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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/22/the-big-idea-should-revenge-ever-be-a-part-of-justice?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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o one who works in prisons and secure hospitals could fail to notice recent increases in the number of inmates. My work as a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist is with people convicted of violent crimes, and I'm acutely aware that, since 2000, the average length of a custodial sentence in England and Wales has nearly doubled. As of 2021, there were 60 people under whole-life orders (sentences with no possibility of parole), a concept introduced in the UK in 1983. These people will die in prison as punishment for their offences.

Some reading this will think, "And quite right too." I've learned a great deal about people's capacity for cruelty in my job. I understand why extreme measures, including total-life incarceration, might seem like the only answer when faced with those whose violence and brutality are unspeakable. But are we at the point where long prison sentences are in fact being used as a form of vengeance against the most serious offenders, and is this really justified?

In modern times, a range of prison sentences were developed to respond to different types of offending. These replaced eye-for-an-eye physical penalties and state killing. The concept of a "life sentence" in the UK and most other jurisdictions was that the offender's life came under the control of the state. They could obtain parole but be jailed at any time if they broke the release conditions; "getting life" did not imply death in prison. The number of years to be spent behind bars (the "tariff") was at the sentencing judge's discretion. It was not unusual for someone convicted of homicide to get a 10- or 12-year tariff if it was their first offence.

All this has changed in recent years, notably in the US and UK. Over the last four decades, the US prison population has quadrupled, and at 2 million, it now has the highest per capita rate in the world. One in seven US prisoners is serving a life term, five times the number in 1984. Before Britons all gasp in horror, note that one in eight prisoners in the UK is serving a life sentence, the highest rate in Europe by a substantial margin. The big shift in this category occurred in the UK in the early 2000s. The then Labour government, keen not to be seen as soft on crime, expanded sentencing and also added to the kinds of offences that attracted whole-life orders. Sentence lengths have continued to swell ever since.

It is hard not to think that harsher sentencing reflects a wholesale wish for revenge, a rise in a kind of socially sanctioned outrage, which is fanned by increasingly populist impulses in the press and political arena. But the job of the law is actually to prevent revenge, not enact it. As the philosopher Francis Bacon said: "Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out." That wildness is nicely captured by the familiar headline word "outrage": rage out of control, bursting its bounds.

I think revenge may also be a way of dealing with grief. I vividly remember a patient I worked with who had killed a stranger when mentally ill and was sent to the hospital for treatment. His victim's family were indignant that he wasn't in prison, perhaps believing that secure hospitals are a softer option. They barraged us with phone calls and threatened legal action against us if we released him (a decision which was not even down to the hospital).

As the adage goes, hating someone else is like taking poison yourself and waiting for them to die

Perhaps their strength of feeling was linked to a kind of survivor's guilt, a sense they would be letting the victim down if they did not try to ensure the murderer suffered as much as possible. I suspect such feelings will only have made their bereavement worse - as the adage goes, hating someone else is like taking poison yourself and waiting for them to die. But as a response to trauma, it is not inevitable. For every vengeful family member of a homicide victim, another will choose not to be, feeling that retribution and hatred won't do anything to replace their loss or assuage their pain. It seems a complex matter of conditioning, choice, and sometimes religious belief that sends individuals in either direction; I count myself fortunate that I've not had to stand at that junction myself, and don't wish to judge anyone who has.

Concerns about the corrosive effect of vengeance on the individual can also be applied to the public at large. A society obsessed with revenge is not a healthy, resilient one. And there are also pragmatic considerations - can we really afford the kind of vengeance manifested in lengthy or whole-life sentences? The average cost is about £40,000 a year per person. Keeping so many people incarcerated for longer will ultimately cost taxpayers millions. No doubt some will call to bring back the death penalty as a cheaper option, but capital punishment is unethical due to the number of false convictions, and dangerous in terms of state power. It is also pointless. There is little evidence that any penalty works to deter offenders; data on offender recidivism indicates that only rehabilitative initiatives, such as addiction treatment, literacy and employment programmes have a tangible impact on reoffending.

There are voices, especially in the US, who have called for the abolition of prisons altogether, and their replacement with community offender rehabilitation programmes. For nonviolent offenders, this idea bears serious consideration. But there will always be those who need to be detained or placed in specialist secure hospitals to manage the risk they pose, so total abolition seems to me both unlikely and unwise.

That does not mean using extreme sentencing as a form of revenge against such people is sound, either practically or morally. Giving judges greater flexibility in sentencing and increasing investment in rehabilitation programmes - while at the same time providing more support for victims of violent crime - look like wiser uses of precious public funds. Let us follow Bacon's advice and turn to the law to "weed out" revenge, not amplify it.

Gwen Adshead is a forensic psychiatrist and the co-author, with Eileen Horne, of The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry.

Why Punish? by Nigel Walker (Oxford, £10.99)

Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition by Ruth Wilson Gilmore (Haymarket, £16.99)

Forgiveness, An Exploration by Marina Cantacuzino (Simon & Schuster, £14.99)

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The big idea: should revenge ever be a part of justice?

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o one who works in prisons and secure hospitals could fail to notice recent increases in the number of inmates. My work as a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist is with people convicted of violent crimes, and I'm acutely aware that, since 2000, the average length of a custodial sentence in England and Wales has nearly doubled.

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Women in UK facing life sentences due to having abortions

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Women in UK facing life sentences due to having abortions

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/19/abortion-legal-great-britain-women-life-sentences-roe-v-wade?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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Like many people in Britain, you probably watched with horror the US supreme court's reversal of Roe v Wade, thinking, "Thank goodness women could never be prosecuted for having an abortion here."

But let me tell you, it already happens here.

Two women are currently awaiting criminal trial in England for abortion-related offences, both facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of life. At least 17 women have been investigated by police over the past eight years for having had abortions.

In Oxford, a 25-year-old mother of one is facing trial for allegedly taking the drug misoprostol - one of the two pills routinely prescribed by doctors to abort a pregnancy. But her baby was born alive and she was subsequently reported to the police. She is being charged under the Offences Against the Person Act, a law passed by parliament in 1861, before the invention of the lightbulb and before women had the right to vote. The law states that a woman must be "kept in penal servitude for life" if she procures an abortion.

