Sir Paul Stephenson is Innocent…….SHOCK!!!!!!!!!

Innocent!

Was it really a surprise to find out that Sir Paul Stephenson was not responsible for any criminal offences in the telephone hacking scandal? Of course it wasn’t. Only Federated ranks are guilty of the criminal offences of stupidity in a public office. In reality I have always thought that the likelihood of this senior officer being guilty was next to no chance. However, his decision to pally up to the press just like the other quasi-political animals of ACPO rank in the Met did leave a lot to be desired.

What was a shock though was the length of time it took the IPCC to clear him. Bloody Hell it was about 4 weeks. I try to explain this to one of my recent clients who was still being investigated 20 months after making 4 anonymous and unprofessional telephone calls to a lady who he thought might become his friend. Or how about the officer who was sacked at Misconduct Tribunal after 24 months of investigation, did it really take 12 months just to get to interview? Well, the uPSD did have at least one statement to take from non-police witnesses. Or how about the officer who I told and he accepted 14 months prior to resigning that his career was over due to his actions both on and off duty. His best option was to be a resignation following a CPS decision not to be charged. It eventually happened after 14 months. For the IPCC 14 months is about 61 weeks!

Oh how my federated colleagues would love to be investigated in 4 weeks by a professional investigator who has not decided their guilt or innocence on a whim dependent upon which way the wind is blowing. Unfortunately, the cop in the street does not count. They can be ridden rough-shod over because society does not know and the judiciary do not care that regular abuses of process continue up and down the country in your local uPSD.

The IPCC are clearly selective in their application of the Taylor Reforms which were designed to speed up the misconduct process but it isn’t working and we still see lengthy investigations lasting years for matters which a real detective would complete in weeks.

ACPO Constabulary or is it ACPO Force?

Up Your's Missus

I saw Sir Hugh Orde on Television the other day wearing the insignia of ACPO on his cap badge and on his name tag. At what point did the private business enterprise monster which is known as ACPO receive the power to appoint its own Chief Constable and design its own crown insignia? According to him, so it must be right, he is entitled to wear a police uniform and as he is head of ACPO he is entitled to wear the badge of ACPO design.

Surely it is against the law for a private security business to portray themselves as a lawful police force and imitate the uniform that officers are so proud to wear? Section 96 of the Police Reform Act 2002:-If a person who holds the office of constable becomes the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, he shall, while he is the president of that Association—

(a) Continue to hold the office of constable; and

(b) hold that office with the rank of Chief Constable.

If my memory serves me correctly, he became ACPO president following service with the PSNI. Therefore he should be wearing the PSNI uniform and not some joke outfit designed to give him the London look (Never thought I would be comparing Orde to Kate Moss’s Rimmel advert). Therefore, I see the case that our beloved Paul McKeever should wear a Police Federation Badge when next parading in full uniform and let us see if the law is applied fairly to both parties.