P O L I C E
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S T A F F
N E W S L E T T E R
COPPERPLATE www.tayside.police.uk
10
OCT
T A Y S I D E
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TREATMENT CENTRE
NEW DEPUTY CHIEF CONSTABLE
A month-long campaign to raise awareness of the Police Treatment Centres gets under way on 1 October 2010 with a ‘special offer’ for new donors. Every year thousands of police officers suffer injuries or experience serious illnesses. The Police Treatment Centres charity provides intensive physiotherapy and other services for these officers, which enables many of them to return to work sooner than expected. This work is funded by police officers who make a small donation each month from their pay. There are currently 150 officers in Tayside who don’t donate to the Police Treatment Centres so aren’t eligible to access free treatment when they need it most. Throughout October, those officers who opt in and begin making donations will be able to apply for treatment straightaway – provided they have a medical need. Normally, officers are asked to donate for twelve months before seeking treatment free of charge and this rule will apply again when the awareness month ends on 31 October. Nicola Kerr from Tayside Police donates to the Police Treatment Centres and recently received treatment for a leg injury she sustained playing rugby. She said: “I had an operation some time after the accident and after that the pain got steadily worse so I was referred to Castlebrae for treatment.
Tayside Joint Police Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Gordon Scobbie as the new Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside Police. Gordon Scobbie, who was born and bred in Scotland, is currently the Assistant Chief Constable with West Midlands Police. Having transferred from Glasgow in October 2004 as a Superintendent, where he was lead for Safer Motors, the night-time economy and the high-profile ‘One Knife One Life’ campaign. After two years in Coventry he became a commander at Solihull. Alongside partner agencies, he focused on delivering a quality service to improve community safety, turning the operational command unit into one of the best performing in the force. In October 2008 he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable. As head of the Citizen Focus portfolio, his wide-ranging role encompassed the neighbourhood policing agenda, offender management, criminal justice and media. Mr Scobbie will take up his post in the autumn and will work alongside Chief Constable Justine Curran leading the force forward. The convener of Tayside Joint Police Board, Mr Ian Mackintosh, said, “We are delighted with his appointment and are confident Mr Scobbie will bring a comprehensive range of skills and experience to his role and will work well with the Chief Constable. We believe he will be an asset to the force and people of Tayside.” Chief Constable Curran added, “This is a very exciting opportunity for Tayside Police and I am looking forward to working with Gordon. He is keen to get in post, roll his sleeves up and start working as we steer the force through the challenges that lie ahead.’’
“I had a variety of treatments including ultrasound, acupuncture and reflexology and this helped to reduce the pain in my knee to such an extent that I could participate in classes and activities which I had previously been unable to manage.” While Nicola faces further procedures to resolve her injury problems she is keen to highlight the help she has received from the team at Castlebrae. She said: “It is an excellent facility which provides first class treatment. I would thoroughly recommend that all officers donate to ensure this facility can continue to provide a high standard of care and support for us all.” Gemma Pettman, PR and Fundraising Manager for the Police Treatment Centres, said, “We want to highlight our range of services to those officers who don’t currently support us and show them how their donations could help us to help them and their colleagues should they suffer an injury or fall ill.” “Now more than ever, it’s vital every officer is fit and well, and at work protecting local communities. We can help to achieve this.” The donation rate is £1.21 per week and officers will be able to opt in during October by completing a short form online at www.thepolicetreatmentcentres.org
Stanley Miller - It was with great sadness that the Force was informed of the death of retired officer Stanley Miller. Stan, as he was known to colleagues, was an integral part of the Identification Branch before and after his retirement and attended many crime scenes over a number of years. Stan will be remembered for his sense of humour, his straight talking and his friendly approach. He was always good company both in work and at play, always having a great appetite for the social side of business. He played a major part in many of the most serious and complicated crimes over the past decades, as well as being there for the everyday events and occurrences. He will be sadly missed by all at Tayside Police and all of his colleagues at SPSA. Stan died after a serious illness at the start of September. He is survived by his wife Audrey and his children Kenny and Scott.
