News

Welcome to the Police Authority news pages, here you can view news articles on activities of the members and developments within the Authority and the Force. We'll be adding news as it comes in, so keep visiting these pages to see what we have been doing for you. You can quickly find the articles by using the menu on the right, and don’t forget to sign up for our electronic newsletter. 

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Hate Crime - Whos' Bothered?

The Police Authority responded to an article in the Daily Post relating to Hate Crime with the following letter.

"Dear Editor,

Rob Davies asks why “if the victims of alleged crimes can’t be bothered to report them, anyone else needs to feel bothered on their behalf”. He goes on to say that hate crime “requires grown up men and women to get upset at a bit of teasing” (Daily Post 13 Sept).

In the same issue, the Daily Post covered the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into disability-related harassment. Your correspondent recognised that this inquiry was prompted by cases such as that of Christopher Foulkes in Rhyl. He was preyed upon and beaten because he had a disability. He lost his life.  Philip Holmes of Rhyl, was murdered in his own home, targeted because he was disabled and vulnerable.

Many victims of hate crime suffer repeated and sustained verbal and physical abuse.  They often live their lives in fear of recrimination if they report matters to the authorities, and so suffer in silence, often over long periods of time.  Fiona Pilkington and her daughter, Francesca were not “the victims of a bit of teasing” but subject to hate crime and harassment on a regular basis.

North Wales Police take hate crime seriously.  They try extremely hard to encourage people to report it and both the police and the courts deal robustly with offenders.  As in most areas of life dealing with a problem early can prevent it from becoming a larger, more sinister, more dangerous problem at a later date.  By tackling hate incidents vigorously, the police are helping to prevent escalation and far more serious crime later on.

But of course the problem starts in communities and the solution lies with all of us. We must refuse to tolerate hate crime and incidents in order to help remove the problem.  A newspaper correspondent belittling the impact on individuals is shameful and sits uncomfortably with your editorial comment that discrimination against the disabled should be a thing of the past.

I hope that over the coming months you will show your support for victims of hate crime and report in your newspaper on the good work of the criminal justice agencies in addressing this blight on our society".

Nia Evans Vice-Chair

North West Police Helicopter Takes Off

A new regional police air operations service will take to the skies across the North West today (Monday 18th July) which will offer the region a flexible, cost-effective, cross-border helicopter fleet.

The North West Air Operations Group is a regional collaboration between five forces and police authorities, and will operate four helicopters. The new service will dispatch the aircraft from a regional command desk to incidents across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales.

The collaboration will allow for around 11% savings, while offering an improved air support service. Benefits of the new arrangement include the facility to have the closest helicopter deployed quickly to any incident and if there are two incidents in the same force area, then two helicopters can be deployed as necessary.

The new arrangement also prepares the North West for the National Police Air Service, which is set to launch in 2012.

Merseyside Superintendent, Chris Markey, is the regional lead for the North West Air Operations Group and Merseyside Police the lead force for the command and control of the fleet. Merseyside Police Authority is accountable for the finances of the Group.

Superintendent, Chris Markey, said:

‘The new arrangement for police helicopters in the North West prepares us for the future of air support nationally, while offering a high-quality, flexible, cross-border service with the ultimate aim of making the North West a better and safer place.’

Chair of North West Joint Committee and Merseyside Police Authority, Cllr Bill Weightman, said:

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Changes to stop laws welcomed

Changes to police stop powers will cut bureaucracy and allow police officers to stop and speak to people on a more informal basis.

That’s the view of North Wales Police and the North Wales Police Authority as changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act come into force.

Stop and account describes the process where a police officer stops a member of the public and asks them to account for their actions, such as where they are going, what they are doing in the area, or if they are carrying anything.

Changes to stop laws welcomed