Another woman is facing trial after she took abortion pills she obtained from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) by post when rules were relaxed during the pandemic to allow this. She was allegedly 28 weeks pregnant at the time and is facing charges of "child destruction" (note the visceral language) under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act from 1929, which also comes with a maximum life sentence. She could spend the rest of her life in prison.

We so often think that the 1967 Abortion Act legalised abortion. But it did no such thing. It partially decriminalised abortion in England, Scotland and Wales, so long as strict conditions were in place, such as a confirmation from two medical practitioners that the pregnancy had not exceeded 28 weeks (subsequently reduced to 24 weeks in 1990), or that the termination was necessary to prevent injury or mental harm. Any abortion outside these criteria is still a criminal offence.

We know that it is overwhelmingly vulnerable women who are investigated and prosecuted for having abortions. One woman collapsed in the dock when she was sentenced to two and a half years in 2015 for taking tablets she had bought online to induce a miscarriage after the 24-week period of gestation. The court heard that she had "a history of emotional and psychological problems".

Another woman, a mother of one, ordered pills online to induce an abortion in 2019 after her abusive boyfriend had told her not to go to the doctor. She had believed she was eight to 10 weeks pregnant but after a traumatic miscarriage in her bath tub, where she has described sitting in an inch of blood, she realised her pregnancy had been much further along. She was arrested in her hospital bed and served two years in prison.

These are just some examples of women who have faced trial: there are multiple other women who face gruelling police investigations. In 2021, a 15-year-old girl was investigated for a year after suffering an unexplained stillbirth. Her phone and laptop were confiscated during her GCSE exams, she was self-harming, and the investigation only ended after a coroner concluded that the pregnancy ended due to natural causes. Another woman was arrested in hospital last year and kept in a prison cell for 36 hours after a stillbirth at 24 weeks, and is now suffering PTSD. My question is this: if a woman has had an abortion late in the gestation period, or a traumatic miscarriage or stillbirth, should she go to prison or should she be offered support from medical practitioners at what is clearly a horrendous time, both mentally and physically?

Women in 2022 are being shackled by a 160-year-old law made at a time when we were not even allowed to set foot in the House of Commons. Urgent reform is needed to protect more women from harm, which is why organisations such as BPAS and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) are calling on the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, Max Hill QC, to drop all charges against these women. The RCOG this month has gone further, calling on ministers to finally legalise abortion. There is absolutely no public interest in sending vulnerable women to prison for terminating pregnancies. Instead, these prosecutions will only serve to put off women seeking help from doctors because they might get arrested, pushing more women into unsafe and underground options.

Meanwhile, according to the criteria of the Abortion Act, a woman has to show that she would suffer grave permanent injury to her mental health if she did not have an abortion after 24 weeks. Why should women still have to pathologise themselves as mad, hysterical, unfit or suffering to legally access healthcare?

The state currently has a triple lock on women's bodies. By not legalising abortion it has the right to force pregnancy, birth and motherhood upon us. Look to the rules on organ donation: it is illegal to donate people's organs after they die (however desperately they are needed by people on waiting lists) without their permission. The law at present, which denies women the right to abort a pregnancy on their own terms, is to give us less autonomy than a corpse.

Charlotte Proudman is a barrister specialising in violence against women and girls and a fellow at Queens' College, Cambridge

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

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Think abortion is legal in Great Britain? Ask the two women currently facing life sentences | Charlotte Proudman

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Like many people in Britain, you probably watched with horror the US supreme court's reversal of Roe v Wade, thinking, "Thank goodness women could never be prosecuted for having an abortion here." But let me tell you, it already happens here.

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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jul/08/ashley-cole-robber-convicted-gang-threaten-cut-off-fingers-break-in?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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A "dominant and dangerous" robber has been convicted of being part of a four-strong gang who smashed into the home of the former England footballer Ashley Cole and threatened to cut off his fingers.

The former Arsenal, Chelsea and Derby defender told police he thought "now I am going to die" as he recalled how the masked raiders tied his hands behind his back despite him holding his young daughter in January 2020.

Nottingham crown court heard that Kurtis Dilks was the only one of the gang responsible for the robbery to be caught after his DNA was recovered on the cable ties used to restrain Cole and his partner, Sharon Canu.

The 35-year-old courier claimed his DNA was found on the cable ties and a knife recovered from the scene in Fetcham, Surrey, because they were items previously stolen from his van.

Dilks was convicted alongside five others for their roles in a string of "ruthlessly executed" robberies and burglaries between October 2018 and January 2020.

As well as the attack on Cole, Dilks was found guilty of conspiring to rob the wife of the former Tottenham, Hull and Derby midfielder Tom Huddlestone in May 2019 with fellow defendants Ashley Cumberpatch and Andrew MacDonald.

The trio were also convicted of being part of the theft of a £3.5m tiara worn to the coronation of Edward VII from the Harley Gallery on the Welbeck estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in 2018.

Dilks showed no emotion as jurors announced their verdicts on Friday.

Kurtis Dilks, who will be sentenced on 15 July, pictured this month. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

The 10-week trial was shown CCTV footage from Cole's home which showed the former footballer, wearing just his boxer shorts, being led up and down the stairs by the robbers. Watches, mobile phones, cash, a Gucci bag, headphones and a BMW smart key were stolen during the break-in, the court was told.

After the robbery, Cole told police: "I was on my knees, waiting to either be killed ... I'll never see my kids again."

It is understood the investigation into the robbery is continuing and police are still seeking the other three people involved.

Jurors heard that Cole had been working as a Chelsea youth coach at the time of the attack, and had just settled down to watch a film on Netflix when he heard a noise "vibrating up the walls".

Opening the case against Dilks at the start of the trial, the prosecutor, Michael Brady QC, said Cole told his partner to call the police, which she did after hiding in a wardrobe.

He told the jury: "The next thing Ms Canu knew was when one of the robbers opened the wardrobe door and took the phone from her while she was talking to the police. Ms Canu followed the intruder and was directed wordlessly by the man who had taken her phone to the bedroom where Mr Cole was. She then saw Mr Cole on his knees with his hands tied behind his back."

