Britannia Radio

Are you aware that foreign Police are working in the UK NOW? 

 I caught a little of what was said on the BBC and I have found this below.   

See what you think.  

Anne

Foreign police to operate on British soil

Foreign police will be allowed to operate on British soil for the first time, ministers announced today.

Home Office minister Lord Filkin said measures to combat international crime will allow European police 

who are tracking a suspect to come into Britain and continue their operation for up to five hours.

Rules will be changed so they can mount surveillance on the suspect without the permission of a British 

judge during that period, but they will be expected to contact UK police as soon as possible to ask for 

help, he said.

The Crime (International Co-operation) Bill says a foreign officer should be "treated as if he were acting 

as a constable in the execution of his duty" during the five-hour period, granting him the same protections 

against assault and other offences as police in the UK.

European Police will not, however, be allowed to carry firearms on UK soil.

Lord Filkin said the move would allow British police to track suspects abroad. For example if they

 leave

the country at Dover, officers will be allowed to follow them to 

Calais and continue the surveillance 

operation.

"The reverse would happen here as well," said the minister.

"We don't expect this to happen very often in Britain because our geography will usually mean that a

 foreign police force that is tracking someone coming to the UK would have plenty of time to ring 

through and alert the British police and so have in place a joint intelligence team led by a British police 

force."

The Bill will implement the Schengen Agreement which was first signed by France, German and the 

Benelux countries in 1985, to encourage cross-border police co-operation.

It will give Britain access to the Schengen Information System - a database of missing and wanted 

persons and items across the whole of Europe.

Asked how Britain could check foreign police kept to the five-hour time limit, Lord Filkin said: 

"We would expect European colleagues to abide by the law as we would in their country."

The Bill will also allow for British citizens who commit terrorist attacks anywhere in the world to face

 prosecution in UK courts, rather than in the country where the incident took place.

Acts of terrorism committed abroad against UK residents will also be triable in a British court.

It also set out that anyone who commits a terror act anywhere in the world against British diplomatic

 premises, including attacks on staff in their cars, will be triable in UK courts.

The proposals are believed to have been inspired by the assassination of Brigadier Stephen Saunders, 

an attache at the British Embassy in Athens, by Greek terror group November 17, as he drove to

 work in 2000.

Lord Filkin said that if the UK felt charges against the suspected terrorists were not proceeding 

quickly enough in a foreign country, officials could apply to have the suspect handed over to pursue 

a prosecution in the UK instead.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-148295/Foreign-police-operate-British-soil.html#ixzz2ZJBHE27k