Beyond belief really

Police lose grip on violent man

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/display.var.1172626.0.police_lose_grip_of_vio...

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A VIOLENT man who escaped police custody last year is still on the run almost five months later, it emerged today.

He was wanted by officers from the Metropolitan Police Middle Market Drugs Project for drug trafficking offences.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the project team on 0870 785 7329.
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NGMsGhost wrote on Feb 7^th, 2007 at 6:18am:
I'd forgotten all about him until your reminder, so just checked PITO web site to see that he's still there, and yes, he is! Mr Webb made a rapid exit from DERA at the time it was being privatized, presumably because his chances of survival within a commercial organizationas the Director of IT were pretty slim. This predictable exit is remembered well by those of us who used to work in the IT/IS departments, and it seems that PITO was an ideal choice for his skillset. The use of 0870 after the London bombings should have led to his demise, but this is the civil service we are talking about. Fall on your sword? Fat chance!

getagrip wrote on Feb 14^th, 2007 at 10:29pm:

No PITO don't make the money but surely the individual police forces they recommend to mainly use 0845 numbers for their main contact centres do make money or more likely their telecoms provider offers a cheaper switchboard and a lower annual contract price than would be the case if an 01/02 geographic number was used.  So the Police force are getting the benefit of the hidden revenue share but not as a direct visible cash transfer.

Following the debacle over the collapse of the 101 Single Non Emergency Number (surely doomed by charging callers to call it while calls to 112/999 remained free) what plans did PITO appear to have to recommend Police forces to migrate from 0845 numbers to the new 0345 numbers charged at 01/02 prices?  Or didn't they care as they were being wiped out.

I assume that the wonderful Mr Webb who idb did not enjoy working with in his earlier career is now taking early retirement with a nice fat pay off?  So laughing all the way to the bank sadly like the 084  and 087 ripoff merchhants he so greatly assisted.

ask ACPO about the 0845 numbers used for the main numbers...

just one thing 'my thought only' if they used 0800 instead of 0870/0845 would people complain that pito were wasting tax payers money?  (just a thought)

getagrip wrote on Feb 14^th, 2007 at 11:02pm:


Well one of their objectives with the non emergency number is to get people to stop clogging up 999/112 so it seems like a good idea to use 0800 on the face of it.  However due to the premium rate charged for 0800 from mobile phones a geographic 01/02 number would also be needed.

Overall its a number charged at geographic rates that we think is fair.  All these 0845s should be converted to the new Ofcom 03 geographic priced range and the Police could negotiate a suitable fee for the value of the call routing features in place.  The cost of calls to 0845 from a BT Payphone and a mobile phone are scandalously high.

getagrip wrote on Feb 14^th, 2007 at 10:29pm:
Just one question - why is this body so inept?

getagrip wrote on Feb 14^th, 2007 at 11:04pm:
What is acceptable and what is appropriate are two entirely different concepts seemingly overlooked by PITO. This organization is supposed to be technically competent and is supposed to have an understanding of telecommunication issues ito police and emergency service at a level greater than the average citizen. Now, on July 7, a couple of years back, after a major incident, and one where there is a reasonable expectation that international inbound calls would follow such an incident, the hopeless and hapless PITO issues a telephone number that firstly cannot be dialled consistently from overseas, and secondly is charged at a premium for various UK callers. Now, I am not a telecommunication expert, however I am aware of the difficulties using NGNs where international access is required and expected. PITO *is* the so-called expert, yet it fails to use sufficient foresight to get this right on the day, despite it actually being advised, as far as I can tell, by C&W of the potential problems. PITO focussed only on the cost. It is this dammning indictment that should have led to Webb and others responsible to get the heave-ho but of course no sanctions happened, leading PITO to generate yet more stupidity later on by the introduction of 101 and the further use of NGNs by police forces. As I said, PITO is supposed to understand and deal with these issues. It doesn't. Much like Ofcom and ICSTIS, it is a wholly inappropriate body when it comes to providing telecommunication services fit for a first-world economy and for the average UK citizen-consumer.

now that PITO is no more has anyone thought of doing an FoI on the National Policing Improvement Agency that took over from it to see if it is operating any 0871, 0870, 0845 or 0844 numbers?

just interested.