Met laboratory achieves international standard

The Metropolitan Police's Evidence Recovery Unit (ERU) has become the first police laboratory to achieve the international standard for its outstanding quality of work.

ERU, the first kind in England and Wales, has reached a new benchmark - ISO17025:2005 standard, following a rigorous inspection by the United Kindom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Gary Pugh, Director of Forensic Services, said: “The forensic staff at the ERU have made significant contribution to several high profile cases and the accreditation is important endorsement of their skills and contribution.

Lord Lindsay, UKAS chairman, presented Gary Pugh with an award in a special presentation ceremony held last week at New Scotland Yard.

A three-day inspection by the UKAS assessment team included a thorough examination of the scientific methods and supporting procedures implemented within the Search Laboratory.

The findings confirmed the technical competency of the laboratory had reached the required standard, including performing testing, evidence recovery, and result interpretation.

The ERU staff will undergo regular visits by UKAS to ensure the standards demonstrated previously are being maintained.

This will include ongoing staff competency and proficiency testing.

The Directorate of Forensic Service is also ensuring it meets the standards laid down by the government's Forensic Regulator who confirmed in January 2010 that all police forensic laboratories must aim to achieve accreditation by December 2013.

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Picture by the Met Police

Olympic borough youngsters serve for their community

A police officer praised a community-based project a great opportunity to involve young people “in building a truly worthwhile and long lasting legacy” to the Olympic borough.

Teenagers from Waltham Forest are teaming up with local police officers to tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce fear of crime as part of a project named 'Develop', which encourages them to take responsibility for their local area and learn about the important contribution that their efforts can make to the community.

Police Constable Jeff Wade from the Metropolitan Police Service, who works on the Olympic Safety and Security Programme,said: “It has been a fantastic start to the project, the pupils we have worked with have been really keen and have enjoyed having their say.”

“These activities are a great opportunity for all members of the community to get involved in building a truly worthwhile and long lasting legacy to the Olympic for Waltham Forest.”

Pupils from year 9 and 10 at Walthamstow School for Girls and Rushcroft Sports Academy were invited to take part in phase 1, where teams were supplied with equipment such as cameras and maps and asked to identify good and bad points about their local areas, which included places they felt were intimidating or in need of development.

All the activities are delivered by officers from the Waltham Forest Safer Schools Team and local Safer Neighbourhoods Teams.

The next stage of the project is a problem solving workshop and involved local residents working with the pupils to consider potential solutions to the concerns raised.

The final stage will see the creation of initiatives to put their ideas into practice.

The project also strengthens understanding and relationships between the diverse communities as they are work together on raising pride in their local areas.

As part of London 2012's Changing Places Programme, it is launched within the five east London Olympic host boroughs include Nemham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich.

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