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News
Updates
Australia: The
Australian Federal Police (AFP) is set to expand its presence in
Asia, filling two new posts, one in India and the other in Bangladesh.
This will bring the total number of AFP bureaus of Asia and the
South Pacific to 19. (12/04/2006)
United Kingdom: Police
forces continue to employ hundreds of officers
who have been convicted of criminal offences. (11/04/2006)
New Zealand: Police Minister Annette King has rejected claims
the attrition
rate amongst police officers recruited from the UK is too high.
(10/04/2006)
St Vincent and the Grenadines: The US Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labour's 2005 report on human rights practices
states that impunity
within the police force has led to the use of excessive force,
poor prison conditions, and overburdened court system, violence
against women and the abuse of children. (10/04/2006)
South Africa: Five gunmen, suspected of being linked to
a midnight raid on a police station last week, have
been killed in a shootout with the police. (10/04/2006)
Kenya: The
Kenya police force has launched a new police website aimed at
encouraging Kenyans to communicate with the police and to provide
information about the police forces. (09/04/2006)
Malaysia: The Bar Council of Malaysia has said that an Independent
Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission is essential to support
and encourage positive changes and reform in the police force.
(07/04/2006)
Sri Lanka: The Asian
Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding
the brutal
torture of a cab driver by Ketapola police training college
trainees. (07/04/2006)
Australia: A state Police Commissioner is touring West Australia's
north, examining chronic
problems faced by local communities. (07/04/2006)
Gambia: The Deputy Inspector-General
of Police has reaffirmed a
police commitment to combat sexual exploitation of children,
describing child sex abuse as one of the most under reported offences
in developing countries. (07/04/2006)
South Africa: Three people were killed when an
armed gang attacked a police station to steal firearms. (06/04/2006)
India: Naxals
freed two police officials they had abducted in Orissa after
keeping them hostage for 11 days. (05/04/2006)
Trinidad and Tobago: The National Security
Minister, Senator Martin Joseph, has admitted that certain types
of homicides
now occurring in the country remain a real challenge for government
but has vowed to put measures in place to deal with them. (05/04/2006)
New Zealand: Long-serving police officer Howard Broad has
been appointed the
new Police Commissioner. The appointment is for five years.
(04/04/2006)
Pakistan: The
Police and Revenue Departments are listed as the most corrupt
government bodies by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).
More than 50 percent of complaints registered with ACE are against
the two departments. (04/04/2006)
Zambia: The police director of training, Dr Solomon Jere,
has disclosed that plans
to introduce the use of digital equipment in the fight against crime
have reached an advanced stage. (04/04/2006)
India: A former Mumbai
police constable has
been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for raping a teenage
girl during the day while on duty. (03/04/2006)
Kenya: The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has stated
the government violated the basic human rights of thousands of people
recently evicted
from their forest homes. (03/04/2006)
Pakistan: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi announced
a
programme to reorganise Punjab police service training system,
which will include better infrastructure for police training centres
and the introduction of new courses. (31/03/2006)
Philippines: Police
officers have been accused of illegally
detaining a political representative. (31/03/2006)
New Zealand: Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards
and two police officers
have been cleared of sex charges. Charges had been laid after
a woman claimed that she was raped and sexually abused by the three
police members in the mid 1980s. (31/03/2006)
United Kingdom: Britain's
chief police officers have asked the government to abandon a key
reform introduced in 1993. Forces were set a 2009 deadline to
become racially representative of the communities they serve,
by boosting the numbers of ethnic minority officers. But police
say the target is unrealistic and cannot be met. (31/03/2006)
Bangladesh: Riot police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka
have fired tear
gas at thousands of stone-throwing opposition protesters who
were attempting to march on government headquarters. (30/03/2006)
Canada: A regional council
plans to build a memorial
site honoring police and other law enforcement officers killed
while on duty. (30/03/2006)
Canada: Following the release of an Amnesty International
report critical of police
stun gun use, 17 officers were issued stun guns that can incapacitate
a person. (30/03/2006)
India: The United Nations praises the decision to provide
a
125-member all female police unit for peacekeeping. (30/03/2006)
India: At
least one fisherman was killed in police firing following a
clash between fishermen in Gangavaram and police. The fishermen
were protesting for a higher compensation for making way for a modern
port. (28/03/2006)
Guyana: 34 people have begun training as neighbourhood
police at the University of Guyana. The neighbourhood policing
project has been set up to promote safe neighbourhoods, to help
reduce crime and develop better relations between the communities,
the police force and the general society. (28/03/2006)
Malaysia: An Independent
Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission, recommended by
the 2004 Royal Commission into policing, has not yet been established.
