Death of a retired Police Officer : PC 37 Rosemary CHARLTON

It is with regret that we have to advise you of the death of a retired Police Officer :  PC 37 Rosemary CHARLTON who died on 19^th September 2015 at St Mary’s Nursing Home, Durham aged 75 years.
Rosemary joined Durham Constabulary on the 2^nd August 1960 and medically retired on the 15^th January 1984, having served at  Stanley then  Blaydon, back to Stanley, at Durham, then with Cadet Training Supervision, back to Durham, at Consett, back at  Durham,  NECRO and retiring from the North East Fingerprint Bureau.
Her funeral service is not private and friends and former colleagues are invited to meet for the service on Monday 5^th October 2015 at 13.30 at Durham Crematorium.
No flowers please by request but any donations in lieu have been requested to go to the British Heart Foundation.
Rosemary will be much missed by her family and friends and our thoughts are with them at this sad time.

Death of a retired Police Officer : Supt. Joseph Ronald Bradley (Ex Durham & Northumbria)

It is with regret that we have to inform you of the death of a retired Police Officer : Joseph Ronald Bradley, 80 years (residing in Washington) who died whilst on holiday in Scotland on 5^th September, 2015.
Ron was a Durham Police Officer working as Detective Constable at Jarrow Division before transferring to Northumbria when the borders changed in 1974. It is believed he retired as Superintendent.
He leaves a widow, Greta, daughter Gillian & son Paul

Funeral arrangements are : Durham Crematorium on Monday, 21^st September, 2015 at 2.30pm. Friends are invited to the Honest Lawyer after the ceremony.
No further details available at this time re flowers and donations

The ‘Thin Blue Line’ gets ever thinner !

Article from the Mirror (online) – please click on the image of Theresa May to view the article and vote YES or NO

Cost-cutting Tory ministers want volunteers to investigate crimes and interview victims after axing thousands of police jobs.
Home Secretary Theresa May said volunteers have a “greater role” to play in the police service following years of Tory austerity.
More than 17,000 police officers have been axed since 2010, with a further 22,000 now facing the boot by the end of the decade.
Shadow Police Minister Jack Dromey raged: “The Tory Government has slashed police officer numbers. Vital Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are also set to be a thing of the past.
“Now Theresa May has the cheek to suggest that these jobs may be done by volunteers.”
Launching a consultation, Mrs May said volunteers like ‘special constables’ already play a “vital role” in policing - but can do much more.
Shadow Police Minister Jack Dromey hit out at the plans, “This Government wants to encourage those with skills in particular demand, such as those with specialist IT or accountancy skills, to get involved and help the police to investigate cyber or financial crime and, as their experience grows, to enable them to play a greater part in investigations,” she said.
Her consultation paper published yesterday makes clear volunteers will have a wide-ranging role in the coming years.
A greater reliance on volunteers “should mean a greater availability of police personnel (i.e. the volunteers themselves) to interview victims, take witness statements etc in the evenings and weekends”, the Home Office paper states.
Will Riches, vice chairman of rank-and-file body the Police Federation of England and Wales, raged: “This Government’s proposal for a new tier of police volunteers sounds like a half-way house between paid PCSOs and specials.
Another 22,000 cops are set to go by the end of the decade
“Recruiting super-volunteers is no more a solution to the challenges of policing than a nurse putting a little plaster on a patient who is bleeding to death.”
Under the new rules, chief officers will be allowed to confer civilian staff with any of the powers of a police officer, apart from a list of core powers.
The list of includes making arrests, carrying out stop and searches and all powers under counter-terrorism legislation.
Labour warned giving more powers to civilian staff could also open the door to private firms like G4S taking a bigger role.
“The Tories must ask themselves if they are happy to preside over the hollowing out of our police force to the point where public protection on the frontline is being done by companies like G4S or untrained volunteers,” Mr Dromey blasted.

Death of a retired Police Officer : Sgt Ray Gibbon (Durham & Northumbria)

It is with regret that we have to inform you of the death of a retired Police Officer : Sgt Raymond Gibbon who died on Monday 31^st August 2015, aged 85yrs.
Ray was born on the 24^th September 1929 and joined Durham Constabulary in 1956, initially being stationed at West Hartlepool, before being subsequently serving at Ferryhill, Dog section,Peterlee,Wingate and Durham.
Ray also served as the village police officer at Witton Gilbert before transferring to Northumbria Police where he was promoted to Sgt and served on the dog section before retiring from Whickham in 1984
In retirement spent his time doing voluntary work with various charities, such as the Samaritans. He also served for 20 years in the Citizens Advice Bureau, eventually he became a Durham City Councillor. He had the honour of serving as Mayor of the city in the year 2003/2004 and became an Alderman of Durham in 2008

 

Ray also wrote a book - The Way it Was :Tales from a Policeman's Notebook, which is an entertaining collection of short stories taken from the Ray's pocket notebooks from his time as a serving officer

Ray is survived by his wife Margaret, two children Nigel & Alison and four grandchildren.
The Funeral service will be held on Thursday September 10^th at 10.30am at North Rd Methodist Church Durham City, followed by Durham Crematorium.
The family would like you to join them afterwards at the Church for refreshments.
Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time