International Leaders And Survivors Honour Victims Of Auschwitz

January 27, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Holocaust survivors and international leaders are honouring victims of the Nazis at the former Auschwitz death camp, amid calls to fight resurgent anti-Semitism.

The presidents of Israel and Poland - Reuven Rivlin and Andrzej Duda - laid wreaths together, 75 years after Soviet troops liberated the camp.

About 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Facial Recognition Cameras To Be Used In London Within A Month

January 24, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The Metropolitan Police has announced it will use live facial recognition cameras operationally for the first time on London streets.

The cameras will be in use for five to six hours at a time, with bespoke lists of suspects wanted for serious and violent crimes drawn up each time.

Police say the cameras identified 70% of suspects but an independent review found much lower accuracy. Privacy campaigners said it was a "serious threat to civil liberties".

Following earlier pilots in London and deployments by South Wales police, the cameras are due to be put into action within a month.

Crimes Leading To Prosecution In Decline

January 23, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Only about one in 14 crimes reported to police lead to a suspect being charged, official statistics have shown.

Covering the year up to September 2019, the Home Office figures for England and Wales mark a new low, having fallen from about one in seven in 2015.

It comes as knife crime recorded by police rose by 7% to an all-time high and robberies increased by 12%. But homicides - including murder and manslaughter - fell by 6% to 617 deaths, and fatal stabbings fell 20%.

Two Russians Suspected Of Spying In Davos

January 22, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Police apprehended two suspected Russian intelligence agents in Davos last August, a Swiss newspaper reports.

Tages-Anzeiger says the men, who had diplomatic passports, may have been preparing a spying operation targeting the World Economic Forum (WEF). It adds that the pair, one of whom was posing as a plumber, were subsequently released.

Swiss police confirmed that two Russians were "checked" in August 2019.

The Russian embassy in Bern said that the newspaper was just trying to "whip out a scandal out of nothing".

Iran Confirms Two Surface-To-Air Missiles Fired At Passenger Plane

January 21, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Iran has confirmed that two Tor-M1 surface-to-air missiles were fired at the Ukrainian airliner that crashed near Tehran earlier this month.

The Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran (CAOI) said the Russian-made missiles were launched from the north. But it added that "the impact of these missiles" was still being assessed.

Iran's armed forces have said they fired at Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 by mistake on 8 January, killing all 176 people on board.

Terrorism Laws To Be Toughened By Mid-March

January 21, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Terror offenders will face more time in jail and be monitored more closely as part of new laws being introduced within weeks, the government has said.

Automatic early release from prison will be scrapped for terror offenders while a minimum jail term of 14 years for serious crimes will be introduced.

The Home Office said a bill would be brought before Parliament by mid-March. Home Secretary Priti Patel said the government had faced "hard truths" since an attack in London in November.

Three Men Stabbed To Death In East London

January 20, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Three men have died in a stabbing in east London.

Police said they were called at about 19:40 GMT on Sunday to reports of a disturbance in Elmstead Road in Seven Kings, Ilford.

Three men, aged in their 20s or 30s, who were involved in a fight, were found by emergency services with stab injuries, the Metropolitan Police said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. Two men, aged 29 and 39, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Recorded Knife Crime Reaches All Time High

January 16, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The number of people cautioned or convicted for carrying knives in England and Wales has reached record levels, Ministry of Justice data shows.

There were 14,135 offences in the year to September 2019 - the most since the data was first compiled in 2007. When possession offences involving other weapons were added, the total was almost 22,300 - the most since 2009.

Cameras To Be Permitted In Crown Court

January 16, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

TV cameras are to be allowed to film in Crown Courts in England and Wales for the first time.

New legislation being laid before Parliament will allow judges' sentencing remarks in serious high-profile criminal cases to be seen and heard by TV and online audiences. However, trials will not be televised as they are in countries such as the US as only the judge will be filmed.

Leyton Machete Attack Trial Begins

January 15, 2020 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A van driver "intended to kill" a police officer in a "savage" machete attack, a court has heard.

Muhammad Rodwan allegedly stabbed PC Stuart Outten after he was pulled over in Leyton, east London, on 7 August.

PC Outten, 29, suffered multiple stab wounds and skull fractures but managed to use his Taser to disable his attacker, the Old Bailey heard. Mr Rodwan, 59, admits striking the officer but denies attempted murder, claiming self-defence.