South Africa: According to an Institute of Security Studies
researcher, crime
rates are dropping, in part due to better policing. (28/03/2006)
United Kingdom: A new
police station has opened in the Bristol International Airport
as part of a package of policing improvements linked with the airport's
expansion plans. (28/03/2006)
United Kingdom: Hundreds of high-level public service chiefs
gathered at a conference in Glasgow to explore plans to
combat violence across Scotland. (27/03/2006)
Malaysia: Police
used batons and water cannons to disperse hundreds of people
in Kuala Lumpur protesting against rising fuel prices. Several protesters
were seen being beaten and kicked by police before being handcuffed
and arrested. (27/03/2006)
Cyprus: A police officer was arrested and remanded in custody
for eights days on
suspicion of beating up a woman and threatening to kill her
after she refused to sleep with customers of a nightclub he owned.
The force had to launch a number of investigations against officers
committing various offences during the last year. (26/03/2006)
Australia: Full-time
policing has begun in a central desert community in Western
Australia and is already showing the first positive impacts. (24/03/2006)
Barbados: In its annual report on human rights, the US State
Department characterised the abuse of women and children in Barbados
as "significant social problems", but went on to say that
the police victims support unit, and public and private counseling
services, are helping
victims of domestic violence, rape and child abuse. (23/03/2006)
Pakistan: Human
rights violations are continuing in police stations in Islamabad
despite the appointment of human rights officers to check the mistreatment
of the accused during investigations.
Cayman Islands: Police
and officers from the RCIP Family Support Unit are urging victims
of domestic abuse not to suffer in silence. (22/03/2006)
Papua New Guinea: Australian
police officers will be accepted back into the country, after
the withdrawal last year of 150 police officers. The police left
after their legal immunity was ruled invalid by the PNG Supreme
Court. The police are used in an advisory capacity. (22/03/2006)
United Kingdom: Police
officers in Hull have suspended
investigation of less serious crime. Officers have prioritised
more serious offences in an effort to clear a backlog of 3,500 cases
and meet Home Office targets before the end of the month. (22/03/2006)
Maldives: The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will hold
a peaceful demonstration on 30 March calling on the police and government
to show greater respect for women. The protest comes after a series
of abusive
arrests of women by Maldives Police Service. (19/03/2006)
Cyprus: A US government
human rights report highlights police
abuse. (17/03/2006)
Bangladesh: The European
Union is working with the Bangladesh government to reduce corruption
through a number of programmes, including police reform. (16/03/2006)
Canada: Police have
asked community leaders in Calgary for assistance in the
fight against gang violence. (16/03/2006)
India: Police broke up public protests related to an alleged
sexual assault during traditional celebrations to mark Holi. Officers
open fired on the group of protestors in an effort to assert
control. Four people were injured and seventy injured. (16/03/2006)
Trinidad and Tobago:
The current Prime Minister has agreed with the former Prime Minister
that a
proposal for Parliament to approve nominees to a Police Service
Commission is flawed. However, the government has accepted the
proposal as part of a police reform Bill in a compromise to speed
passage of the legislation. (16/03/2006)
Uganda: Opposition members have accused
the police of partisan behaviour and violence against government
critics. (16/03/2006)
United Kingdom: Mounted
police are sent into a Glasgow suburb hit by teenage gang violence.
(16/03/2006)
Botswana: A senior police leader commented on the difficulties
faced when dealing with violence against women, and encouraged
women to speak out, as part of International Women's Day commemorations.
(9/03/2006)
Malawi: Police
reforms bill included in last parliamentary sitting. (09/03/2006)
Canada: Around 1,000
mourners gathered for a
tribute to police horse Brigadier, who died in the line of duty
on February 24. (07/03/ 2006)
United Kingdom: The Metropolitan Police are refusing
to hand over sensitive documents relating to the involvement
of the Police Commissioner in the July 2005 shooting of a Brazilian
man on the London Underground to the Independent Police Complaints
Commission. The Complaints Commission has the power to demand "all
such information and documents" it considers necessary to conduct
an investigation. The police claim the files are subject to legal
professional privilege. (06/03/2006)
Nigeria: The Chairman
of the Presidential Committee on Police Reform has blamed the low
levels of police morale and the decay of police infrastructure on
long term government neglect of the police. (06/03/2006)
Malaysia: Police have come up with new
body search guidelines in response to recommendations made by
recent inquiries into the police. (04/03/2006)
United Kingdom: Government
plans to merge
the 43 police forces across the United Kingdom, to create 33
large forces, will go ahead in the face of opposition. (03/03/2006)
Malaysia: Malaysia's most senior police officer has told
district police chiefs that they should leave
the police service if they do not understand the concept of
human rights. (03/03/2006)
Nigeria: Federal Capital
Territory Minister, Mallam Nasir el Rufai, has suggested ways to
reform
the police force. The suggestions include take home pay, improved
communication equipment and vehicles and the establishment of forensic
laboratories. (28/02/2006)
Nigeria: Police extraction
of confessions from suspects will be legitimised under new anti-terror
legislation. (28/02/2006)
Bangladesh: Construction
of five model police stations, funded by both the United Nations
and the British Department for International Development, is set
to begin in April. Eventually, eleven model stations will be completed.
They are aimed at demonstrating how the police can meet the needs
of the community. (24/02/2006)
Jamaica: A police officer has been found
guilty of murdering a man while on duty. The police officer
claimed he was returning fire, and pleaded an act of self defence,
but investigations found no gunpowder residue on the victim's clothes.