Mr Brady said Ms Canu became increasingly concerned after spotting a "huge" sledgehammer which the robbers had used to smash the bifold doors downstairs in order to gain entry to the house.

The prosecutor told the court that, after Cole had insisted he did not have any jewellery or watches, one of the intruders "grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed it". Mr Brady said Ms Canu was then threatened with a knife.

"Ms Canu rather bravely initially refused to have her hands bound," he said. "That bravery understandably evaporated to a certain extent when she was threatened with a knife. "The man said: 'Do you want that?' - meaning the knife."

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Mr Brady continued: "By this stage Mr Cole's hands were also bound behind his back with similar cable ties. Mr Cole was then picked up by his arms. He saw how distressed his family was.

"Mr Cole mentioned that one of the attackers, a stocky, more aggressive man who spoke with an Irish accent, kept saying: 'Let's cut his fingers.' At the time he was armed with a pair of pliers.

"Despite the efforts of the stocky robber to attack him with pliers, the robber who Mr Cole described as the 'boss man' - the one who had first approached him in his bedroom and grabbed his neck - prevented the attack from going ahead."

The court heard that the robbers fled after one shouted "Police".

Dilks, of Whitegate Vale, Clifton, Nottingham, will be sentenced at the same court on 15 July.

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Robber convicted after gang threaten to cut off Ashley Cole's fingers

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A "dominant and dangerous" robber has been convicted of being part of a four-strong gang who smashed into the home of the former England footballer Ashley Cole and threatened to cut off his fingers.

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Changes to Parole present danger to public...

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Changes to Parole present danger to public...

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/23/dominic-raab-parole-changes-present-a-clear-danger-to-the-public?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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Dominic Raab has been accused of a "catastrophic" decision that experts say profoundly undermines public safety by allowing prisoners to abscond and others to commit serious offences while on parole.

In a strongly worded letter to the justice secretary, three unions castigate a "momentous and dangerous" move by Raab to ban psychologists, prison staff and probation officers from informing the Parole Board whether they believe prisoners should be released.

Under the previous system, parole panels considering applications for release were given reports including risk assessments and recommendations from professionals who had worked with the inmate. On Thursday, however, the system changed so that the parole panel will receive the reports without recommendations.

The letter, from the GMB/Scoop, Unison and the probation officers' union, Napo, said that eradicating "crucial expert opinion in the arena of public protection" presented "clear dangers" to the public. It urged Raab to overturn the rule change, which the writers say was made without consultation and approved by parliament without debate on 30 June. The new rules affect all staff working for the prison and probation service, including forensic psychologists who have assessed the inmate, prison officers who have worked with them, and probation officers who have monitored them.

The unions' letter to Raab, dated 19 July, says: "[This] severely endangers the ability of the probation service to protect victims of the most serious offences, and indeed the wider public, from the risk of serious harm posed by many individuals involved in the parole system." The justice secretary attempted to explain the reason for the rule change in a parliamentary exchange on 5 July when the Labour MP Kate Green asked why experts would be "forbidden to provide a view on suitability for release of the most serious offenders".

Raab said: "At the moment, when the vital question of risk is assessed, there is a risk that separate reports, whether from psychiatrists or probation officers and those who manage risk, may give conflicting recommendations. Therefore, in those serious cases ... there will be one overarching Ministry of Justice view, so that the Parole Board has a very clear steer."

In essence, it means that Raab, in a few serious cases, will offer a " single view ", but in most cases, the Parole Board will be left to reach a decision without any recommendations.

The letter also says this "ill-conceived and haphazardly executed" development would undermine confidence in the criminal justice system, and increase costs and the workload of agencies.

It also warns that Raab's rule change risks him being remembered in a similar way to one of his predecessors, Chris Grayling, who is still widely mocked for his discredited attempts to revamp the probation service.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Protecting the public is our top priority and prison and probation staff will continue to provide the same detailed evidence to inform the Parole Board's decisions.

"Our reforms will put more people with law enforcement experience on Parole Board panels and add a ministerial check on release of the most serious offenders - keeping our streets safe."

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Parole changes in England and Wales present 'clear danger to the public', unions tell Raab

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Dominic Raab has been accused of a "catastrophic" decision that experts say profoundly undermines public safety by allowing prisoners to abscond and others to commit serious offences while on parole. In a strongly worded letter to the justice secretary, three unions castigate a "momentous and dangerous" move by Raab to ban psychologists, prison staff and probation officers from informing the Parole Board whether they believe prisoners should be released.

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Homicide inquiry: Black man killed by single shot by police

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Homicide inquiry: Black man killed by single shot by police

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/07/family-of-london-man-shot-dead-by-police-call-for-homicide-inquiry?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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The family of a man shot dead by police have called for a homicide investigation as it was revealed that a search of the scene had found no gun linked to the 24-year-old.

The family of Chris Kaba called for "answers and accountability" from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is investigating the shooting on Monday night in Streatham, south London, amid claims that the watchdog's investigation is being mishandled.

Kaba was driving a car which was first rammed before being boxed in by police. He was killed by a single shot that entered through the driver's side of the windscreen of the Audi.

The IOPC said the car Kaba was in had triggered an intelligence system indicating it was linked to a firearms incident days earlier, which led police to chase and then force the vehicle to stop.

A detailed search has been completed and "no non-police issue firearm has been recovered from the vehicle or the scene", the IOPC said on Wednesday night.

The Guardian understands that the Met is monitoring community tensions in the area, and that IOPC investigators do not believe there is any indication of wrongdoing by the officers involved - who are being treated as witnesses.

In its statement, the IOPC gave new details about the lead-up to the shooting: "Police officers in an armed response vehicle attempted to stop the vehicle Mr Kaba was in, after the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera which indicated the vehicle was linked to a firearms incident in the previous days."

Police cordon at the scene in Streatham, south London. Photograph: Andrew Quinn/PA

In a statement, Kaba's family demanded that officers should be placed under criminal investigation by the IOPC: "The family of Chris Kaba seek a homicide investigation into his death from the outset.

