Approximately 200 reception officers at police stations in London are to stage a 24-hour strike in protest at plans to replace them with community support staff, it has been announced.
The Public and Commercial Services union said its members will walk out on January 28 in protest at moves to axe their roles.
PCS official Sevi Yesilldali, said: "Station reception staff are often the first point of contact in dealing with people reporting a crime and have specialist knowledge and experience which is invaluable in the smooth running of the capital's police stations.
General secretary Mark Serwotka added: "Highly skilled and experienced staff are angry about being told their job will no longer exist. The Met Police need to recognise the important work of reception officers and that the job of community support officers is out in our communities supporting the police."
While, I am sure, no police officer has an axe to grind against the men and women who work alongside them as PCSOs,there are some parts of the service where only a warranted officer can do the job and that also means in the reception areas.
Michael Smith (Veshengro), January 2008
Security guards hired to spy on illegal migrants
Is this the beginning of the privatisation of the British Police Service?
This is about the same, though probably worse, as what has happened when it comes to the eviction of illegally encamped Gypsies and Travellers where private thugs, though called bailiffs, are being employed by the councils.
PRIVATE security guards have been secretly hired to spy on illegal immigrants in an apparent breach of the law, a leaked Home Office document has revealed.
The security guards will take part in “reconnaissance” missions to find suspected foreign criminals, illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers, targeted for arrest and deportation.
They will be given access to sensitive police intelligence on suspected illegal immigrants, and help to draw up intelligence reports and risk assessments, according to the document prepared by the Border and Immigration Agency.
Only authorised government law enforcement officers, such as immigration officers or police, are “warranted” to carry out surveillance and make arrests. Employees of private firms do not have the legal authority to carry out such tasks.
This is NOT the job for private agencies but a job for Customs & Immigrations and BorderPol together with the local police service.
This weekend the Home Office was accused, and rightly so, by MPs and civil liberties groups of trying to privatise the criminal justice system.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: “Privatising law enforcement is a grave step in any democracy that believes in accountability for state power. If the Home Office gets away with delegating immigration control to big business without parliamentary approval, ordinary policing will be sure to follow.”
John Tincey, of the Immigration Service Union, which represents border agency staff responsible for deporting illegal migrants, said the Home Office was “bending the law” by giving private security guards the role of government law enforcement officers.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, defended the move. “We will not hesitate to use every means possible to track down illegal migrants,” he said. The Home Office denied that contractors were being asked to carry out “police-style” activity.
A pilot contract to allow a private firm to conduct reconnaissance on the homes of suspected illegal immigrants was signed last month with Serco, a security company.
The ones that must be most concerned here are our colleagues in the various services, such as the police and the C&I/BorderPol, as it is jobs on the line, while at the same time the rest of us should be concerned as to where this is headed.
Michael Smith (Veshengro), January 2008
This is about the same, though probably worse, as what has happened when it comes to the eviction of illegally encamped Gypsies and Travellers where private thugs, though called bailiffs, are being employed by the councils.
PRIVATE security guards have been secretly hired to spy on illegal immigrants in an apparent breach of the law, a leaked Home Office document has revealed.
The security guards will take part in “reconnaissance” missions to find suspected foreign criminals, illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers, targeted for arrest and deportation.
They will be given access to sensitive police intelligence on suspected illegal immigrants, and help to draw up intelligence reports and risk assessments, according to the document prepared by the Border and Immigration Agency.
Only authorised government law enforcement officers, such as immigration officers or police, are “warranted” to carry out surveillance and make arrests. Employees of private firms do not have the legal authority to carry out such tasks.
This is NOT the job for private agencies but a job for Customs & Immigrations and BorderPol together with the local police service.
This weekend the Home Office was accused, and rightly so, by MPs and civil liberties groups of trying to privatise the criminal justice system.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: “Privatising law enforcement is a grave step in any democracy that believes in accountability for state power. If the Home Office gets away with delegating immigration control to big business without parliamentary approval, ordinary policing will be sure to follow.”
