Scotland Yard used ex-police from private firm G4S to help hunt for missing Madeleine McCann

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/scotland-yard-used-ex-police-7112764


Scotland Yard used ex-police from private firm G4S to help hunt for missing Madeleine McCann

22:29, 3 JAN 2016UPDATED 22:50, 3 JAN 2016
BY TRACEY KANDOHLA


Up to 81 former officers were on the Met payroll as part of the failed £12.1million hunt for the missing child


Former police officers employed by G4S have been used by Scotland Yard in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.

Up to 81 former officers have been on the Met Police payroll to search for the missing girl over a five-year period.
Revelations of the global company’s input into the failed £12.1 million hunt for Maddie only emerged in documents obtained from the London force under freedom of information laws.
It is set to cause embarrassment to the Government who are now investigating the private firm for allegedly overcharging them.
Two weeks ago Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry publically thanked Operation Grange, the police inquiry set up into their daughter’s disappearance on PM David Cameron ’s orders, in May 2011.
But the couple from Rothley, Leics, couldn’t resist a dig at cops for failing to do “as much” quickly enough in an online festive message.
It was not clear if the McCanns were aware G4S , whose reputation has been scarred after a string of blunders, had been brought on board.
The firm’s relationship with the Government has been frayed following a series of scandals including bungling the London 2012 Olympic contract and charging taxpayers for monitoring dead criminals.
The hunt for Maddie, who vanished during a family holiday to Portugal’s Praia da Luz, in May 2007 just days before her fourth birthday, is now being scaled down.

In 2011 G4S provided the most staff, up to 33, to help solve the Maddie riddle , at a cost to British taxpayers of up to £91,929, including an agency fee of £8,489.
The following year up to 16 officers were on Op Grange books, plus one intelligence assessor at a fee of up to £59,380. In 2013 up to 13 G4S staff were assigned to find Maddie at a rate of up to £54,134. In the summer of that year Scotland Yard travelled to Portugal to dig up ground in and around Luz where they suspected Maddie’s body could be buried.
In 2014 G4S provided up to 10 ex cops, a researcher and two digital media assessors to team up with the Maddie squad at a price spiralling towards £57, 413.
Read more: Gerry and Kate McCann reveal the reasons why they miss Maddie
On top of G4S Operation Grange used another private company Servoca to help the hunt.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We can confirm we have used agencies to provide extra support on specific high profile cases, including Operation Grange, the search for Madeleine McCann. G4S has provided ex police officers during a period from 2010 to 2014. It is not believed that we are still using them.”
G4S has also been involved in Operation Yewtree, the Met Police’s child sex abuse inquiry which has seen the high-profile prosecution of celebrities collapse and Operation Withern, the investigation into the 2011 London riots.

At the weekend MPs questioned the decision by police, who have suffered 20 per cent budget cuts, to use staff from G4S.
The company is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office for claims it overcharged the Ministry of Justice for the electronic tagging of criminals who were dead or back in jail. G4S also failed to provide enough trained staff for the London Olympics, causing troops to be brought in.
Private firms including G4S and Servoca have been paid nearly £170million of taxpayers’ money between January 2010 and December 2014 for helping police forces across the country.
Read more: Madeleine McCann's parents say they have 'fresh hope we will find her'
The newly-released statistics come from 28 of 45 forces who confirmed hiring staff from both companies.
Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East, and chairman of the home affairs select committee said: “Given the huge pressure on police budgets, it is puzzling that such a large amount of public money is being given to private-sector organisations.”
Scotland Yard has vowed to continue the search for Maddie for another three months despite recently scaling back on officers.

But former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry, both 47, are preparing for the inquiry to be shelved later this year after, so far, failing to unearth any new clues. They believe their daughter, who would now be aged 12, could still be alive and will use money from the £750,000 set aside in official Find Maddie Fund to employ a new team of private eyes.
Until the end of June last year it emerged controversial Op Grange has cost £10.1 million with a further £2 million from the Government’s “Special Grants” budgeted until early April.

It never takes much to get the haters carpet-chewing, Max - the very last thing the Gonzo-worshippers want is for Madeleine McCann to be found.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/485050/Madeleine-McCann-cops-huge-bill-for-private-eyes-MPs-check-12m-inquiry

Madeleine McCann cops probed after hiring PRIVATE EYES to help find tragic tot
POLICE have been blasted for hiring private investigators to help in the £12.1million search for Madeleine McCann.

By Jerry Lawton / Published 4th January 2016

Up to 81 officers from G4S were recruited to assist the Operation Grange investigation even though at one stage 31 detectives were assigned to the case full-time.

The Met Police now face an MPs’ probe into the revelations, which emerged from documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws.

They show UK forces have spent nearly £170m employing investigators, analysts and other staff from G4S and private sector firm Servoca.

Home affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “Given the huge pressure on police budgets it is puzzling that such a large amount of public money is being given to private sector organisations.”

G4S is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office over claims it overcharged the Ministry of Justice for the electronic tagging of criminals who were dead or back in jail.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday: “We can confirm we have used agencies to provide extra support on specific high profile cases, including Operation Grange, the search for Madeleine McCann.”

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the manning of the operation was entirely a matter for the Yard.



That's very diplomatic of Clarrie, but personally, I can't see using G4S being a particularly clever idea from the Met - they aren't known for their efficiency.

It's a private UK company, Pedro, specialising in security, etc. They have an absolutely dreadful reputation in the UK for fouling up - there are some things that really are better done by government agencies, and this is one of them.

I hope they were only used for routine clerical work, and nothing that requires investigative skills.

due to the fact of not knowing anything about G4S (it is the first time I hear this name), I will not make any comment about it.

ok bb1, thank you for your explanation.

That looks odd, Pedro - I think you deleted your first post just as I posted?

my apologies my friend, I clicked at deleted instead of writing it.

No worries, Pedro.

bb1:

Hounder churnalist Donn has, naturally, put her own propaganda spin on this, and Mutton has used it as an excuse to pitchfork the McCann family yet again. So, nothing new from those two.

But Myths spotted this:

In 2011 G4S provided the most staff, up to 33, to help solve the Maddie riddle , at a cost to British taxpayers of up to £91,929, including an agency fee of £8,489.
The following year up to 16 officers were on Op Grange books, plus one intelligence assessor at a fee of up to £59,380. In 2013 up to 13 G4S staff were assigned to find Maddie at a rate of up to £54,134. In the summer of that year Scotland Yard travelled to Portugal to dig up ground in and around Luz where they suspected Maddie’s body could be buried.
In 2014 G4S provided up to 10 ex cops, a researcher and two digital media assessors to team up with the Maddie squad at a price spiralling towards £57, 413.

Were G4S all on workfare, or something? 10 ex-cops plus three others for less than £60,000 is a bit of a bargain....I don't think we're getting an accurate picture of the investigation from this piece.

http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/disclosure_2015/june_2015/2015050000610.pdf

So, the Mirror report isn't accurate, and the GS4 bill covers several other cases, not just the McCann case.

Forker:

I'm hoping those digital media assessors was assessing all pics in this case,
Who knows, maybe that (possible) map on the table pic was assessed too

Or CCTV photos of the London riots, mayhap? Somewhat more likely, IMO, than some imaginary 'map'. As usual, they should have waited for more information before taking media stories as gospel truth.

Especially anything dreamed up by Hounder Donn.

So, another damp squib. And there are two Agencies involved in this, by the way.

A squib as damp as most of the UK at present, Sabot - but it gave the forkers new excuses to abuse the McCanns.

And they made fools of themselves yet again.

Making fools of themselves is just about the haters' only talent. IMO, Lol.

I don't know why I still wonder if they will each time, Bonny. I should know by now.

This should win prizes.....

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Re: Scotland Yard used ex-police from private firm G4S to help hunt for missing Madeleine McCann
Post  BlueBag Today

@Tony Bennett wrote: wrote:
Since reading these two extraordinary articles (Mirror and Star) I have been struggling to understand exactly what a 'digital media assessor' does. None of these were around when I was a lad.

Is is possible to find out of it was Clarence?

Sounds a lot like a Media Monitor.

No, it doesn't, actually. And they'd be well advised to Research what Clarrie actually said on the subject, rather than what they imagine he said.

They would also be well advised to read the actual police statement, instead of the hash the Mirror made of it.

And Hounder Donn's version is even further from reality - as usual.

http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/disclosure_2015/june_2015/2015050000610.pdf



London riots bring anything to mind? CCTV, mayhap? Whatever it was, it wasn't a big job, for such a paltry total sum.

The capacity of the haters, hounders and pitchforkers to lie to themselves, and others, never ceases to amaze amused onlookers.

PS - there is nothing 'extraordinary' about either article - except for the hash the media has made of non-news.

Oh, and the very extraordinary frenzy the McCann-haters went into, without, as usual, doing any basic fact-checking.

Also being discussed here:

http://www.stopthemyths.info/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=8273

Quote:

This bit is one of the most misleading, IMO.

"In 2011 G4S provided the most staff, up to 33, to help solve the Maddie riddle , at a cost to British taxpayers of up to £91,929, including an agency fee of £8,489."

It wouldn't have sounded quite as sensational to state that the Met needed extra manpower in 2011 to help deal with the London riots, would it?

Precisely.

What have facts got to do with anything.

Posted by portugalpress on January 04, 2016
Outrage as yet more thousands discovered to have been jettisoned at Maddie inquiry

- See more at: http://portugalresident.com/outrage-as-yet-more-thousands-discovered-to-have-been-jettisoned-at-maddie-inquiry#sthash.yKNrVHfF.dpuf

Hounder churnalist Donn doesn't even seem to know what the word 'jettisoned' actually means.......

Could you say that Gonc was jettisoned from the enquiry in the first place?

Ah, now that's a much more apt use of the word 'jettisoned'!