"We have today told the IOPC of that demand and that we do not want any delay as has happened in other fatal shootings - otherwise we and the wider public can have no confidence that the police will be held to account.

" We are devastated; we need answers and we need accountability. We are worried that if Chris had not been Black, he would have been arrested on Monday evening and not had his life cut short."

Deborah Coles, the executive director of Inquest, said a criminal inquiry was needed: "It is essential that fatal use of force by police is examined with this high level of scrutiny."

Police officers need to have a reasonable and honest belief that their or others' lives are in danger before they open fire. The force they use must be proportionate, and they do not need to be right about the threat they perceive.

The IOPC is investigating who the car belonged to and what officers knew about its ownership and possible occupant at the time. Kaba's family, and the officers involved, face a wait for the results of the investigation and then an inquest into the death.

The shooting happened in an area of London where trust in the Met has plummeted, and there was anger and concern at the shooting on Wednesday, as well as sadness at Kaba's death.

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The IOPC's regional director, Sal Naseem, said: "We recognise that there is community concern following this incident ... We are working hard to piece together all of the circumstances and we want to reassure the community that these questions will be answered in due course.

"While we have already undertaken some door-to-door inquiries in the neighbourhood, there is likely to be members of the public we are yet to speak to which may have information that could assist our investigation."

On Wednesday, family and friends paid tribute to the "kind" and "happy" 24-year-old. Kim Alleyne, 49, whose daughter Karimah Waite was engaged to Kaba, said: "He was so loved. He was so funny. He was super-kind. Crazy. He was always happy. He would do anything for you."

She added: "He was a fiance, he was due to get married in five months' time. He's got a baby on the way that he's never going to see. It's horrible and so shocking and so sad."

Jefferson Bosela, 27, Kaba's cousin, said: "He was a good person, a good, happy guy. He didn't deserve that. No one deserves that. Nobody deserves to be shot by the police, whether they are a good person or a bad person."

Once the IOPC starts an investigation, the force being investigated is limited in what it can say.

The Met's commander, Alexis Boon, expressed sympathy to Kaba's family for the " devastating and lasting impact this tragic incident will have on them". He added: "I understand that this incident is extremely concerning and I would like to reassure the community that the Met is cooperating fully with the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

"I also recognise that the family and community want answers about what happened. I know the IOPC investigators are working hard to establish the facts, but also need some time and space to be able to progress their inquiries."

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Family of London man shot dead by police demand homicide inquiry

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The family of a man shot dead by police have called for a homicide investigation as it was revealed that a search of the scene had found no gun linked to the 24-year-old.

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Chris Kaba's family demands suspension of Met officer

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Chris Kaba's family demands suspension of Met officer

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Chris Kaba’s family demands suspension of Met officer involved in shooting

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Thousands of protesters march through Whitehall demanding justice as police watchdog launches homicide investigation

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How a podcast helped Adnan Syed become a free man

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How a podcast helped Adnan Syed become a free man

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The skeletal remains of a teenage girl who went missing in the US state of Virginia nearly 50 years ago have been identified thanks to a DNA breakthrough.

Patricia Agnes Gildawie, also known as Choubi, was last seen in the city of Fairfax on 8 February 1975. She was 17 at the time.

On 21 September 2001, a woman's remains were found by a construction crew behind an apartment complex and near a drainage ditch, along with some clothing, in McLean.

Fairfax County police say the remains have now been identified as those of Ms Gildawie.

Following the discovery 21 years ago, an initial review found she died from a gunshot wound to the head. The report also indicated the remains were likely that of an African-American female in her late teens to early 20s.

However, cold case detectives have been working this year with Othram, which does DNA testing and forensic-grade genome sequencing, and established the remains belonged to a white female.

The testing identified a half-sister, Veronique Duperly, who shared Ms Gildawie's story.
'100% match within 15 minutes'
Ms Duperly has described the moment last month when detectives told her the company's testing had linked her Ancestry.com results to Ms Gildawie.

"When I gave them my DNA, they sent it to the lab while they were sitting here in my living room, and they had a 100% DNA match within 15 minutes," she said.

Ms Duperly said Ms Gildawie was dating an older man at the time, who loaned her a white Cadillac Eldorado with red interior that she was driving the last time Ms Duperly saw her.

It was also the day Ms Duperly noticed bruises on her half-sister.

"Bruises on her upper arms, her shoulders, and the back of her legs," she told NBC News.

"I said, 'Well, why are you so black and blue?' She said, 'I fall a lot.' I said, 'No, you don't.'"

'We know the killer is still out there'
Police are keen to talk to her boyfriend, but they don't know his name - only that he was in his 30s at the time of Ms Gildawie's death and worked at a now-closed upholstery store near Church Street and Lawyer's Road in the town of Vienna, Virginia.

Ms Gildawie was born in France in February 1958 and came to the US when she was eight months old. In the early 1970s, she moved to Fairfax.

"We're moving fast and furious on this case. We know the killer is still out there," said Ed O'Carroll, bureau commander of major crimes and cyber and forensics.

He added: "Identifying this young woman solves a mystery that has been more than 47 years in the making.

"Our community should take comfort in knowing that our detectives never stop working these cases.

"Advancements in technology have given my cold case detectives an opportunity to pursue fresh leads and bring some relief to families that have been long-suffering with the unknown."

No information has been released on any charges over Ms Gildawie's death. Police continue to investigate, using fresh information from the family.

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Patricia Agnes Gildawie: Teen's skeletal remains identified through relative's DNA after she went missing in 1975

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The skeletal remains of a teenage girl who went missing in the US state of Virginia nearly 50 years ago have been identified thanks to a DNA breakthrough. Patricia Agnes Gildawie, also known as Choubi, was last seen in the city of Fairfax on 8 February 1975. She was 17 at the time.

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‘Sack sexist and racist officers’ Met police report rules

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‘Sack sexist and racist officers’ Met police report rules

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A California serial killer seems to be "on a mission" dating back to last year, which has seen the fatal shooting of at least six men and the wounding of one woman - but authorities have not figured out what's behind the violence.

Ballistics tests and some video evidence linked the shootings in Stockton and Oakland, about 70 miles apart in northern California, police said.

