The Law The newspaper of Essex Police Issue 333 July 2002 A new scheme paves the way for less red tape and bureaucracy I PENALTY FINES TO TACKLE DISORDER FIXED-penalty fines will be issued to people committing by Ben Pennington disorderly offences under a new government scheme being piloted in Essex. Being drunk in a highway. From next month, Penalty Buying alcohol for an under 18. Throwing fireworks. Notice Disorders (PNDs) will Drinking in designated public be given to people for minor, areas. but significant offences. Offenders will have the option to They will find themselves accept the penalty and pay the fine either £40 or £80 out of pocket. within 21 days or appear before a The pilot will run for 12 months, court. after which a full evaluation will Measures will be put in place to be made by the Home Office. deal with the non-payment of fines. The fxed-penalty tickets do not Fines will not be on-the- spot, so replace existing methods of officers will not be deciding if people dealing with crime, by either are innocent or guilty, but will have resolving issues informally on the to make the decision as to whether a PND is appropriate. street or arresting the offender This will mean if a PND is the and administering caution, but a preferred option, then a file will not provide an addition to those have to be prepared for the Crown measures. Prosecution Service, thereby freeing As with other types of fixed up officers' time. penalty notices, such as speeding Offenders not going through the tickets, PNDs cannot be issued to courts will be dealt with much those under the age of 18. quicker, meaning less paperwork Offences for which an £80 PND and less cost for Essex Police. can be issued are: Community Safety's project Wasting police time by giving a leader TISupt Car1 O'Malley Force Support Unit constables Jason Lane, Sam Smith and Julie Taylor false report. believes this is a real opportunity to reduce bureaucracy and in turn free demonstrate a variety of weapons used by armed response officers. Sending hoax calls. Knowingly giving a false alarm up officer's time. FIREARMS, dogs, marine, road policing indicates that the programme was well to the fire brigade. "The reduction in paperwork for and air support were the focus of an Open received. Women can be apprehensive Causing harassment, alarm or off~cers relating to minor, but Day at Wethersfield that encouraged, about handling firearms so it was distress under Section 5, Public annoying pub 'c disorder offences officers to find out more about specialist I encouraging to see that a third of the can oniy hplp fpfficers tackle these Order Act. , 1 l a E posts avaihbll within the force. I I visitors were' ferhale. {l! Offences for which a E40 PND can offences more dffectively, and spend A series of training workshops, demon- "In addition Stansted Airport has be issued are: increased time patrolling," said strations and hands-on experience of already had 18 requests for application Drunk and disorderly. TISupt O'Malley. firearms helped visitors decide whether it packs as a result of the day. Although we Trespassing on a railway. "Communities should see more of was a career path they wanted to pursue. can always find ways to improve these Throwing stones at a passing their police officers, and that is to be Supt Jacqui Cheer, said: 'The feedback events we felt the day was a success." train. welcomed." ALL too often I am asked training of how to divide a pension Do not ignore near misses after a divorce. I APPRECIATE that we are If forms are not officers Any officer with more than the minimum period of all swamped with paperwork, submitted, how can we TRAINING centre managers service will have a pension but I would like to remind expect the organisation to hope the government's new of significant value. It is everyone the importance of rectify a problem if they are national training agency will also recognised, by officers submitting 'near miss' forms. unaware of it? offer a more "joined-up" and solicitors alike, that the The PERS 35 Injury on Although Essex Police, as approach to the development scheme is possibly the best Duty form should be used. our employer, has a legal of officers. funded public service This should be submitted duty of care, we all have a The Central Police scheme available. on every occasion when a duty of care towards each Training and Development For many years, the proportion of the non-pension Most officers will find this Agency (known as Centrex) assets, such as a greater person feels a near miss has other, so if you see any courts had little option distasteful, as it has was formed to support the share of the former occurred - an incident that potential hazard, then do appreciation of the cash the immediate effect of current police reform process matrimonial home or has not resulted in injury or value of pension funding. reducing the benefits of the something about it. and develop career-long savings. pension fund. For an officer Everyone who has a property damage. There has not been, to my learning programmes for This is currently the with limited service, this may professional involvement in They are not only for knowledge, a near miss in every career step. a marriage breakdown has simplest way of allowing for not prove to be a problem. incidents that happen in the Dangerous Occurrences pension on divorce, as it EPTC Manager Jean come to appreciate that However, an officer who street, but for occurrences under the Reporting of represents a 'clean break' has built up a sound pension Harper believes there will pensions are usually the that happen around the Injuries, Diseases and settlement at the date of fund through many years of not be a great change in second most valuable asset police station or anywhere in Dangerous Occurrence officer training, but it will in a marriage after the divorce. hard work could face The settlement is full and disappointment from a the working environment. Regulations 1995. affect the funding and man- house and are more A fot of the time these Mick Englefield agement of police training. valuable than the house final and the spouse cannot reduced pension on problems can be rectified at "The new body is still going itself. return to the courts for retirement. Secretary of the JBB Officers who have further redress. The success Pension sharing is not all local level but, in some Health & Safety to be the first and major commenced, or intend to of this method depends on bad news. The advantage of instances, they may require Sub-Committee. provider of police training," commence, divorce there being sufficient non- this option is that the dealing with at force level. said Mrs Harper. "I would proceedings after December pensionable assets to trade transfer of pension funds is like to see Centrex becoming 1,2000 have a choice of two off. calculated as at the date of Save money into the Copperpot much more joined up as they methods of dealing with divorce. are currently quite disjointed their pension. Therefore, any increase in WE are one of 20 forces who have signed up to the with faculties which deal Pension sharing pension benefits accrued CopperPot scheme which enables officers to save with their own little world." Pension sharing is a after the date of the pension directly from payroll deductions and borrow Centrex will still manage relatively new option, sharing order will be money at a competitive rate. senior officer-training and it This has proved to be the whereby the member's untouched. The Federation will be pushing out flyers over the expects to be the national most popular option accrued pension entitlement It is possible for a police next few weeks promoting this, and any existing or centre of excellence. whereby the pension is split into two parts, not officer to rebuild lost funds new members who have joined by the end of Centrex chief executive necessarily equal, at the date through private financial remains with the officer, but September will be entered into a special draw to Chris Mould said: "The its value is taken into of the divorce. investments. Government is investing consideration when dividing The spouse's share will However, it is important to win a DVD player. You can get an instant loan of £2,000 plus receive heavily in us and so it is the matrimonial assets. then be transferred into a obtain proper advice and go down to us to deliver the The spouse will receive a pension fund in his or her to a solicitor specialising in a dividend on your savings, with last year paying / substantial change correspondingly greater matrimonial matters. five per cent. Call 0116 2444 878 for details. l own right. I programme." A new man 35% at the helm Discount for Police Officers ROBERT Chambers has been elected as the new Interest free instalments* chairman of the Essex Police Authority, to take Discounts for civilian staff, over from Anthony Peel who had been in the hot retired officers and families seat for the past six years. Mr Chambers has served Police Business Use included on the Essex County Council since 1997 and is FREE 90 day foreign use cover leader of Uttlesford District Council. FREE courtesy car (comprehensive cover only) The 57-year-old is a life- l long resident of Essex and Added security of a Lloyd's policy was previously chairman of Robert Chambers (left), with Chief Constable David Essex Leaders' Association.