Sometimes.....

I really hate being on my shift.

Our skipper has gone on leave and we have a stand in (in the loosest sense of the word). A police officer on shift who thinks they can bark orders as they are the most experienced member on shift (time wise not actual experience).

This i think will be there downfall as day 1 managed to piss off at least 2 members of the shift, this seems to happen quite regularly and needs to be addressed as we cant have the infighting we had before because of overbearing skippers.

I have actually considered moving to another shift at another nick as its turning into a state where i really don't want to come to work. I mean i love my job its just this person making life very hard by their attitude.

I usually go with the flow and don't let things bother me, life's to short to get stressed in reality and there is a lot worse that can happen to people out there.

We will see how the next week goes as I'm not overly sure how much longer i can keep my frustration in check and things will need to be said.

This job its quite easy to leave the job before you get home. But its annoying when you are pissed off at home because of the few on shift. Hopefully it will all sort itself out and I'll have some happy news for you all.

By the way I'm still top on shift for detections / arrests and jobs handled! Which pisses this person off even more as they have been in the job for longer!

Keep Smiling....

JS

Full circle

Well, things in the police have now come a full circle for me. There is a routine in our numbers and policies and it seems to have come about again.

Right now we are quite flush on shift, we have had 3 or so new officers join our shift recently. This is a big difference compared to the numbers we usually ran with namely max 5 officers including a skipper.

I think we may actually be at full strength.

Having these new 3 officers reminded me of when i joined up, wet behind the ears and not sure what I'm really doing for the first few months at least. Now i have these "new kids" actually looking to me for advice which in itself is quite scary. One of them i hate to say is damned near useless and to be honest its not all his fault, hes had 2 bad tutors and just cant seem to get on with the job, quite how he will fair when he finished tutorship i don't know, hopefully actually being with some proactive officers and not being made to look a fool by his tutor may help.

One was an ex special who is doing very well who i have tutored for a few shifts while his main tutor is away this lads got potential just needs the practice.

The third is actually quite good, a bit like me when i started really, loves going out looking for proactive stuff but is having a bit of a mare with the paperwork side of things, I'm trying not to treat him like a tutee but its quite hard seeing people make mistakes which can be easily sorted and not say anything (we all learn by our mistakes).

I reckon in 6 - 10 months our numbers will be depleted again i may even not be on this shift and may have moved to new places. Im sure the people above me will be moving on or thinking about moving on shortly.

I am now going to be a tutor so i will get my own tutee to teach how to police, this in itself is interesting as i am not the most "by the book" officer out there i use common sense in my policing which the majority of times works but sometimes it fails me and i fall flat on my arse. But all part of the learning curve in reality.

So i have been at this nick for almost 2 years, i dont feel that experiance but being with the new kids has shown me how much i do know and i feel more confident in speaking up especially with other members of shift.

Will be interesting times to come.

JS

Help me!!

I found this while checking out other blogs.

"Help me Neil...help me!"

I found it amusing mainly for the half arsed attempt to escape and requesting the help of his friend, who it seemed was in 2 minds weather to help his mate out or not.

Seems these 2 were more than up for the job, and it may surprise some of you how strong people can be when they are desperate to escape.

I have had many a fight with someone smaller than me who has nearly won due to the need for him to escape.

I haven't CS'd a crew mate though... YET! But we will wait and see on that one!

I have just come off some crappy shifts recently hence the lack of updates but will hopefully update this blog as soon as i can.

JS

Police Force Mergers

It has been well reported about the Home Office Review on merging Police Forces from 43 to about 12 forces because of "Operational Resilience".

A number of forces have already rejected the proposals and some are welcoming them this seems to be a step away from community policing that was on the agenda a while ago and a move towards national policing.

I wish they would make up their minds what they want us to do. Of course terrorism is a big thing on the agenda and affects us all and that is the key to the national policing idea, sharing intel and acting on information as well as responding to the incident. It seems to have worked well so far for us but we are a big force, its just a shame the government haven't a clue what really happens, we need to be able to share more intelligence to combat serious and organised crime but we also need to deal with Johnny Chav who wants to steal your car. Bigger forces will help Serious and organised crime but will it help stop the TWOCCER?