IN THIS ISSUE:
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN TAYSIDE POLICE • YOUR DATA QUALITY HOROSCOPE • SEXUAL OFFENCES (SCOTLAND) ACT 2009
P02 | COPPERPLATE | OCTOBER:2010
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN TAYSIDE POLICE Tayside Police celebrated the Force Excellence Awards at Piperdam on Monday 20 September. The evening highlighted some of the outstanding work carried out by members of the Force and partner agencies. Chief Constable Justine Curran said, “It is vitallyy important p that excellence is recognised g and rewarded and
Special Constable of the Year Special Constable Marshall Moyes - Central Division
Community Officer of the Year Constable Brian Whyte - Central Division
Police Staff Member of the Year Mrs Joyce Robertson - Eastern Division (collected by Chief Superintendent Colin MacKay)
Diversity Champion of the Year Detective Sergeant Morag Stirling Eastern Division (now working in HQ Crime)
www.tayside.police.uk
I would like to add that I am proud of all staff within Tayside Police, partner agencies that work with us on a daily basis, and particularly happy for those who received an award. It was a great evening of celebration for everyone and their families.� The winners reflect the diversity of staff within Tayside Police and the variety of work carried out by the organisation and our partners.
Partnership Working Vice Versa - Dundee
Crime Investigation Eastern Division CID - Jessica McCagh g Murder Enquiry q y Team
Outstanding Team Data Input Bureau - FIID
F Force L Leadership Sergeant Liz Law - HQ Crime
OCTOBER:2010 | COPPERPLATE | P03
YOUR DATA QUALITY HOROSCOPE Do you look to the stars each day to guide and influence your life and work? As the astral phenomenon ‘’Data Quality’ continues to rise to its zenith, here is an opportunity to consult this unique horoscopebrought to you by stargazers of Tayside Police FIID (Information). This will help you ensure the Force continues to work towards National compliance on respect of guidance on the Management of Police Information. (MOPI)
advice from the Data Protection Officer about sharing information. TAURUS 21 April – 20 May The Bull You’ve certainly hit he bulls-eye! You have assistance from Supervisors and FIID staff to help you improve your recording. Now is the time to give them a call and improve your outlook as you move towards improving the management of police information.
LIBRA 21 September – 20 October The Scales Balance is important when considering sharing information with a third party. Accurately recording all relevant information and intelligence will allow Disclosure officers and colleagues to determine the proportionality of disclosing information to partners.
SCORPIO 21 October – 20 November The Scorpion Beware of a sting in the tail – make sure that all relevant information is recorded and if a record can be linked to another person record then a cross-reference should be made on that record. Adhere to Force policies and procedures relating to Information Management.
SAGITTARIUS 21 November – 20 December The Archer This month you will spend some time hunting for missing information. Ensure information is recorded in the appropriate format for the business area in which it is held. Ensure correct GPMS marking. Contact the Information Governance Officer for advice.
CAPRICORN 21 December – 20 January The Goat What to record? You are on the ‘horns of a
dilemma’ trying to decide. Remember to collect data that is for a policing purpose making sure that it is relevant, accurate and adequate…and don’t be afraid to ‘’butt’’ in if you see someone else having problems.
AQUARIUS 21 January – 20 February The Water Carrier You are concerned with safeguarding the contents of records and therefore data protection, security and confidentiality will be important to you this year. Take a look at the Information Security Handbook – it will help.
PISCES 21 February – 20 March The Fish Your data quality work is reminiscent of fishing – you are searching for a nominal with missing or incorrect information on their record in amongst a veritable shoal of computer files. Always ensure data quality is priority. Remember to complete all submission fields. ARIES 21 March – 20 April The Ram Good at communicating. It is vital that you continue to ‘ram’ the message home regarding good data quality. A record needs to be complete, accurate, relevant, adequate, accessible and timely. Seek
GEMINI 21 May – 20 June The Twins You will need to take care as there are duplicate records in use that may be a risk to public safety later in the month. Be on the lookout and advise the Data Maintenance Unit in order that duplicate records can be merged and rectified. CANCER 21 June – 20 July The Crab Dates are always important, but this year ‘date of change’ will be particularly significant for you, especially when creating an SPR for an accused person which is relevant to Part V of the Police Act 1997. Seek advice from DIB staff. LEO 21 July – 20 August The Lion The ‘lion’s share’ of the data should be obtained from a person at the time of interview of a witness, suspect or accused. The quality and use of the data you obtain will assist the Force and partners in achieving objectives and improving public safety. VIRGO 21 August - 20 September The Virgin There are many untouched areas yet to be addressed – think about these and your person record will become increasingly complete - accurate nicknames, aliases, employment details, MO, associates, intelligence and other relevant information.
