ICO issues first fines for non compliance

The finance and business service sectors are the first to receive fines under the new GDPR rules for not registering with the Information Commissioner’s office.

Any company or sole trader that processes personal data must pay an annual fee and register with the Commissioner unless they are in an exempt category. The fines can be as much as £4,350 which is quite a lot for neglecting to pay a £40 fee or, as in the case of the fines imposed in this instance, not renewing the registration. More than 100 penalty notices have been issued in the first round of fines.

200 extra police officers might be on the cards

Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne is set to propose a maximum council tax rise at Friday’s crime panel meeting to fund 200 extra staff.

The maximum permitted increase would mean £24 a year extra from April for the average council tax payer living in a Band D property. The extra money would pay for 100 new Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), 50 more police officers and another 50 specialist civilian staff.

The force already plans to recruit 800 officers by 2022. Six hundred of these are needed to replace officers who leave or retire, and 200 will be additional officers.

Proposed measures to tackle violent crime against the retail sector

A package of measures to help tackle retail violence has been proposed by the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins.

In response to a summit held in December the Minister said, "[I] have enormous sympathy for shop workers who, in their endeavours to enforce the law, can face intimidation, threats and, in some cases, violence."

The package calls for:

• evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers; 

• funding to raise awareness of exsiting legislation in place to protect shop workers; 

• refreshing the work of the National Retail Crime Steering Group to foucs exclusively on violence and abuse.

The package will be introduced as part of the Offensive Weapons Bill that is currently before Parliament.

MoJ could end prison sentences under 6 months

The Ministry of Justice is in talks to end prisons sentences of less than six months.

It is the opinion of ministers that short term jail sentences aren’t effective at reducing the degree of reoffending and have argued that more community penalties should be put in place.

The new plans could free up thousands of prisons places as some 30,000* criminals, from burglars to shoplifters, would be spared jail time.

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart told the Daily Telegraph, “The public are safer if we have a good community sentence… and it will relieve a lot of pressure on prisons”.

Mr Stewart understands that people could consider these proposals “soft justice” but when attention is drawn to the fact that almost two-thirds of prisoners released after sentences of 12 months or less re-offend, it could be argued that new thinking is required to combat this trend.

Peter Dawson, the director of The Prison Reform Trust, welcomed the proposals.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “Short sentences are too often ineffective, provide little opportunity to rehabilitate offenders and lead to unacceptably high rates of reoffending.

“That’s why we are exploring potential alternatives, but this work in ongoing and we have reached no conclusions at this time.”

*report from the Daily Telegraph

Prolific offender faces exclusion from businesses across Sussex

To combat the growing issue of travelling offenders who commit offences across the county, The Sussex Business Crime Group has launched a county wide exclusion scheme which will exclude prolific offenders from almost 1000 businesses across Sussex.

Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) operate in many towns across Sussex, with members denying entry to anyone who has been identified committing crime or anti-social behaviour in or around participating businesses. 

Many people receive warning letters or exclusion notices every year, and this has been shown to significantly reduce criminal activities and loss of stock; something that is increasingly important as retailers find their profit margins under pressure. 

In a first for the county, the Sussex Business Crime Group has just issued their first warning letter to an individual who has been committing theft across Hastings, Eastbourne and Brighton.  The individual is already banned by Brighton and Hastings BCRPs and is close to being excluded in Eastbourne as well.  This could lead to the offender being banned from nearly 1000 businesses across the region. 

A spokesperson for Brighton & Hove BCRP said: "Until recently each town has held independent lists of known offenders, but now Sussex BCRPs are able to share intelligence through a secure on-line database that can also be accessed by Sussex Police”.  

“This means that it is possible to identify people who are offending in multiple areas and ensure their details are circulated to all BCRP members across Sussex. 

“This individual has been caught on numerous occasions in both Hastings and Eastbourne, and is now threatened with exclusion from shops not only in these towns, but also as far away as Crawley, Brighton and Worthing.

“We hope that this will prove to be a powerful deterrent for individuals who, at the moment, think they can evade detection by travelling to offend in other areas across the county.”