"We don't know what the motive is. What we do believe is that it's mission-oriented," the Stockton police chief, Stanley McFadden, said on Tuesday. "This person's on a mission."

Although police would not say whether all seven shootings had been linked to the same gun, McFadden alluded to a single pistol during the news conference.

"I have absolutely no answer as to why that pistol went dormant for over 400 days," between the April 2021 shootings and the first case this summer, the chief said.

Authorities last week announced that five men in the city of Stockton had been ambushed and shot to death alone in the dark in recent months. Late on Monday, police said two additional cases last year, a man's death in Oakland and the non-fatal shooting of a woman in Stockton, had been tied to those killings.

A person of interest is being sought in connection with the bloodshed. They appear on video at several of the crime scenes but no evidence links them directly to the shootings, McFadden said. He said some of the victims were homeless and some were not.

There is a $125,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Police are fielding hundreds of tips daily, as well as submitting additional evidence in case other crimes in the state can be connected to the spate of shootings.

All of the fatal Stockton cases took place within a radius of a few square miles between 8 July and 27 September. None of the victims were robbed or beaten before the killings, and none appeared to have known one another, Silva said. The shootings also do not appear to be related to gangs or drugs.

In the other Stockton crime, a 46-year-old woman told investigators that she was inside her tent on 16 April 2021 at about 3.20am when she heard someone walking around outside.

"When she came out of her tent, she encountered someone holding a gun," McFadden said.

The suspect fired multiple shots, wounding the woman, but she tried to defend herself by advancing toward her attacker, the chief said. The shooter lowered the gun.

"She said there were no words mentioned at all," McFadden said.

The woman was also alone at the time

The shooting death of a man in Oakland around 4.15am on 10 April 2021, has also been connected to the violence in Stockton, police said. Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was shot multiple times, according to the Alameda county coroner's bureau. It was not immediately clear whether the man was also unaccompanied when he was killed.

The city of Stockton, Stockton Crime Stoppers and a local construction company owner offered a total of $95,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Police released a grainy still image of a "person of interest", dressed all in black and wearing a black cap, who appeared in videos from several of the homicide crime scenes in Stockton.

The San Joaquin county office of the medical examiner identified the Stockton victims on Monday as Paul Yaw, 35, who was killed on 8 July; Salvador Debudey Jr, 43, who died 11 August; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died 30 August; Juan Cruz, 52, who was killed 21 September; and Lawrence Lopez Sr, 54.

Lopez was shot shortly before 2am on 27 September in a residential area just north of downtown.

He "was just a person who was out here at the wrong place, at the wrong time, at the wrong circumstance," his brother, Jerry Lopez, told KXTV-TV. "It's hard to process that this has happened."

There may even be multiple people involved in the violence.

"To be honest, we just don't know," Silva said. "This person or people who are out doing this, they are definitely very bold and brazen."

Police said four of the Stockton homicide victims were walking alone and a fifth was in a parked car when they were killed in the evening or early morning in the city of 320,000 residents, about 50 miles (80km) south of the state capital, Sacramento.

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California serial killer appears to be 'on a mission', as police link seven shootings

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A California serial killer seems to be "on a mission" dating back to last year, which has seen the fatal shooting of at least six men and the wounding of one woman - but authorities have not figured out what's behind the violence.

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Police make arrest in Stockton serial killer case

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Police make arrest in Stockton serial killer case

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A man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings in northern California was arrested before dawn on Saturday as he drove through the streets of Stockton, armed with a handgun and possibly searching for another victim, police said.

Investigators began watching the suspect after receiving tips and stopped him in a car at about 2am in the Central Valley city where five of the shootings took place, the police chief, Stanley McFadden, said at a news conference.

Wesley Brownlee, 43, of Stockton, was dressed in black, had a mask around his neck, had a gun and "was out hunting", McFadden alleged.

"We are sure we stopped another killing."

It wasn't immediately clear whether Brownlee had an attorney to speak on his behalf. He was expected to be arraigned on Tuesday on murder charges.

A police photo showed the black-and-gray weapon allegedly carried by the suspect. It appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun containing some nonmetallic materials.

Police had been searching for a man clad in black who was caught on video at several of the crime scenes in Stockton, where five men were ambushed and shot to death between 8 July and 27 September. Four were walking, and one was in a parked car.

Police believe the same person was responsible for killing a man 70 miles away in Oakland in April 2021 and wounding a homeless woman in Stockton a week later.

Investigators have said ballistics tests and video evidence linked the crimes.

At the news conference, a moment of silence was held for the victims.

Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was killed in Oakland on 10 April 2021, and Natasha LaTour, 46, was shot in Stockton on 16 April of that year but survived. The five men killed in Stockton this year were Paul Yaw, 35, who died on 8 July; Salvador Debudey Jnr, 43, who died on 11 August; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died on 30 August; Juan Cruz, 52, who died on 21 September; and Lawrence Lopez Sr, 54, who died on 27 September.

Police said Brownlee has a criminal history and was believed to have also lived in several cities near Stockton, but they did not give further details.

Authorities said they received hundreds of tips after announcing the manhunt, and investigators located and watched the place where Brownlee was living.

"Based on tips coming into the department and Stockton Crime Stoppers, we were able to zero in on a possible suspect," McFadden said. "Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined early this morning he was on a mission to kill."

McFadden added that Brownlee was detained after engaging in what appeared to be threatening behavior, including going to parks and dark places, stopping and looking around before driving on.

Investigators were trying to identify a motive for the attacks. Police said some victims were homeless, but not all. None were beaten or robbed, and the woman who survived said her attacker didn't say anything.

The police chief thanked various local, state and federal agencies that took part in the investigation, including the FBI, US Marshals and US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Local investigators had also worked with police in Chicago to determine whether the killings might be linked to two 2018 murders in that city's Rogers Park neighborhood. Authorities said videos of suspects showed a man in black with a distinctive walk.

However, Chicago police said on Friday that there didn't appear to be any link.

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Police make arrest in suspected Stockton serial killer case

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A man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings in northern California was arrested before dawn on Saturday as he drove through the streets of Stockton, armed with a handgun and possibly searching for another victim, police said.