The answer is NO.

What would you prefer we deal with stop the things that stop you going about your business like anti social behaviour, theft of your car etc or say sorry but all our officers are dealing with high level crime.

I agree that we need to deal with high level crime but lets not loose focus here we are meant to serve and protect the public from drug dealers, little shits that want to smash your windows and burgle your house.

I'm sure that's what you would want us to do rather than not be there to prevent or detect the offence.

Comments please!

It's The New Year

Happy new year everyone, although a week or so too late!

Its been the first week of the new PACE powers and everyone is still a tad confused but it doesn't seem to have made a great deal of difference to the way we operate so far that is, no doubt it will all change as the days roll on, i'm still sceptical about the use of the new powers though but we shall see.

I have been trawling the news recently trying to catch up and found a few stories worth of comment.

One from a short time ago was about arming the police and the full story is here.

BBC News Story on Arming the Police

My views on arming the police have been posted before and we shall see how this pans out!

Happy Christmas

Well its that time of year where a lot of people celebrate Christmas and New Year. I for one will be spending time with my family over the festive period, mainly consisting of eating a lot and consuming alcohol. Along with actually being able to spend time with the Mrs.

I don't actually spend that much time with the Mrs due to my shift pattern and the fact she works "Normal" hours. Usually i am sleeping while she is here or i will be working or she will be working. So this will make a nice change.

I will be socialising with the family down the pub having a few drinks.

Coming home and relaxing.

That is my Christmas but for many family's their Christmas will be different, there Xmas will consist of drinking to excess throughout the day, having a "row" with someone usually the other half and calling the police to sort it out as we are there to mend broken relationships, calm down drunks and make peace among the chavs on the estates.

Now they will be sadly mistaken luckily i will not be working over xmas this year but the officers that are will be taking quite a harsh stance with the view of "locking them up" if they cause grief over xmas. This is never a better time to have an impact on those that wind us up all year long.

Ever wandered why no warrants get executed in the run up to Christmas?? Well the reason is we do it over the bank holidays keep you in custody until the next available court date ie Wednesday!

All that grief we get over the year attending calls to chav households, getting hit, abused and shouted at. Now its payback time!

You see, the Police generally are a good bunch, we do our jobs and enjoy it. We lock up those that need locking up and give "suitable advice" to those that don't need locking up.

But our charity runs out at the end of the year. Every time you tell us how to do our jobs, call us all sorts of names, throw things at us and generally abuse us, it all gets logged and noted because what goes around comes around. And Christmas is the time of goodwill to all men "and women" and what better time than at the end of the year to level the score and start a fresh in January.

Have a happy Christmas.
JS

PACE Code G

Hi all,

Apparently there is this new section of PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) called code G that comes into effect on 1st January 2006. This is a big overhaul of our powers of arrest and will effect every police officer that makes an arrest.

Apparently every offence is arrestable if it passes the necessity test.

You would have thought that such a big change would have meant lots of training for us police officers.

Well you will be surprised to know that our forces training dept were dragging their heels. 3 training sessions were provided to train every officer in my area. The first i was on annual leave (gotta take some time off sometime eh!) the second session that i had to attend was 6 hours after i finished work. I came off nights and finished work at about 1 am and they wanted me back at 7 am to train (No chance) The third session i am on a rest day, now i would attend but i am not going to be paid for it so i will be using a day off to go into work to do the training. Hmmm decisions decisions.

Luckily i have preempted this and the people at training were quite good about it saying "don't come in on your rest day, we'll sort it out in the new year after the changes come into effect" This is good for me as i don't loose a rest day. But what about arresting people???

Another well thought plan by my police force!

JS

Court Room Hilarity

And here are some quotes from the court room of stupid questions we have to put up with from smart arsed solicitors.

Q: Are you sexually active?
A: No, I just lie there.

Q: What is your date of birth?
A: July 15th.
Q: What year?
A: Every year.

Q: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
A: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
A: Yes.
Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
A: I forget.
Q: You forget? Can you give usan example of something that you'veforgotten?