Sussex Police urge 'Sixty Seconds' security plans

Chief Superintendent Neil Honnor, Head of Surrey and Sussex Operations Command, said; "We are asking shoppers and businesses to put security at the top of their ‘must have’ lists this Christmas.

"While there is no known increased threat to busy town and city centres across our two counties or elsewhere, people flocking to stock up on Christmas gifts will see police working alongside security personnel to encourage everyone to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious."

"Whatever the motivations behind the recent tragic Strasbourg attack prove to be, we should take it as a reminder that the threats we are trying to prevent are ever-present."

With the festive rush about to get underway, Counter Terrorism Policing has launched its biggest-ever winter advertising campaign as part of ACT: Action Counters Terrorism.

Experts from Counter Terrorism Policing will be asking retailers and other businesses who operate in crowded places to think about their contingency plans, asking them to draw up a ‘Sixty Second Security’ plan which has the power to improve their reaction to emergencies.

Across the country, security messaging will appear on advertising boards and digital screens around crowded Christmas events and key shopping locations, reminding the public about the crucial role they play in helping to tackle the terrorist threat.

The winter advertising campaign aims to encourage the public to remain vigilant, look out for suspicious behaviour and inform people how to report their concerns, providing a ‘whole society’ approach where police, security staff, retail workers and the public come together to minimise the chance of attacks and mitigate the impact they can have.

Neil Honnor said; “As people are enjoying the festive season they will see a visible security presence with police patrols and additional security in crowded places.

“Unpredictable deployments across the UK will also provide an additional layer of protection, with specially-trained uniformed and plain clothes officers working to deter, detect and disrupt hostile reconnaissance and encourage the public and businesses to be their extra eyes and ears and report anything that doesn’t feel right.

"We advise the public to remain vigilant and, if they see or hear something suspicious, trust their instincts and report it to police in confidence at https://act.campaign.gov.uk/gov.uk/ACT or 0800 789 321.  But if something is happening right now - dial 999.

County Lines stabbings increase

Accident & Emergency departments are reporting an increase in the number of stab wounds they are treating at hospitals as a result of County Lines drawing more young people into the drug trade. Often very young children are turning up with life-threatening wounds.

Experts say that young victim are suffering violence on two fronts; they are often attacked by rival gangs and their own drug masters beat them up to intimidate them.

The NHS has published its first official guidance for staff on County Lines which explains how medical staff can identify victims. The number of children admitted to hospital for knife related injuries has increased from 308 in 2015/15 to 573 for 2017/18.

Costa launch coffee cup with built in contactless card

Contactless payment technology has reached new levels as Costa Coffee launch reuseable cup with a built in chip enabling users to pay for items with their coffee.

The reuseable cup contains a contactless chip hidden in the silicone base which allows users to tap the bottom of their cup on the chip and pin machine. The device can be used everywhere that accepts contactless payments. 

The base is removeable which allows the cup to be washed. 

Image: Costa Coffee

The 'Clever Cups' have been developed using bPay by Barclaycard technology, which will allow users to track their spending and top up their balance online. Users can also block the contactless element if they lose the cup. 

Rob Morgan, the Head of Sales and Partnerships, at Barclays, said: "Today's shoppers are looking for seamless ways to pay. 

"Our wearable chip technology allows almost any accessory to be transformed into a smart payment device, unlocking the benefits of speed and ease in everyday purchases."

It is hoped that the technology will encourage users to remember to bring their reuseable cups instead of throwing their cups away. 

Managing Director of Costa Coffee, Jason Cotta, said: "Contacless technology has become increasingly prominent in our daily lives and through the launch of the new Costa/Barclaycard Clever Cup we hope to appeal to those tech-savvy customers to help facilitate and drive environmentally friendly behaviour. 

"Whilst we are committed to ensuring more takeaway coffee cups are recovered and recycled we also want to incentivise and reward customers who help reduce the number of takeaway cups being wasted. 

"We already offer a 25p discount on hot drinks in all our stores for customers using reusable cups, and hope the innovative Clever Cup will become an additional incentive for increasing the use of reusable cups."

The Clever Cup costs £14.99, and £1 from every sale will go to The Costa Foundation.