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Judiciary in England and Wales Institutionally racist?

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Judiciary in England and Wales Institutionally racist?

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Judiciary in England and Wales ‘institutionally racist’, says report

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Exclusive: more than half of legal professionals in survey said they saw a judge acting in a racially biased way

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A man is facing life behind bars after walking into a police station and confessing to a murder from more than 40 years ago.

Anthony Bird, a 42-year-old porter and part-time barman, was found naked with his wrists bound at his flat in Kensington Gardens Square, west London, on 6 June 1980.

His murder remained a mystery for 41 years, until John Paul, 61, confessed to police that he had "battered him" with a lump of wood.

Paul, of Maida Vale, west London, went on to deny murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter at his trial at the Old Bailey. It was claimed his confession to the killing was not reliable and that even if he was responsible, he did not intend to do Bird really serious harm.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for half a day before finding Paul guilty of murder.

Previously, John Price KC described how Paul entered Hammersmith police station at 9.38am on Wednesday 5 May last year and said he wanted to report a murder in 1980.

He went on to give further details, telling an officer: "He approached me and just spoke to me and just talked me into having sex with him. He took me back to his place. I tied him with cord. I think the cord was black, I'm not sure. I tied him with a cord, his ankles, his hands, his arms, on the bed naked.

"There was a piece of wood. I used the piece of wood to batter him."

By 11.34am, police inquiries had flagged up the unsolved case file on Bird's murder as "worth a look", the court was told. By 3.35pm, Paul was arrested on suspicion of the murder.

On being cautioned, he asked of the location of Bird's flat: "Is that near Whiteleys?" - a reference to a former shopping centre in Bayswater.

Price told jurors that Bird was gay and was known to pick up men for sex. He was last seen alive late on the night of 3 June 1980, in the Queensway area of west London.

He told friends he "had his eye on a black lad" and had hurried after him, the court heard.

Years later, Paul told doctors that the man had propositioned him for sex while he was out to steal something and that he had gone home with him.

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After Bird failed to turn up for work at the Railway Tap pub, police were called to a one-bedroom flat, jurors heard. Officers used a sledgehammer to smash into the property and found that it appeared to have been "ransacked", Price said.

The prosecutor told jurors: "The officers went into the bedroom. On the bed they found the lifeless body of Tony Bird. He was naked. He was lying on his side. His knees were tucked up and his legs were crossed.

"Black electrical flex was bound tightly around his left wrist and around his left ankle. There was the mark of a cord around his right wrist. There were numerous marks and apparent bruising on his body."

The court was told two planks of wood were found at the scene.

Price told jurors that Paul's fingerprints were taken and matched to evidence from the crime scene.

Paul was remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date to be fixed.

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Man faces life in prison after confessing to 40-year-old murder

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A man is facing life behind bars after walking into a police station and confessing to a murder from more than 40 years ago. Anthony Bird, a 42-year-old porter and part-time barman, was found naked with his wrists bound at his flat in Kensington Gardens Square, west London, on 6 June 1980.

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Woman found guilty of decapitating friends over inheritance

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Woman found guilty of decapitating friends over inheritance

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London woman found guilty of decapitating friend over inheritance

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Jemma Mitchell murdered Mee Kuen Chong after victim backed out of giving her £200,000 to repair home

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Met records highest ever number of female police officers 

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Met records highest ever number of female police officers 

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Photograph: Radharc Images/Alamy

Britain's biggest police force has its highest ever number of female officers, new figures show.

The Metropolitan police said its female officer representation is 30.4%, equating to 10,386 officers, as of the end of September 2022. The force said it aims to increase the proportion to 33% by the financial year of 2023/2024.

It added that its target is for 50% of all new recruits to be women. Since April 2022, from a total of 1,678 officers recruited, 44.5% were women.

Sir Mark Rowley, the recently appointed commissioner of the force, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, attended a Met outreach team event in Stratford, east London, on Friday.

The force is trying to increase the proportion of officers from racially diverse backgrounds, as out of its 34,112 police officers, only 16.6% are from black, Asian and multiple ethnic heritage communities. A mere 3.6% of officers are black.

Rowley said: "The evidence across the world is that the best companies and organisations benefit from diverse teams. It is not only about fairness, it is about being most effective in a complex world.

"I am really pleased that we have achieved our highest ever female representation as part of the Met reaching its greatest ever total number of officers.

"The Met is committed to making progress on all of its recruitment ambitions. We are working hard to replicate this success in attracting those from black and multiple ethnic heritage communities to a career in the Met - so our workforce better reflects the communities we serve."

Related: Huge failings kept hundreds of corrupt officers in the force, admits Met chief

The figures come a few weeks after a damning review found that Met officers suspected of serious criminal offences including sexual assault and domestic abuse have been allowed to escape justice.

Massive failings in how Britain's biggest force rooted out wrongdoing were exposed in an interim report by Louise Casey, which found "systemic problems" with racism and misogyny in the Met.

One officer faced 11 claims including sexual assault, harassment and domestic abuse, but remains in the force, the report found.

Rowley said he was appalled by the findings and apologised to officers and members of the public who had been let down.

He said at the time that the number of officers and staff being sacked each year, between 30 and 50, was "massively under-engineered", and he estimated there are hundreds of officers in the Met who should be kicked out of the force.

Casey was commissioned by the Met in the wake of the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer.

Among the findings were that black officers were 81% more likely to face disciplinary action and new ethnic recruits were more than 120% more likely to be fired than white counterparts.

Casey's full report is due next year as is another report ordered by the government.

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Met records its highest ever number of female police officers, figures show

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Britain's biggest police force has its highest ever number of female officers, new figures show. The Metropolitan police said its female officer representation is 30.4%, equating to 10,386 officers, as of the end of September 2022. The force said it aims to increase the proportion to 33% by the financial year of 2023/2024.

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Man guilty of murder after ex-partner dies 21 years  later 

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Man guilty of murder after ex-partner dies 21 years  later 

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A man has been convicted of murdering his ex-partner, who died 21 years after he doused her with petrol and set her on fire.

