Reform of G20 police tactics

From The Times
October 23, 2009
‘Routine’ armed police units for London streets
Sean O’Neill, Crime Editor and Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6886192.ece

"The prospect of an armed police service moved a step closer yesterday when Scotland Yard announced the formation of a new firearms unit that will routinely patrol gun crime hotspots in London.

The team is drawn from the CO19, the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms unit, members of which shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station after mistaking him for a suicide bomber in 2005.

The armed patrols are being deployed after a dramatic rise in gun crime. They will target key areas in North London, where Turkish gangs are engaged in a bloody turf war, and south of the Thames, where gangland shooting incidents have soared.

The C019 Proactive Unit will walk estates while some officers will use motorbikes to provide the capability for high-speed pursuit.
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But the announcement has created a political row, with demands for Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to convene an emergency meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).
"

Why the long faces? London celebrates 1,000 days until 2012 Olympics with bizarre set of photographs (but no one looks happy about it)

By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 10:22 PM on 31st October 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1224164/London-marks-1-000-days-2012-Oly...

Creepy.. Hmmm...

Police given powers to enter homes and tear down anti-Olympics posters during 2012 Games
By James Slack
Last updated at 6:36 PM on 21st July 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201171/Police-given-powers-enter-homes-...

Police have been given new powers to stop protesters during the London 2012 Olympics

Police have been handed 'Chinese-style' powers to enter private homes and seize political posters during the London 2012 Olympics.

Little-noticed measures passed by the Government will allow officers and Olympics officials to enter homes and shops near official venues to confiscate any protest material.

Breaking the rules could land offenders with a fine of up to £20,000.

Civil liberties groups compared the powers to those used by the Communist Chinese government to stop political protest during the 2008 Beijing Games.

Anita Coles, of Liberty, said: 'Powers of entry should be for fighting crime, not policing poster displays. Didn't we learn last time that the Olympics should not be about stifling free expression?'

Hmmm...

Police sharpen focus on 2012 security
By Brian Alexander
BBC Radio 5 live
Thursday, 26 November 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/8379572.stm
"There is one area of the planning for London 2012 that is guaranteed to cause a sharp intake of breath among the key people at the Home Office, the Olympic Delivery Authority and Lord Coe's office: security."
"Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison was announced in the spring as the man at the Metropolitan Police Authority with overall control of security at London 2012.
In his first interview since taking up that position, he answered all my questions with a quiet and reassuring authority. "
"You can hear Brian Alexander's exclusive interview with Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison tonight on BBC Radio 5 live Sport from 1900 GMT on Thursday 26 November."