached to help with your concerns. The scheme is fully supported by the force’s senior management and staff are encouraged to use it as they see fit.

Face-to-face: the First Contact volunteers

Dr James Hart, Julie Hart, Nigel Howard, Mike Cummins and Dave Hobday

Aamir Malik

Jonathan Harkett

Asif Sadiq

Jonathan Saunders

Beryl Cooper

Laura Piercy-Farley

Diane Gill

Paula Rogers

Jenny Carpenter

Richard Peacock

John Awosoga

and police staff, whether serv-ing or retired, from all uk forces.

Det Sgt nigel Howard, an ac-tive member of the force’s Disa-bled employees network, said: “Adaptive skiing raises confi-dence levels, broadens horizons and proves that there is some-thing more to life than work and rehabilitation. By adapting

PCSOs Jacqui Stewart, Sarah Pringle, Teresa Park and Diana Martinez-Andreu with Lady Mayoress Claire Anstee at the International Women’s Day event

Katie BallsDaniel Berry

Stephen BrooksPaul Claydon

Andre CundallPete Digby

Rhea EvansScott Fisher David Foy

Richard FulbrookJonathan Gilbert

Luke HarleyTrevor HoldenNeil Hossack

Eamonn KeaneJamie KirkJeremy Lee

Peter Lucas Turkel Mahmout

David ManleyJames Nellist

Giles OtomewoStephanie Petty

Scott ReevesGraham Riddell

Joanne Rinn Jonathan Sanders

John ShickellRyan Shipman

James SwiftJonathan WittDavid Wood

Alison Youles

SPORT08

FORCE gEaRS up FOR maRathOn EFFORtThe force continues its long association with the London Marathon, as more than 30 officers and staff look to conquer the 26.2 miles.

The route heads into the City at Byward Street, travelling along Upper Thames Street and into Westminster along Victoria embankment.

By that time the runners will be feeling the strain of having travelled more than 24 miles – though for some it will be a familiar sensation.

Response team’s Ritchie Fulbrook is com-peting in his 121st marathon – and will have completed number 120 in Brighton just a week before the London race. Ritchie began mara-thon running in 1986, and the sport has taken him around the world:

“Football was always my first love, and as running was part of my training I had run a few marathons. When I finished playing and was looking for something else to do it seemed the obvious way forward. I’ve seen a bit of the world through running – I’ve completed marathons in places like Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and India. The London one has the least travelling though – and hopefully the weather will be nicer for us.”

The FoRCe’S netball team is celebrating success on the court as the winter season draws to an end.

The team plays in the Inter Company Netball League, competing against teams from various companies in the city. Matches are half an hour long and are played lunch times at St Botolph court. The City Police team is currently in division three of seven, and has won all five of its matches this season, scoring 72 goals.

Back of the net

From left: Sam Rice, Matt Cornell, James Curtis, Jamie Kirk, Steve Brooks, Rob Wright, Jim Savage, and Justin Williams-Jones

They may have been the smallest team in the compe-tition but that didn’t stop City of London Police walking off with two trophies in the Regional Police Badminton Championships.

Alison hale, currently on attachment to the olympics security programme, and

The force’s Rugby Section scrummed down against a Knightsbridge Guarding XV in a game to raise funds for the Child Victims of Crime charity.

Playing at the City’s ‘home’ ground at the hAC, City Road, the force won 44-5, with Dan-ny Dankoff leading the scoring with an impressive hat-trick.

After a series of rain-affected matches, the victory showed the section’s strength in depth,

WheN it comes to extreme challenges the Tough Guy event – held once a year in South Staf-fordshire – lives up to its billing as the ‘world’s most dangerous taste of mental and physical pain, fear and endurance’.

Now eight of the force’s finest can add completing the eight-mile Tough Guy course to their sporting CVs.