John Tincey, of the Immigration Service Union, which represents border agency staff responsible for deporting illegal migrants, said the Home Office was “bending the law” by giving private security guards the role of government law enforcement officers.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, defended the move. “We will not hesitate to use every means possible to track down illegal migrants,” he said. The Home Office denied that contractors were being asked to carry out “police-style” activity.
A pilot contract to allow a private firm to conduct reconnaissance on the homes of suspected illegal immigrants was signed last month with Serco, a security company.
The ones that must be most concerned here are our colleagues in the various services, such as the police and the C&I/BorderPol, as it is jobs on the line, while at the same time the rest of us should be concerned as to where this is headed.
Michael Smith (Veshengro), January 2008
Useful business continuity websites to keep your company on the ground
When 2007 blew in with heavy storms, car bomb attacks and tornados the pressure mounted on businesses to have a secure business continuity plan in place. This year is already set to be eventful with snow storms in the North and businesses having to use remote working to stay afloat.
Similarly 2007 proved to be a bad year for the Government with mass data record losses which failed to assure the general public that they could securely manage and safely retain information. Their data loss record was pretty abysmal with one disaster after another being exposed, with cases of senior civil servants laptops going missing, the HMRC fiasco, the numerous data loss scandals at the DVLA and DVA as well as the thousands of NHS patients who now have their records at large!
However, in the real world of competitive business in order to stay standing after an incident it has to be a very different case! You have to have contingency plans and resilience systems in place to survive and stay ahead of the game. In essence Business continuity is all about good business practice, creating a strong framework with the right IT infrastructures and procedures in place so that when a disaster of any kind does hit the business can continue to operate successfully.
As businesses are fast expanding it is proving imperative for businesses to implement an effective business continuity strategy in order to minimise business interruption and maintain operation continuity in the face of any adverse situation. Richard Fitzhugh – Content Director for Business Continuity Expo 2008 cherry picks the top business continuity websites for 2008, click online to discover how to maintain your business throughout a disaster.
www.Continuitycentral.com
Continuity Central provides a constantly updated one-stop resource of business continuity news, jobs and information.
www.bs25999.com
BS25999.COM has been created by a team of industry specialists with the intention of providing both experienced practitioners and industry newcomers relevant information, useful content and a number of interactive capabilities concerning BS25999.
www.ncc.co.uk
The National Computing Centre (NCC) is the single largest and most diverse corporate membership body in the UK IT sector.
NCC champions the effective deployment of IT to maximise the competitiveness of its members' business, and serves the corporate, vendor and government communities.
www.thebci.org
The Business Continuity Institute – (BCI) - The Business Continuity Institute’s mission is to promote the art and science of Business Continuity Management worldwide. The BCI promotes the highest standards of professional competence and commercial ethics in the provision, maintenance and services for Business Continuity Management (BCM).
www.theirm.org
Institute of Risk Management is risk management's professional education body. Established as a not-for-profit organisation, the Institute is governed by practising risk professionals and has strong links to leading universities and business schools across the world.
www.contingencytoday.com
Contingency Today is a web-based magazine and the only publication, online or print, dedicated to the challenges and opportunities of Critical National Infrastructure protection. Critical National Infrastructure can be defined as those assets, services or systems which, if destroyed or damaged, threaten the social or economic well-being of the nation, including by the infliction of mass casualties. Contingency Today covers all significant threats to the Critical National Infrastructure, including electronic attack and the sophisticated misuse of computer systems; physical attacks by terrorist organisations and other criminals; the effects of climate change; and other natural disasters, including pandemics, fire and flood.
www.cirmagazine.com
Continuity Insurance & Risk is the UK's leading bi-monthly risk management and insurance journal. The magazine has rapidly established itself as a key weapon in the risk and insurance professional's armoury. Continuity Insurance & Risk offers a unique combination of editorial elements to provide an essential, practical tool in today's business environment.
www.strategicrisk.co.uk
Magazine aimed at people who have to deal with risk at a strategic level and with the necessary responsibility for corporate governance.
“StrategicRISK is affiliated to AIRMIC, the UK-based Association of Insurance and Risk Managers, and is the only publication that receives their official endorsement."[2] StrategicRISK covers all the aspects of risk management that confront large organisations of all types throughout Europe.
www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk
Business Continuity Expo is the only event dedicated to managing operational risk, resilience and recovery. With a unique format combining a comprehensive exhibition, a highly popular free-to-attend seminar series and a stimulating and thought-provoking conference, the show brings together professionals spanning the growing Business Continuity and risk management industry. Business Continuity Expo is a unique opportunity to explore best practice, identify industry trends and cement vital relationships to help ensure operational continuity before, during and after an incident. The event will be held on 2-3rd April 2008 at the ExCel, London.
Similarly 2007 proved to be a bad year for the Government with mass data record losses which failed to assure the general public that they could securely manage and safely retain information. Their data loss record was pretty abysmal with one disaster after another being exposed, with cases of senior civil servants laptops going missing, the HMRC fiasco, the numerous data loss scandals at the DVLA and DVA as well as the thousands of NHS patients who now have their records at large!
However, in the real world of competitive business in order to stay standing after an incident it has to be a very different case! You have to have contingency plans and resilience systems in place to survive and stay ahead of the game. In essence Business continuity is all about good business practice, creating a strong framework with the right IT infrastructures and procedures in place so that when a disaster of any kind does hit the business can continue to operate successfully.
As businesses are fast expanding it is proving imperative for businesses to implement an effective business continuity strategy in order to minimise business interruption and maintain operation continuity in the face of any adverse situation. Richard Fitzhugh – Content Director for Business Continuity Expo 2008 cherry picks the top business continuity websites for 2008, click online to discover how to maintain your business throughout a disaster.
www.Continuitycentral.com
Continuity Central provides a constantly updated one-stop resource of business continuity news, jobs and information.
www.bs25999.com
BS25999.COM has been created by a team of industry specialists with the intention of providing both experienced practitioners and industry newcomers relevant information, useful content and a number of interactive capabilities concerning BS25999.
www.ncc.co.uk
The National Computing Centre (NCC) is the single largest and most diverse corporate membership body in the UK IT sector.
NCC champions the effective deployment of IT to maximise the competitiveness of its members' business, and serves the corporate, vendor and government communities.
www.thebci.org
The Business Continuity Institute – (BCI) - The Business Continuity Institute’s mission is to promote the art and science of Business Continuity Management worldwide. The BCI promotes the highest standards of professional competence and commercial ethics in the provision, maintenance and services for Business Continuity Management (BCM).
www.theirm.org
Institute of Risk Management is risk management's professional education body. Established as a not-for-profit organisation, the Institute is governed by practising risk professionals and has strong links to leading universities and business schools across the world.
www.contingencytoday.com
Contingency Today is a web-based magazine and the only publication, online or print, dedicated to the challenges and opportunities of Critical National Infrastructure protection. Critical National Infrastructure can be defined as those assets, services or systems which, if destroyed or damaged, threaten the social or economic well-being of the nation, including by the infliction of mass casualties. Contingency Today covers all significant threats to the Critical National Infrastructure, including electronic attack and the sophisticated misuse of computer systems; physical attacks by terrorist organisations and other criminals; the effects of climate change; and other natural disasters, including pandemics, fire and flood.
www.cirmagazine.com
Continuity Insurance & Risk is the UK's leading bi-monthly risk management and insurance journal. The magazine has rapidly established itself as a key weapon in the risk and insurance professional's armoury. Continuity Insurance & Risk offers a unique combination of editorial elements to provide an essential, practical tool in today's business environment.
www.strategicrisk.co.uk
Magazine aimed at people who have to deal with risk at a strategic level and with the necessary responsibility for corporate governance.
“StrategicRISK is affiliated to AIRMIC, the UK-based Association of Insurance and Risk Managers, and is the only publication that receives their official endorsement."[2] StrategicRISK covers all the aspects of risk management that confront large organisations of all types throughout Europe.
www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk
Business Continuity Expo is the only event dedicated to managing operational risk, resilience and recovery. With a unique format combining a comprehensive exhibition, a highly popular free-to-attend seminar series and a stimulating and thought-provoking conference, the show brings together professionals spanning the growing Business Continuity and risk management industry. Business Continuity Expo is a unique opportunity to explore best practice, identify industry trends and cement vital relationships to help ensure operational continuity before, during and after an incident. The event will be held on 2-3rd April 2008 at the ExCel, London.
Plague a growing but overlooked threat: study
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Reuters
Plague, the disease that devastated medieval Europe, is re-emerging worldwide and poses a growing but overlooked threat, researchers warned on Tuesday.
While it has only killed some 100 to 200 people annually over the past 20 years, plague has appeared in new countries in recent decades and is now shifting into Africa, Michael Begon, an ecologist at the University of Liverpool and colleagues said.
A bacterium known as Yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague, known in medieval times as the Black Death when it was spread by infected fleas, and the more dangerous pneumonic plague, spread from one person to another through coughing or sneezing.
"Although the number of human cases of plague is relatively low, it would be a mistake to overlook its threat to humanity, because of the disease's inherent communicability, rapid spread, rapid clinical course, and high mortality if left untreated," they wrote in the journal Public Library of Science journal PloS Medicine.
Rodents carry plague, which is virtually impossible to wipe out and moves through the animal world as a constant threat to humans, Begon said. Both forms can kill within days if not treated with antibiotics.
"You can't realistically get rid of all the rodents in the world," he said in a telephone interview. "Plague appears to be on the increase, and for the first time there have been major outbreaks in Africa."
Globally the World Health Organization reports about 1,000 to 3,000 plague cases each year, with most in the last five years occurring in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United States sees about 10 to 20 cases each year.
More worrying are outbreaks seem on the rise after years of relative inactivity in the 20th century, Begon said. The most recent large pneumonic outbreak comprised hundreds of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.
Bubonic plague, called the Black Death because of black bumps that sometimes develop on victims' bodies, causes severe vomiting and high fever. Victims of pneumonic plague have similar symptoms but not the black bumps.
Begon and his colleagues called for more research into better ways to prevent plague from striking areas where people lack access to life-saving drugs and to defend against the disease if used as a weapon.
"We should not overlook the fact that plague has been weaponized throughout history, from catapulting corpses over city walls, to dropping infected fleas from airplanes, to refined modern aerosol formulation," the researchers wrote.
Source:
Reuters
Plague, the disease that devastated medieval Europe, is re-emerging worldwide and poses a growing but overlooked threat, researchers warned on Tuesday.
While it has only killed some 100 to 200 people annually over the past 20 years, plague has appeared in new countries in recent decades and is now shifting into Africa, Michael Begon, an ecologist at the University of Liverpool and colleagues said.
A bacterium known as Yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague, known in medieval times as the Black Death when it was spread by infected fleas, and the more dangerous pneumonic plague, spread from one person to another through coughing or sneezing.
"Although the number of human cases of plague is relatively low, it would be a mistake to overlook its threat to humanity, because of the disease's inherent communicability, rapid spread, rapid clinical course, and high mortality if left untreated," they wrote in the journal Public Library of Science journal PloS Medicine.
Rodents carry plague, which is virtually impossible to wipe out and moves through the animal world as a constant threat to humans, Begon said. Both forms can kill within days if not treated with antibiotics.
"You can't realistically get rid of all the rodents in the world," he said in a telephone interview. "Plague appears to be on the increase, and for the first time there have been major outbreaks in Africa."
Globally the World Health Organization reports about 1,000 to 3,000 plague cases each year, with most in the last five years occurring in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United States sees about 10 to 20 cases each year.
More worrying are outbreaks seem on the rise after years of relative inactivity in the 20th century, Begon said. The most recent large pneumonic outbreak comprised hundreds of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.
Bubonic plague, called the Black Death because of black bumps that sometimes develop on victims' bodies, causes severe vomiting and high fever. Victims of pneumonic plague have similar symptoms but not the black bumps.
Begon and his colleagues called for more research into better ways to prevent plague from striking areas where people lack access to life-saving drugs and to defend against the disease if used as a weapon.
"We should not overlook the fact that plague has been weaponized throughout history, from catapulting corpses over city walls, to dropping infected fleas from airplanes, to refined modern aerosol formulation," the researchers wrote.
Source:
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