A discovery of gunpowder residue would have been consistent with
the victim firing a gun. (23/02/2006)
Nigeria: Junior police
ranks
threaten to strike, in the face of government warnings that
striking police would face instant dismissal. (19/02/2006)
United Kingdom: The Association of Chiefs of Police supports
a restructuring
of the British police service. (17/02/2006)
United Kingdom: Government
legislation to amalgamate
police forces has been passed. The opposition claims the mergers
are expensive and will lessen accountability. (07/02/2006)
Trinidad and Tobago: The Chamber
of Industry and Commerce does not support opposition to the
government police reform bill, which allows the President to veto
appointments to senior police ranks. (03/02/2006)
Nigeria: An editorial discussion
of the Police Reforms Committee raises concerns that the Committee
is not sufficiently independent of people involved with issues that
police reform should address. The article also raises the importance
of political impartiality by the police. (29/01/2006)
Trinidad and Tobago:
Opposition leader Basdeo Panday stated that he is not likely to
allow a
Presidential veto over the selection of a Police Commissioner
in proposed legislation to reform the police. (28/01/2006)
Northern Ireland: A senior US government official, fresh
from talks with major Northern Ireland political parties, told a
group of police training graduates that there will soon be
unanimous political support for the police reforms process in Northern
Ireland. Sinn Fein has not supported the replacement of the
Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland
on the basis that reforms are yet to go far enough. (27/01/2006)
United Kingdom: Debate
continues over police reforms as Prime Minister Tony Blair suggests
strategic
inter-regional police partnerships in the face of opposition
to the merging of stations to create regional super forces. (26/01/2006)
Malaysia: An independent
body will be set up to look into complaints against police in
the wake of reports that police detainees were forced to squat naked
while in custody and two independent inquiries into the police.
The complaints commission was recommended by both the inquiry into
the police, and an inquiry into the reports of forced squatting.
(25/01/2006)
Nigeria: Police
officers consider striking in protest against poor working conditions,
the high risk nature of the job and politically motivated personnel
transfers. (22/01/2006)
Nigeria: Alhaji Musa Abdulkadir, Deputy Inspector General
of Police (Training and Logistics) told police to
respect their oaths of service, and recommended that any police
officer found to have committed an act contrary to their oath, such
as indiscipline or abandoning of duties, be dismissed. A Presidential
Committee on Police Reforms is currently sitting in Nigeria, and
will produce a report for government within 3 months. (20/01/2006)
United Kingdom: The
Independent Police Complaints Commission has delivered
a report into the police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether to bring
charges against the police officers involved. The British Home Secretary
has also been provided with a copy of the report, because of the
exceptional and grave circumstances surrounding the shooting. Jean
Charles' family has been denied access to the report. (20/01/2006)
India: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that the Indian
government
does not interfere with the operations of the Central Bureau of
Investigation, and that all politicians should adopt a zero
tolerance policy towards corruption. Dr Singh was speaking at the
inauguration of a new CBI headquarters. (18/01/2006)
Mauritius: A suspect in a murder case died
in police custody while under the responsibility of members
of the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT). (17/01/2006)
Canada: A city committee has
ruled against a proposal to compel Winnipeg Police officers
wear name tags. It was argued that name tags would improve police
accountability. However, the proposal was not passed as the committee
ruled that name tags would jeopardise officer safety. (16/01/2006)
United Kingdom: Opposition
leader David Cameron has announced his police
reform programme, stating that he will reform pay and conditions
for greater flexibility, and make it easier to dismiss underperforming
officers. (16/01/2006)
Pakistan: A Senior Superintendent of Police emphasized that
contact
between junior police officials and people in the community
should be developed in order to improve confidence in the police.
This would then lead to a decrease in crime and improved police
performance. (16/01/2006)
South Africa: A man
sued the Police Commission after being detained on raped charges.
The lawsuit alleges cruel and inhumane treatment while in custody.
(16/01/2006)
Pakistan: Second generation
economic reforms, focussed on improving governance and transparency,
will include police
reform. (15/01/2006)
Maldives: A journalist describes police as "wild animals"
after
a violent attack on civilians. (14/01/2006)
Swaziland: Police have
arrested 16 suspects on suspicion of links to bombings in 2005.
Critics have charged
the arrests as politically motivated and aimed at thwarting
basic political freedoms in the country. (12/01/2006)
Sri Lanka: The Asian Human Rights Commission has linked
drug crime to police
corruption. (03/01/2006)
United Kingdom: The president of the Association of Police
Officers, Christopher Fox, has dedicated
his recent knighthood to police staff across the country, stating
that it is important to recognise the contribution of operational
police employees. (02/01/2006)
Trinidad and Tobago:
The opposition party has restated that it will
not support the current police reforms bills until amendments
are made to the process by which the Commissioner of Police is selected
and the veto power of the Prime Minister with relation to the termination
of the Commissioner. (01/01/2006)
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