Top of the pack for force XV

City ‘Tough Guys’ make it through Killing Fields

SPORTS & SOCIAL: mick.kelly@cityoflondon.pnn.police.uk

different to raise the profile of the British Legion, and the advancing years mean that finishing the race in a quicker time than last year is becoming increasingly difficult. I was looking for some-thing that would challenge me in a different way – and that’s when the idea of carrying a fridge round came to me.

“And it has already been a challenge. I’ve had to get the fridge risk-assessed by the run’s organ-isers and build a frame so that I can carry the fridge on my back. It’s not an easy thing to train for either: I’ve been doing gym work and running with a pack on my back to get used to the weight, but there’s no real preparation for running with a waist-high kitchen fridge on your back!”

There are 38 runners this year, and the race to cross the line first has never been closer. The force’s long-distance specialist Ben Whitby – a european Championship silver-medallist earlier this year – is out injured, and while beat-ing his 2008 time of 2 hours 30 minutes may be ambitious, several runners will hope to finish inside four hours.

eCD’s Katie Balls won the La-dies Doubles Championship. Jonathan Munton, crime train-ing officer, teamed up with Ka-tie and won the runners-up tro-phy in the mixed doubles.

Most forces had entered teams of 20 or more players to compete in the champion-ships. The City’s team was

There’s no real preparation for running with a waist-

high kitchen fridge on your back

Force trainer Jonnie Gilbert, meanwhile, is completing his 30th marathon – one for every year of his service with the police ahead of his planned retirement. having raced both as a ca-det and in the New york race, he has missed just two of the past 30 London runs, one through a broken leg, and one so he could police the event – a job he insists was harder than running!

For cool-headed determination though, few runners will be able to match Pete Digby, the force’s Covert Support Manager, who will be competing with a 20-kilo fridge on his back.

Pete commented: “I wanted to do something

made up of just the three – Katie, Alison and Jonathan.

Katie, who plays badmin-ton at county level and cap-tains Cambridge, said: “Giv-en just the three of us were competing, it was a fantastic effort to come away with two pieces of silverware.”

The City’s dynamic trio were up against police teams from Thames Valley, Surrey, Sussex, hampshire and Kent.

Next winter, the Regional Police Badminton Champi-onships are being staged in the City.

Katie Balls said: “We’ll be hosting the championships next year so I’m hoping we, too, will be able to put out a team of 20 or more competi-tors. I know there are lots of badminton players who are part of the force.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in tak-ing part in the regional finals – even if it’s only just for fun.”

The force will be taking a team to the Police Sport UK annual netball championship, held at Croydon Sports Club from 3-5 September 2010. The games are played during the day, and the Saturday night finishes with an or-ganised Gala dinner.

If you are interested in joining the team, or would like to find out more, please contact

Sandra Sonola on ext 2819

with stand-in captain Clive Gwynell leading a team that included Assistant Commis-sioner Frank Armstrong at centre.

Inspector Rob Wright from territorial policing was the driv-ing force behind the City Police Spartans team competing in the event – made doubly diffi-cult because it was run in sub-zero temperatures – and raising £700 for charity along the way.

Bob said: “The course is eight country miles through ex-treme terrain and a mile assault

course aptly named ‘The Kill-ing Fields’.

“The Killing Fields consists of high net obstacles, long, dark, wet crawl-tunnels, elec-tric wire and lots and lots of water to wade or swim through – once you had broken the three-inch layers of ice.

“once we had fought off the hypothermia (I kid you not) and learnt that 600 of the 5,000 starters failed to fin-ish the course, we felt a huge sense of achievement.

“We didn’t win the team event – that’s for next year.”

To find out more about the Tough Guy challenge go to

www.toughguy.co.uk.

Alison Hale, Jonathan Munton and Katie Balls with trophies and medals

Right: City’s pink shirts are first in the line-out Below: The A/C puts City on the attack

Double trophy delight for badminton trio

The team’s next fixture is at a Royal Military Police Sevens tournament in Portsmouth at the end of the month.

This year’s runners are: