From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CORRUPT OFFICERS `POISONING POLICE SERVICE' 161746 MAY 00 By Damien Pearse, Crime Correspondent, PA News Corrupt police constables are being left to poison the service because there are not enough seniors officers to supervise them, a police leader said today. And officers of all ranks have been given free rein to blackmail criminals, assault members of the public and organise major crimes like armed robberies because of a failure by police chiefs to acknowledge the problem of corruption in the ranks. The revelations were made on the first official day of the Police Federation annual conference in Brighton ahead of a visit by the Home Secretary Jack Straw tomorrow. Mr Straw will address the conference on the same day as his department unveils plans for a shake-up in the way police officers are investigated when a complaint is made. Police Federation chairman Fred Broughton will ask the Home Secretary for a Royal Commission into policing amid growing concern that the service is in a deep crisis. Mr Broughton said yesterday that police were surrendering Britain's inner cities to anarchy and disorder due to lack of resources. Today John Harrison, chairman of the Sergeants Section of the Police Federation, said that he could only see grey clouds on the horizon for the service. He said such was the chronic shortage of sergeants that corrupt constables were able to betray their forces without reproach. The lack of supervision of constables bordered on the scandalous, Mr Harrison said. "We have all been shaken and sickened by recent revelations about a tiny minority of police officers who have betrayed our service. "If we examine the facts of these cases one common denominator is the absence of adequate supervision. "Our service should heed the warnings we have been getting about the price that may have to be paid if young and impressionable new officers are not supervised properly at this early stage of their careers. It has been shown that if an officer is going to be corrupt he or she manifests this trait at an early point." Mr Harrison referred to the Tony Martin case describing the jailed farmer as a victim who had been failed by the forces of law and order which should have protected him. Mr Harrison said there were rural communities which were now virtually police-free zones. The subject of corruption in the force was also addressed by Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan force, Roy Clarke, at a special lunchtime meeting. Mr Clarke said that police management had been largely to blame for failing to acknowledge the presence of blackmailers, thugs and major criminals in the ranks. He said that new measures had been introduced to help combat the very small minority of unethical officers in the force. These included covert integrity tests and the formation of an advisory body on corruption. Earlier in the day David French, chairman of the Constable Section of the Federation, said that being a constable ranked alongside being the manager of the English cricket team as one of the worst jobs in the country. He said young people derided the opportunity to sign up into the force as a "bad joke". Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes addressed the conference this afternoon and backed calls for a complete review of the police service. He said that the service was in a deepening crisis as crime continued to rise while the number of police officers fell. As well as hearing from Mr Straw there will be a meeting tomorrow with representatives from the Lesbian and Gay Police Association, the British Association of Women Police and the National Black Police Association. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Double gobsmacked - why didn't Ganga Jack receive a delegation from the East Tuddenham Police Darts Team I wonder. Did I spell ganga right? -------[Cybershooters contacts]-------- Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