Steven Craig, now 58, inflicted horrendous injuries on Jacqueline Kirk in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in April 1998. Kirk had burns to 35% of her body, required a tracheotomy and operations including skin grafts, and was in hospital for nine months.

In 2000, Craig was convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to Kirk, after a trial at Bristol crown court. He was also convicted of a second charge of GBH with intent on a second woman, and of raping her, and he was given a life sentence with a minimum term of nine years for the three offences, serving more than 15 years.

Kirk died in August 2019 at the age of 61, and in June 2021 Craig was arrested again. During a three-week trial in Bristol, medical experts told the jury how Craig's actions 21 years ago had made a "more than minimal" contribution to her death. On Friday the jury unanimously found Craig guilty of murder.

Judge Stacey thanked jurors for their work, telling them: "By your verdict, you have ensured that justice has been done and there is closure for Ms Kirk's family. That is hugely important and it is your role over the past three weeks that has enabled that to happen."

The judge remanded Craig into custody and said he would be sentenced at the court on 9 November.

An undated image of Jacqueline Kirk, who died in August 2019 at the age of 61. Photograph: PA

Kirk died in hospital from a ruptured diaphragm caused by her intestines swelling, with the level of scarring to her chest and abdomen reducing their ability to expand. The court heard that a decision was made not to operate on her given her frailty and health problems.

Richard Smith KC, prosecuting, said the severe burns inflicted on Kirk, including to her face, neck, chest, torso, thighs and buttock, played a significant part in her death.

"Therefore, we say that good sense and the law says that this defendant should be accountable for the full consequences of what he did," he said. "The prosecution says that this defendant can be described as having murdered the victim."

He told jurors that the law did not demand that Kirk's injuries were the sole cause or the main cause of her death. "All the law demands is that the contribution made by the scarring was more than minimal," Smith said.

He alleged that the scarring also made a contribution to doctors' decision not to operate on Kirk.

Christopher Tehrani KC, defending Craig, told the trial that it was wrong to assert that the scarring explained the rupture. He said the decision not to operate appeared to be based on Kirk's frailty and other illnesses, rather than the injuries sustained in 1998.

Craig, of York, accepted that he had committed the attack on Kirk, meaning the murder trial was limited to medical evidence.

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Man guilty of murder after ex-partner dies 21 years on from Somerset attack

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A man has been convicted of murdering his ex-partner, who died 21 years after he doused her with petrol and set her on fire. Steven Craig, now 58, inflicted horrendous injuries on Jacqueline Kirk in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in April 1998.

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Met police chief to reform list of alleged gang members targeting black men.

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Met police chief to reform list of alleged gang members targeting black men.

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A controversial Metropolitan police list of alleged gang members that mainly targeted black men "amplified disproportionality" and must be radically reformed, Britain's top police officer has said.

The gang violence matrix was branded part of a "racialised war" on gangs by Amnesty International and was found potentially to be breaching data laws by the information commissioner.

It ranked people by the threat they posed, and the matrix faced claims that hundreds of youngsters in London were placed on it who should not have been.

Now more than 1,000 young men who were on the list even though they were classed as posing little or no risk of violence have been removed.

Those on it could be subject to "Al Capone-style" disruption tactics, such as losing housing, or driving licences, as part of "lawful harassment".

Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley vowed to implement reforms, after Sadiq Khan had pressed the force for change.

A report for the mayor of London, to be released on Monday, found: "There remains an over-representation of young Black males on the overall GVM [gang violence matrix] population as compared to both police recorded offending and victimisation cohorts."

The matrix now has 1,933 individuals, a fall of 49% from its peak in 2017, when 3,881 people were on it.

Rowley said: "We acknowledge that the gangs violence matrix does need to be redesigned, taking into account improvements in statistical methods and technologies.

"We know that young men, and in particular young black men, continue to be over-represented on the matrix.

"Sadly, there is a reality that levels of violent crime do disproportionally affect young black men - both in terms of victimisation and offending - and our tactics do need to be targeted so we can protect those most at risk.

"However, it is not appropriate that the matrix further amplifies this disproportionality. As an immediate response, we are removing all the lowest-risk individuals. This represents 65% , or more than 1,100 people."

In 2018, the Information Commissioner's Office found the gangs matrix was potentially breaking data protection laws and failed to distinguish between victims of crime and offenders. In an embarrassing move for the Met, the ICO issued Britain's biggest force with formal enforcement notices to improve.

The same year the Guardian revealed that more than 40% of young people on a matrix list from Haringey, north London, were scored as posing "zero" risk of causing harm. Some were assessed as being much more likely to be victims than offenders.

Khan said: "The fact black Londoners have less trust in the Met should concern us all. That is why the comprehensive overhaul of the gang violence matrix is so important - increased scrutiny and transparency will help increase the degree of confidence all of London's diverse communities can have in the Met.

"As a direct result of the police acting on the recommendations, the Matrix database is now more effective and more evidence-based than ever before."

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The average age of those on the matrix is 23 and most are male. The proportion who are black or ethnic minority has fallen from 89% in 2019 to 77% in 2021.

Critics say more still is needed.

Veteran campaigner Stafford Scott said those being removed should be told, and he condemned the unfairness of how widely the matrix had encroached on young people's lives when they posed little or no risk of violence.

He said: "These young people have been the recipient of the Met's 'achilles heel' policing policy that requires all government agencies to penalise those targeted.

"This means that their human rights have been breached by multiple organisations. These young people will feel that these services are still unavailable to them. Unless they are informed and enabled to seek redress. They continue to live chaotic lives on the margins of society doing whatever they feel is necessary to survive."

Oliver Feeley-Sprague of Amnesty International said reforms were needed to clean up the Met: "We sounded the alarm over the Met police's racist gangs matrix years ago, so this review is welcome but long overdue.

"Stigmatising young black men on the basis of the music they listen to, their social media behaviour or who they are associated with is completely unacceptable, damaging numerous people's lives and further damaging trust in the institution of policing itself."

Liberty is bringing a legal action, which reaches court next month. Emmanuelle Andrews from the civil rights group said: " Being on the matrix can have a devastating consequence on your life, from increased stop and searches to having private data shared with schools and housing providers that affects your education and accommodation statuses.

"It is right the Met police have today removed more people from the gangs matrix, but this still does not go far enough. "

The matrix was devised after the 2011 riots when the Conservative government were convinced gangs were to blame for the worst mass violence to hit England in modern times. Report after report found poor social conditions and poor relations with police were more of a factor.

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Met police chief to reform list of alleged gang members targeting black men

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A controversial Metropolitan police list of alleged gang members that mainly targeted black men "amplified disproportionality" and must be radically reformed, Britain's top police officer has said. The gang violence matrix was branded part of a "racialised war" on gangs by Amnesty International and was found potentially to be breaching data laws by the information commissioner.

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Police vetting failures have allowed predatory officers to join up.

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Police vetting failures have allowed predatory officers to join up.

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Defective vetting and failures by police leaders have allowed a "prevalent" culture of potentially thousands of officers who are "predatory" towards women to join and stay in the ranks, a damning official report has concluded.

Officers staged unwarranted stops of women in an abuse of power known as "booty patrols", with crimes such as sexual assault covered up and ignored along with large-scale harassment of female officers and members of the public.

The report published on Wednesday from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for England and Wales was ordered after the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 by a serving Metropolitan police officer, Wayne Couzens.

It details senior officers pursuing women for sex, the watching of pornography on duty and misogynistic comments about crime victims and the public.

The report lists a decade of warnings to police chiefs after past serious sexual assaults and abuses of power by serving officers, with the inspectorate finding that chiefs were "complacent" and failed to appreciate "the danger to the public".

Officers were cleared to join after "committing offences such as robbery, indecent exposure, possession of controlled drugs, drink-driving and domestic abuse-related assaults", the report found.

It examined eight forces including the Met and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the two forces where Couzens was an armed officer, as well as Kent, where he served as a special constable.

The lead inspector, Matt Parr, said: "We concluded that a culture of misogyny, sexism, predatory behaviour towards female police officers and staff and members of the public was prevalent in all the forces we inspected, which is a depressing finding.

"We believe that the poor behaviour towards women we were told about is prevalent in many - if not all - forces."

The inspectorate said: "We also found 131 cases where the [employment] decision was questionable at best. In these, we found officers and staff with criminal records, or suspicions that they had committed crime (including some serious crime), substantial undischarged debt, or family members linked to organised crime.

"In other cases, officers and staff had given false or incomplete information to the vetting unit. We also found officers who, despite a history of attracting complaints or allegations of misconduct, successfully transferred between police forces. This is wholly unsatisfactory."

That amounts to about 18% of the 725 vetting files examined. Every female police officer and staff member spoken to told of harassment and, in some cases, assaults.

Pressed on the scale of the problem, Parr said: "It seems reasonable for me to say that over the last three or four years, the number of people recruited over whom we would raise significant questions is certainly in the hundreds if not low thousands."

The report cites examples found between 2018 and 2021 - when chiefs claimed vetting had improved. They include:

A special constable cleared to join despite a past conviction for indecent exposure seven times over a two-week period as a juvenile, when he had masturbated at his bedroom window, coughing to attract the attention of a woman. He also had a caution for threats to commit criminal damage.

A support officer cleared to join after slapping his partner in the face.

A police officer allowed to join despite robbing an 80-year-old woman, who was knocked to the ground and had her handbag stolen.

A police officer cleared to join despite concerns he had a theft conviction and potential criminal links.

A police officer arrested twice for assaults on women who were left with marks on their necks, and witness intimidation, as well as having a historical drink-driving conviction.

An officer cleared to join despite an arrest for rape while a juvenile, about 20 years earlier.

An officer, who still works with vulnerable people, given a final written warning for sending extremely sexually explicit and racist messages to a female colleague.

Vetting was found to have failed when officers changed forces and Parr said: "The lessons of the last few years have given ample warning."

Asked if policing had heeded the warnings, such as those from women's groups but also some from the inspectorate itself, that Couzens could have been identified earlier as a danger to women, Parr said: "The shoddier your vetting system is, the greater the chance of somebody like Couzens joining you."

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Parr told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he believed UK policing was experiencing a "tipping point moment".

"It's not just our report today, there have been other hard-hitting reports shining a light on police behaviour and some of these problems," he said.

"I think, or at least I hope, that we've now reached the point where chief constables and other police leaders realise this is something they've got to bear down on much harder.

"They've got to take more interest in recruiting the right people and they've got to take more interest in driving out misconduct, because if they don't, these problems are going to keep coming back, and they can't."

The rapid recruitment to meet a government target of 20,000 new officers within three years also heightened concerns over vetting standards and 43 recommendations have been made by the inspectorate.

This report follows one last month by Lady Casey into the Met's discipline system that found shocking failures, corruption and cover-ups far greater than previously admitted. It led the Met's commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to say that hundreds of racist, women-hating and corrupt officers have been left in the ranks of his force alone.

The accumulation of reports, with more to come next year, threatens the reputation of police leaders, who have claimed to have taken the issues seriously, but as the inspectorate said, failed to act on warnings that their staff and the public were in danger from misogynistic, racist and corrupt officers.

Police chiefs said they would adopt the recommendations in full. Andy Marsh, the head of the College of Policing, said: "Vetting will only ever provide a snapshot of the problem, and it must be backed up by strong leadership at all levels and people who can spot and call out behaviour which does not belong in policing. The college's new entry training and National Centre for Police Leadership will deliver world-class leaders who are equipped with the skills to call out wrongdoing, improve results and bring the service up to the highest standard the public rightly expects."

Harriet Wistrich of the Centre for Women's Justice, which has pressed for stronger action over police misogyny, said: "A police officer has powers and status which if misused can allow him to take advantage of vulnerable women - it is utterly unacceptable that there isn't the strictest interview and vetting procedures to ensure that potential abusers are not admitted to the police."

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Police vetting failures have allowed 'predatory' officers to join up, watchdog finds

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Defective vetting and failures by police leaders have allowed a "prevalent" culture of potentially thousands of officers who are "predatory" towards women to join and stay in the ranks, a damning official report has concluded.

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Strike (Minimum Service levels) Bill tracker

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Strike (Minimum Service levels) Bill tracker