Page 9 - Alive January 2016 Newsletter Flip Book

SteVe ANdReWS
Steve Andrews joined Bedfordshire Police in 1993 and was first posted to Ampthill. He spent five years as a police officer SOCO based at luton and then Bedford before joining the Road Policing unit in 2003. Currently a Forensic Collision Investigator at Hinchingbrooke Park, Steve has been Fed rep to the JPS constables for two years.
BeSt PoLiCe PRoGRAMMe – The Bill... We affectionately referred to it as ‘The Training Manual’ when we used to watch it at Shotley Training Centre and probably believed that all cases could be dealt with in 30 minutes and all offenders should cross the paths of the victims before being sent down.
tHe HiGHLiGHt oF My CAReeR So FAR – When I was a SOCO, I got a DNA hit that led to an arrest from a tiny amount of bodily fluid I recovered from the scene of a particularly nasty sexual assault, part of a series in Bedford after an offender was released from prison and broke into flats to sexually assault lone females.
BeSt AdViCe i HAVe BeeN GiVeN – To enjoy the job. We all treat being a police officer as a serious responsibility but every now and then we ought to have some fun.
BeSt AdViCe i WoULd GiVe to A NeW ReCRUit – Attend as many courses as possible to broaden your horizons and build up a strong knowledge base.
WHo do i MoSt AdMiRe iN tHe PoLiCe SeRViCe – Dave Dyer, now retired. He was my tutor when I became a collision investigator. He always seemed to find a way around a problem even if it was not immediately obvious how to tackle it.
CHRiS SMitH
Chris Smith joined the Force in April 1989 and was first posted to luton. He is currently a roads policing sergeant based at Halsey Road and has been for the past 10 years having previously been a PC on RPu for 11 years. He is a representative on the Federation’s Sergeants’ Board.
BeSt PoLiCe PRoGRAMMe - Must be the
old classics. Always loved Starsky & Hutch and have many fond memories during my childhood of watching Starsky driving the Gran Torino in a pursuit around the streets of Bay City (lA.) Also loved CHiPS.... Well, they are bike cops!!!
HiGHLiGHt oF My CAReeR So FAR - The work I have done on RPu with the motorcycles. Being given the chance to plan and be ‘Easy Rider’ for a vIP escort when Prince Charles came to Bedford was out of this world... love riding off-road too.
BeSt AdViCe i HAVe BeeN GiVeN - ‘Ease and squeeze.’ It’s a traffic thing...
BeSt AdViCe i WoULd GiVe A NeW ReCRUit - If you really want to achieve in a specific area of policing, never give up, work hard and aim high.
WHo do i MoSt AdMiRe iN tHe PoLiCe SeRViCe - There are many people who I have a lot of time and respect for in this organisation who I have had the honour of working with over the years. However, one who stands out in my mind is a now retired traffic sergeant Keith Hubbard. He was the sergeant in charge of the driving school. He was a police motorcyclist and a damn good one at that. He did what I do now with vIP and off-road riding and I just hope I do justice to his legacy.
9
conference
open 7am – 2am (3am on Friday and Saturday nights). Steps are being taken to shorten waiting times for calls to be answered and it is very close to being able to access and share DvlA records of uninsured vehicles so they can pretty much provide the police with lists of vehicles and ROs who are uninsured so we can proactively target them.
drug-driving procedures
Delegates were reminded that full drugs names should be used on charges rather than common names. There was also a reminder of the need for a separate charge for each and every type of drug that the lab report shows are above the legal limit. The labs have requested we make it clear on lab forms if Section 4 impairment is being looked at. There were 931 positive drug- wipes during the Christmas campaign and 2,426 people convicted since March 2015 when the legislation came in.
Roadside evidential breath-test
Approval is still not quite ready but there is a hope of ‘by the end of 2017’, conference
was told.
Police exemptions S109 Con & Use - for screens (eg ANPR etc) in our cars has been extended to 2019.
Government consultation
On 26 January consultation started about increased penalties for mobile phone use while driving. Proposals include increasing
car driver’s points to four and a £150 fine and for HGv drivers six points and possibly a fine of up to £600.
Pan-euro name and address of driver type database
Work is ongoing for a or procedure for follow up enquiries following offences or RTCs.