16 June 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Thames Valley Police apologises over man’s heroin death in cell

source: BBC News
published: 15 June 2022

A police force has apologised to the family of a man who died in custody after taking heroin in his cell. Officers at a police station in Reading failed to find the drugs Leroy Junior Medford, 43, had hidden.

In a letter to his family, Thames Valley Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Jason Hogg described his death in April 2017 as tragic and avoidable. He also acknowledged the force breached Mr Medford’s human rights and those of his family.

Mr Hogg wrote that Thames Valley Police apologised both for this and the “grief and distress that this has caused Junior’s children and siblings”.

Mr Medford, who was known to his family as Junior, was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to Loddon Valley police station in Berkshire.

2 June 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

The Public Order Bill : A briefing from JUSTICE (May 2022)

source: JUSTICE
published: June 2022

The right to protest is a fundamental cornerstone of any democratic society. Protests can be uncomfortable, particularly for those who disagree with them.

However, as the Government notes, “freedom of expression is a unique and precious liberty on which the UK has historically placed great emphasis in our traditions of Parliamentary privilege, freedom of the press and free speech”. Any unease must therefore be tolerated.

On 15 November 2021, the Government introduced over 18 pages of late-stage amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, for which JUSTICE also prepared briefings.

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29 May 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Biden signs police reform executive order on George Floyd’s anniversary

source: NBC News
published: 25 May 2022

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at reforming policing practices on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd.

The order creates a national registry of officers fired for misconduct and encourages state and local police to tighten restrictions on chokeholds and so-called no-knock warrants. It also restricts the transfer of military equipment to law enforcement agencies and mandates all federal agents wear activated body cameras.