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REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2011

JanuaryIt was a brrrr-illiant start to the yearfor fans of snow when we were caughtin the clutches of one of the coldestwinters for 100 years. A bit of thewhite stuff didn’t stop us policingthough.

When the snow thawed, a coupleof courageous Vietnamese pot-belliedpigs made a waddle for it afterescaping from a farmer’s field inCoxford, Southampton. The porcinepair went AWOL for a couple of weeksbefore they were finally coaxed tosafety by PCSO Kev Newby and theRSPCA before being rehomed.

Plans were outlined as to how the new joint-working Operationsdepartment with Thames Valley Policewould look, combining roads policing,dog support and firearms.

Former Portsmouth residentTracy Lyons was convicted for herrole in a paedophile ring led by a manshe befriended on Facebook. The ex-nursery volunteer, 41, was sentencedto four years in prison.

FebruaryApproval was given by HampshirePolice Authority to cut £20m fromthe force budget for 2011-12. ChiefConstable Alex Marshall announcedthat up to 300 roles could go over

the next four years, following budgetcuts which would save the force£50m by 2015.

The force’s FinancialInvestigation Unit confiscatedproceeds of crime totalling morethan £700,000 from a family-basedorganised crime group who floodedSouthampton’s streets with cocaine. This figure represents just part of the £2.5m the FIU hastaken out of the criminal economyacross Hampshire and the Isle ofWight in the past year.

MarchA review of police pay and conditionshit the headlines at the beginning ofthe month following the publication ofthe first part of the Winsor Review.The home secretary asked thereviewer, Tom Winsor, to ensure thatpay and conditions were the best theycould be given the challenges facingthe police service.

The constabulary’s £30mSouthampton Central station openedon March 8. The eight-storey buildingin Southern Road has 36 custody cells and replaces the previousSouthampton Central which hadoperated from the city’s Civic Centresince 1933.

Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs)were rolled out across the force tohelp officers spend more time out onpatrol and less time tied to thestation doing paperwork. HampshirePolice Authority borrowed £1.5m tobuy more than 160 devices, whichhave been fitted into vehicles.

AprilLieutenant Commander Ian Molyneuxwas murdered on board nuclearsubmarine HMS Astute after AbleSeaman Ryan Donovan opened firewhile the vessel was berthed atSouthampton’s Dock Gate 4. Theshooting happened on April 8 when

A year full of challenge and change, 201 1 will be remembered as a period of difficulttimes financially for the force but also one of great achievement. H ere, H ayley C ourtand Aaron Brown take a look back at some of the stories that caught the eye.

TWELVE MONTHS IN POLICINGFOR HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY

PC Nicholas Jackson, PC David Vass and PC Jane G William patrolling an icy Gosport

The gammon’s up as one of the pigs gives into a tasty treat

A bright future ahead for the force’s newest station

He certainly earned his stripes

Donovan, now 23, calmly walked intothe control room during a goodwillvisit by Southampton City Councildignitaries and opened fire with anSA80 rifle. Donovan later pleadedguilty to the murder of the 36-year-old father of four and attemptedmurder of three others. He wassentenced to a minimum of 25 yearsin prison.

Our end of year figures returned a 6 per cent drop in overall crime,with criminal damage down by 14 percent – that’s 4,112 fewer offences.

MayPolice investigating the disappearanceof missing Isle of Wight teenagerDamien Nettles began two newsearches for evidence. Damien, 16, of Woodvale Road, Gurnard, Cowes,Isle of Wight, went missing onSaturday, November 2, 1996.Officers sealed off and searched anarea of Dodnor Nature Reserve nearNewport during this month. Damien’sbody was not found. To date eightpeople have been arrested inconnection with the alleged murder ofDamien. One was later released.Seven remain on bail until the NewYear, pending further enquiries.

Proposals to sell 18 police stationsand a number of other buildings

Action from this year’s Families Day

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Litter bugs are among this man’s pet hates

Chief Constable Alex Marshall and leader of Hampshire County Council Ken Thornber shake on the new forensic science service

networking sites. During the riots and for four weeks afterwards,Hampshire sent 495 officers toLondon to support the policingresponse, Operation Karkin.

SeptemberHampshire Constabulary topped theNational Policing ImprovementAgency league table for its use ofnew technology – MobileID fingerprint scanners. The new serviceallows officers to scan fingerprints

while on the beat and check themagainst the national fingerprintdatabase. During a six-week trial theconstabulary used the devices on 434occasions.

