Qik is an interesting bit of technology that enables you, at no cost, to instantly stream video from your phone to the internet and to share it on facebook, twitter, youtube etc. No wait, no edit, no fuss. Instant (free) upload and storage (both public and private).

As with most mobile media and social networking things these days, it has interesting implications for policing, particularly in public order policing. Instant scrutiny coming to a demo and a street near you.

Activists have been quick to see it’s benefits. This post highlights the advantages of having your ...

Seems like tax on pensions is the main topic of conversation kicking around at the moment. I’m grateful therefore to the colleague who has kindly drawn my attention to the following useful explanatory information on the Thames Valley Police Federation website.

‘The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD), has just released a new set of commutation factors for the Police Pension Scheme (PPS) 1987. The new factors will apply to any member who retires on or after 20 April 2011.

The factors for all ages have been increased, which means that the value of the commutation for all individuals will ...

The battle over the future of Police and Crime Commissioners is warming up. Yesterday saw Peers in the House of Lords rejecting plans for elected police commissioners by 188 votes to 176 – a majority of 12 and, in the words of Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, ”ripping the heart out” of the legislation by deciding that the PCC’s should be appointed rather than elected. A fundamental tenet of the Governments approach.

There is no doubt that this stance will be challenged when the matter returns to the House of Commons. Meanwhile the Home Office has published the draft protocol ...

Got a view on how the Government intends to reform it’s approach to ant social behaviour? Well, so have a lot of people, and to take account of that the consultation period has been extended a few more days until the 17th May.

You are invited to comment online on the propositions in the consultation, which asks for your opinions on government plans to streamline the toolkit used to tackle anti-social behaviour, the intention being that the police and partners have faster, more flexible tools.

The proposals include:

repealing the ASBO and other court orders and replacing them with two new ...

Everywhere you look this week the Winsor Report on police pay and conditions and the Hutton Report on pensions, not suprisingly, have been dominating the policing agenda. So, I thought now might be a good time to provide a short attention break from all of that, and shift the focus to recent tech related issues that have potential implications for policing.

I’m going to kick off with a startup outfit called Broadcastr.

Broadcastr allows you, or anyone else for that matter, to record and upload audio clips and have them organised by geographic location. What this means is that ...

It’s really interesting to see how the importance and significance of restorative justice is being boosted under this government. Equally interesting is the way that it’s being redefined. Broadened and linked to the delivery of the Big Society concept, it’s moving from a one and one, victim and offender interaction and crime disposal activity, to a mechanism to flag and signal justice delivery to whole communities, or at least that appears to be the intention.

Nick Herbert, Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, gave a speech to the ACPO and the Restorative Justice Council conference in  Manchester last week. The full ...

The Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a short report on police finances, focusing on the impact of the Government’s proposed settlement for police forces from 2011-12 to 2014-15.

The report can be found in full here. The Committee and its work normally attracts a range of views around the service. The reality however, is that it is a broadly representative cross party committee and convention requires that the government of the day responds to its deliberations. In respect of police finances and the implications that flow from that funding, the Committees conclusions are bald ...

Just a quickie.

‘I’m a scientist: get me out of here’ is looking for five forensic scientists (or CSI’s that work at the science end of investigations) from the UK or USA to take part in an online interactive programme for kids from March.

I’m a Scientist is a science dialogue event where school students talk to real scientists online for two weeks. It’s in the form of an X Factor style competition between scientists, who compete for a prize of £500.

For two weeks students read about the scientists’ work, ask them questions, and engage in live text chats with them. The ...

This week Nick Herbert, Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, gave a significant speech at the City Forum outlining the Government approach to the key issues and future direction in policing reform. The tone and intent is unequivocal. If you were in any doubt, you shouldn’t be. Click on the image below to download the speech.

Most police forces in the UK, now have Facebook pages, but, is Facebook a useful and effective tool for police use? Does it increase community confidence, generate support for the police and provide a mechanism for engagement that meets peoples’ needs?

Those were some of the key questions that the North Down area of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) recently set out to find answers to. The results, unveiled publicly at the North Down District Policing Partnership meeting yesterday, seem to say, yes, yes and yes.

PSNI launched a trial of local area Facebook pages nearly 12 ...