At the seaside.

A day at the seaside sounds good, and it is good for some children because it can be somewhere to relax and have a bit of old-fashioned fun. Building sandcastles with turrets and moats, and trying to beat the incoming tide. Working out how to skim stones, and being best at it. Figuring out a way to pull that huge crab out of the water and get it into a bucket.

Paddling along the water's edge should be fun too - hopping over the waves, standing still and seeing how long it takes for your toes to be buried by sand. It should be safe too, because all parents know the perils of water and the erratic power of waves.

Not so one family who took their daughter to Porthcawl.

The floating body of Samayh Ali was spotted by a passer-by who dragged her from the water onto the beach.

The anonymous life saver the gave the toddler mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR until she spluttered and started breathing again.

Good job the little girl wasn't spotted by this chap.

'Just sitting' by the sea can be good too, there's something mesmerising about moving water, there's always something to see and, of course, we all know to protect ourselves from the hot sun and make sure our children's delicate skin is not damaged by those nasty rays.

But, all the preaching, all the posters, all the TV ads - just what's the point? They've been at it for donkey's years but it seems that at least one 29 year old mother has never noticed any health warnings.

At Brighton

‘An ambulance was called for the five-month-old baby who was visiting Brighton from London with his 29-year-old mother.

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) intervened after they saw the boy on Brighton seafront on Sunday afternoon as temperatures reached 25c.

‘Paramedics who attended the scene believed the boy was suffering from 20 per cent burns to his body.

So, maybe some PCSOs are useful after all.

Oh, and afterwards?

The little girl was ...

"taken to hospital by ambulance for check-ups but was well enough to be allowed home"

The baby?

Sussex Police have passed information regarding the un-named mother, from Plumstead, south London, to the Metropolitan Police.

but ...

A spokesman for the Met Police could not confirm whether an investigation would be conducted.

....

Again.

Another photographer stopped, in Manchester.

Here

He says

[an official in a red jacket] decided that I wasn't allowed to take pictures of him and the PCSO doing their job, I explained that I was and took another picture to prove it. He then instructed the PCSO to get my details and began ranting about terrorists and not wanting his picture in the paper.

Luckily he knew what to say, and what to do, because

As a retired officer with 30 years experience I am confident in dealing with these situations but many people aren't. I am baffled by the idea that anyone would think me a terrorist threat. Why would terrorists look for pictures of enforcement officers in newspapers and then target them?  Many Police Officers appear in Public relations photographs and to my knowledge none of them have been knobbled by Al Qaeda. I am living testament to that, as a Community Constable I was encouraged to get my photo in the local paper whenever possible.

Read the whole post, also the follow up comments, there are some useful pointers - in case it ever happens to you.

And, by the way, Robert Norbury has some rather nice photographs on his other site. Enjoy.

....

Strikes and fires.

Mrs Rigby notes that few newspapers have picked up the BBC reports of a Firefighters strike in South Yorkshire, due next week

The FBU said strikes were planned for 24-hour periods starting from 1800 BST on 19 October and again on 23 October.

Mrs R isn't sure who is going to put out fires in South Yorkshire during this time, the BBC doesn't mention any contingency plans, and most people probably know that the Auxiliary Fire Service was scrapped by Harold Wilson, and the Green Goddesses that had been retained by the Army were sold off in 2007, their loss was covered by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which makes firefighting appliances available to "others providing emergency cover".

Here's an explanation :-

Section 30: Directions for public safety purposes

54. This section provides the Secretary of State with the power to give directions, by order, to fire and rescue authorities as to the use and disposal of their property or facilities for the purposes of public safety. Such a direction may cover all kinds of property and facilities, whether or not they have been provided as part of a national procurement exercise under section 29. An example of when this power might be used is during a period of industrial action when emergency cover provided by a fire and rescue authority is insufficient and in order to ensure public safety their equipment needs to be used by others providing emergency cover.

It's quite reassuring to know that the military might be able to respond to civil emergencies, having been trained at the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre, which is run by the Air Force. Mrs R isn't sure if the TA would get involved, because they've effectively been stood down for the coming six months.

Mrs Rigby fleetingly wondered if either the Police or PCSOs know how to fight fires - or would the H&S Brigade stop them getting too close to any flames in case they get singed?

Jacqui Smith and RIPA

In April 2009 Jacqui Smith was reported as saying that councils have gone too far with using RIPA to snoop on people who commit minor offences such as littering and so on. The BBC says so here

She was to "launch a review after fears [that RIPA] was being used for "trivial offences". Mrs Rigby thinks it meant she was going to set up a committee, but it sounds like a good start.

But, it doesn't quite work out that way because in May 2009 Jacqui Smith is reported as having encouraged councils to recruit children to become "environmental volunteers", to report instances of littering and dog fouling as well as anti social behaviour, and people who put their bins out on the wrong day. It says so here

Also in May 2009 the Home Office, with Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary, was reported as giving increased powers to council employees such as dog wardens, car park attendants, park wardens and shopping centre guards to hand out on-the-spot fines of around £60 for misdemeanours - it says so here

Trained under the "Community Safety Accreditation Scheme" these people are known as "Accredited Persons".

Mrs R notes that this scheme isn't something new because The Police Reform Act (2002) (quote from Home Office site)

enabled Chief Constables to accredit employees of organisations who contribute towards community safety. People accredited under such a scheme are called Accredited Persons (APs) and can be identified by a nationally standardised badge which must be worn at all times.

According to the pdf "Acceptable Persons Powers" these are the "offences" these Accredited Persons have powers to deal with :-

They can issue fixed penalty notices for disorder, truancy, in respect of an excluded pupil in a public place, cycling on a footpath, dog fouling, graffiti and fly posting, littering, offences against dog control orders and certain byelaws

They have power to require the giving of name and address, power to deal with begging, power to require the surrender of alcohol, ditto for under 18s, power to seize tobacco from under 16s, power to remove abandoned vehicles, power to stop vehicle for testing, power to stop cycles, power to control traffic, power to direct traffic, power to photograph persons away from a Police station ...

... the list continues tabling offences for which Accredited Persons may issue fixed penalty notices, such as being in possession of Cannabis.

Now, Mrs Rigby remembers a time, it must be a million years ago, when bad people were arrested and could go to court proclaiming their innocence, or reasonable excuse. These days, with Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary, it doesn't even take a specially trained Police Officer or a PCSO to find somebody instantly guilty of a punishable offence, with summary justice handed out on the pavement.

Did Jacqui Smith, when she was speaking to the BBC, forget about these changes in the law when she complained about councils overstepping the mark? Did she forget she'd given ordinary people the power and authority to punish misdemeanours, and did she forget the budding army of pre-teen so-called "environmental volunteers" she's training to snoop on their neighbours?