Plans to elect a policecommissioner for Hampshire weredelayed by six months as ministersannounced that elections for theposts will take place in November2012. It was originally intended totime the polls to coincide with thelocal elections in May 2012 in order to keep costs down.

OctoberNearly 50 suspected burglars wereremoved from the streets ofHampshire and the Isle of Wight injust under two weeks as part of theforce’s second phase of its Operation

Nemesis anti-burglary campaign. Hampshire Constabulary led the

way as the first force in the UK tolaunch new crime-mapping technologyin the shape of CrimeReports. Byvisiting the website and typing in theirpostcode, residents across the two counties now have access to up-to-date crime and disorderinformation in the areas that matter most to them. Go towww.crimereports.co.uk to check it out for yourself.

istockphoto.com

Prints charming – checking suspects’ identities while out on patrol

occupied by the force were put toHampshire Police Authority by theconstabulary in a bid to achievesavings of £50m by 2015.

Paws for thought: it sounded likea joke, but when a call came into thecontrol room at Netley reporting awhite tiger lying in a field inSouthampton, there was no time tohesitate for Hampshire Constabularypersonnel. Armed response teamsand the South East Air Support Unithelicopter were sent to the scene,

only for the unidentified lying object to roll over under the chopper’sdowndraft. A furry stuffed toy hadused up its nine lives.

JuneFamilies Day 2011 was another rip-roaring success, with entertainmentfor everyone being the order of theday at Netley’s Southern Support and Training HQ on June 4.

Deputy Chief Constable AndyMarsh appeared in the Spotlightsection of Frontline. “I’ve climbedMount Kilimanjaro twice,” he revealed,plus the desire to appear in copcomedy Hot Fuzz.

JulyFar right group the English DefenceLeague (EDL) descended onPortsmouth on July 16, with 500EDL demonstrators marching through the city. Approximately 200 counter-protesters from Unite Against Fascism(UAF) gathered in Guildhall Square to oppose the march. Around 400officers, including Police SupportUnits, mounted officers and doghandlers worked throughout the day to keep the groups apart.

It was announced thatHampshire’s top forensics expertswould work together to investigatecrime with the launch of the first jointservices unit in the country.Hampshire County Council’s SharedServices now work with HampshireConstabulary to provide a combinedservice in shared laboratory facilities.

AugustThe month was dominated by theevents that followed the shooting of

Mark Duggan by police on August 4,namely the greatest demonstrationof civil unrest in London and otherUK cities since the Brixton riots. Onthe evening of August 8, as riotingand looting raged on in the capital,Hampshire Constabulary swiftlymoved to establish a Gold commandcell at Netley, co-ordinating a forceresponse and stamping out thethreat of violence across the twocounties. Officers had rest dayscancelled and worked 12-hour shiftsto maximise police presence on thestreets and reassure ourcommunities. In just two days theforce increased its Twitter followers by10,000 and Facebook fans by 7,000as the bid to offer reassurance toresidents and quash misinformedrumours of violence took to social

NovemberThe trial into the murder of GeorginaEdmonds at her home in Kiln Lane inBrambridge began at WinchesterCrown Court. Mrs Edmonds, 77,suffered a number of stab wounds to the back of her neck and at leastone blow to her head. Her body wasfound on January 11, 2008. MatthewHamlen, 33, of Hamilton Road,Bishopstoke, denies murder.

Hampshire Police Authority gavethe constabulary approval to seek landon which to build four new custodycentres. There will be a reduction inour custody centres from 14 to six,with the new centres expected to belocated at Hook, Fareham, Winchesterand Newport. Existing facilities inPortsmouth and Southampton will be retained.

DecemberOp Holly, our Christmas drink-drivecampaign, kicked off on December 1.With alcohol still being the mostavailable and widely used intoxicant,the main focus of the campaign is ondrink-driving. The operation will alsoaddress drug-driving.

Hampshire Constabulary’sChristmas Concert got the festiveseason off to a flier at St Andrew’sGarrison Church, Aldershot onDecember 4. Those attending thefree event were treated to a musicalfeast by The Band of the HampshireConstabulary, as well as complimentarymince pies and hot drinks.

As D ecember 25 approachesand 2011 draws to a close, itjust remains for theFrontline team to wish allour readers a very merryC hristmas and a happy NewYear.

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