www.tayside.police.uk
P04 | COPPERPLATE | OCTOBER:2010
SEXUAL OFFENCES (SCOTLAND) ACT 2009 All officers and police staff should be aware that as of 1 December 2010, the new Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 ‘goes live’ across the country. The Act was devised following widespread media criticism of the current laws surrounding rape and other sexual offences, particularly the gender specific nature of the common law offence of rape. The Act will specifically abolish the common law crimes of rape, clandestine injury to women, lewd, indecent or libidinous practice or behaviour and sodomy, although these common law crimes will remain live for a transitional period of three years as a fall back for any unanticipated events. The Act creates new statutory offences of rape, sexual assault by penetration, sexual assault, sexual coercion, coercing a person to be present during sexual activity, coercing a person to look at an image of sexual activity, communicating indecently, sexual exposure, voyeurism and administering a substance for a sexual purpose. The main areas of change covered by the new legislation will be: • Offences are non gender specific therefore a male can be raped • Definition of the crime of rape (Section 1 Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009), will widen. • Intrusion of a penis into the vagina, anus or mouth without consent will now be classified as rape. • Consent defined as ‘free agreement’ has been created with non-exhaustive lists of factual circumstances during which consent will be deemed to be absent. • New ‘protective’ offences, which criminalise sexual activity with children and mentally disordered persons. • Protective offences are placed into categories concerning young children (under 13) and older children (13-15).
www.tayside.police.uk
As a result of the widening of the definition of rape and the fact that the offence will be non-gender specific, it is anticipated that the incidence of reports of rape will increase significantly. This is due to the definition change and not an increase in sexual crime. The implementation of the new Act has significant implications for all police forces and it is essential we are fully compliant when the legislative changes come into effect. To ensure a smooth transition come December, three main objectives have been identified and work is ongoing in the following areas: Guidelines/Policy Amendments to existing National Guidance in respect of ACPOS Scottish Investigators Guides to Serious Sexual Offences, Child Protection, Scottish Crime Recording Standards – Counting Rules for Sexual Offences and other related ACPOS publications.
Here are some of the captions that we received for the photograph that appeared in the July edition of Copperplate e. appeared in the last edition of Copperplate.
What the fox that? – Stan Brown, Safety Advisor. The financial cutbacks could clearly be seen within the Eastern Division RPU Secondments – Hugh Robson, Force Intelligence Bureau. Police sniffer dog gets confused over job-title - Constable Graeme Steven, Force Executive Support. The recent promotion process had a devastating effect on some staff morale – Hugh Robson, Force Intelligence Bureau. For the next edition of Copperplate we’d like some suitable captions for this photograph of an officer trying to camouflage himself in a hedge in Arbroath. E-Mail your caption suggestions to Sarah Craig in the Corporate Communications Department. p
IT Amendments within the ISCJIS system to accommodate the new crimes, as well as the development of new crime codes. Amendments to local police computer systems to accommodate the new legislation. Training New sexual crime section placed within the probationary training at SPC as well as delivery of the input to all new recruits. Amendments being made to all specialist courses at SPC Amendments being made to PINS and Diploma in Leadership and Management. Development of an Open Distance Learning (ODL) package for delivery to all police officers and police staff across the country. A brief summary of the Act can be found on PINS, select Legal database, Legislation Tracker, then New Acts of Parliament. At the foot of this section there is a link to the full legislation through the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) web site.
ae ar t fff magazine – whether youu ta Copperplate is a sta support staff, your a police officer or member of would like to hear opinions count. That is why we or suggestions that from you with any news, views ed in Copperplate. you would like to see publish contact Sarah If you have a story idea, please unications mm or Damon in the Corporate Co Department on; ) 596730 Telephone: Sarah (01382 e.pnn.police.uk E-Mail: sarah.craig@taysid ) 596731 Telephone: Damon (01382 side.pnn.police.uk E-Mail: damon.rhind.@tay
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