Sunday, 3 March 2013

Cafe Blog

Cafe Viva  @ 44, Choumert Rd, Peckham, London SE 15 . Dog friendly, which is very important for me and my boy Stanley. Quietly friendly staff, volcano coffee and soya milk for the Dame. Scrumptious bread for toast with marmite plus fresh  flowers on each table.

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Imison Award


Good news received this week. My play 'Be Mine', transmittted on Radio 4 last September,  has been nominated for the Imison Award 2014  |(category: first time writer).
Short list announced December 2013 so please keep fingers crossed. Nomination has spurred me on with my second play...

Thursday, 31 January 2013

Institutionalised police can only be enriched by direct entry at top level

Police in uniform march on the 2003 UK Gay Pride March,
the first year gay police officers were allowed to march in
uniform. Photograph: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
As a CID officer I saw how insulated and dysfunctional the service was. Talented outsiders will bring a fresh perspective.

How do you turn our police force into an open and accountable institution? The principle of appointing police crime commissioners, for one, originally came from the desire to achieve this. I opposed it, because I believe that politics should be kept out of policing. However, I am more open to the proposals made by Theresa May on Wednesday, introducing direct entry to senior ranks in the police service.

These days, policing demands a more complex managerial approach to law enforcement, and the challenges necessitate strong command and leadership. For example, with more than 31,000 officers the Metropolitan police is London's biggest single employer – but the English capital is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities on the planet. These days the police service is much less defensive than it was 30 years ago, when recruitment was limited mainly to white, heterosexual men; being openly different from the norm was met with suspicion – you remained outside "the gang". Read the full article...>

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Thought for the day

Wonderful original signage, brought to you by Oliver's Cafe

Heart warming gesture

Photo of an Officer giving boots to barefoot man warms hearts all over. By jdavidgoodman @jdavidgoodman

A cellphone photo taken by a tourist in Times Square has made Officer Lawrence DePrimo an overnight Internet hero. Read the article here...>

Extract taken from The New York Times