Q: How old is your son, the one living with you?
A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
Q: How long has he lived with you?
A: Forty-five years.

Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke upthat morning?
A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
Q: And why did that upset you?
A: My name is Susan.

Q: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo or theoccult?
A: We both do.
Q: Voodoo?
A: We do.
Q: You do?
A: Yes, voodoo.

Q:Now doctor isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, hedoesn't know about it until the next morning?
A: Did you actually pass the barexam?

Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?

Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?

Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?

Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?

Q: How was your first marriage terminated?
A: By death.
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?

Q: Can you describe the individual?
A: He was about medium height and had a beard.
Q: Was this a male, or a female?

Q: Is your appearance here this morningpursuant to a deposition noticewhich I sent to your attorney?
A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?
A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.

Q: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
A: Oral.

Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.

Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?

Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
A: No.
Q: Did youcheck for blood pressure?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for breathing?
A: No.
Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began theautopsy?
A: No.
Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Q: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing lawsomewhere

JS

Humour

I have decided that a little light humour is needed in light of recent events and have found some good stuff.

This is from Metpol Crime reports and details some of the notes made by officers showing not only a sense of humour but some apauling spelling and grammar!

A four foot wall surrounded the garden which was approximately 3ft high.

Mr Grey would be able to recognize them from the back only and if they wore the some clothing.

The suspect gained entry by climbing into the victims rear.

Victim would recognised ger handbag again as the shoulder strap is chewn.

Scene closed and cleaned. victim seen in hospital.It would appear an artry or something else was pierced due to the amount of blood lost.

vehicle was blocking the road so they stopped and a cue formed behind them.

The victim only has a home phone number, if there is no answer that means he aint there.

Incident witnessed by suspect as he was there at the time

The window was smashed leaving the glass unbroken.

METHOD: By snatching victims hand.

Police arrive and are met by a non speaking male who could only state, "black man's took bike"

The ex-partner did not the supect there and he was advised to leave by police. The suspect became towards police when asked to leave.

Officers attended the venue and after much searching found both victims sat in the lounge.

What happened was that the victims car was broked into and various bits stolen.

It appears the suspect has kicked open the front door and then climbed through the window.

the victim believes someone is responsible for stealing from her car.

The victim last saw his phone parked outside his house at 2200

At 2358hrs she was arrested and cautioned for loitering for the purpose of prostitution she was cautioned and replied," will it be a quick in and out!"

After investigation it was found to be a straightforward deception. Arrested and conveyed to Mars the facts were conveyed to the custody officer.

It would appear that this incident has stemmed from a dispute about a lollipop.

Victim fearing for his safety ran into the road, where he was hit by an oncoming SOUTHBOUND vehicle.

it would be possible for the gate to be unbolted as it had a bolt on it.

Victim states that the suspect spoke like "frank spencer" and believed he was "simple".

Victims wheelchair was stolen from the front garden. She has only reported it becasue of the need for a crime reference number for getting her new wheels.

Suspect has lobbed a stone at the window busting it to bits.

Victim states he does not have a telephone number, will contact us to let us know what it is.

On his arrival back home that evening the front door was a jar.

asked victim if he could use his phone to call his brother, victim handed over the phone and suspect then fell into a bush

Injury Description: booze on the left side of his fore head - right side is boozed and scratched from being kicked

The suspects were eliminated due to unable to prove that it was them and not this fourth imaginary person.

subject had in his possession a silver pen knife which gave no reply when arrested

FORENSICS: No point as we don't know who did it.

Victim then went upstairs and got suspects 2 mobile phones and hung them out of the window, suspect then went upstairs and hung victim out of the window.

Request that this report is closed due to the victim not wanting to persue with the allegation and has reclined to provide police with a statement.

In view of the believed method of entry, the only realistic security advice I can give is to shut the door.

The officer has handed over £20 in cash in exchange for class A drugs and the accused has decamped.

Accused admitted offence and was remoprsefull.

The suspect was apparently out drinking when the victim called him to bring back a lemon. The suspect arrived home drunk & demanded to know why the victim wanted an onion.

The suspect began to harrass the victim by saying thongs through her letter box and knocking her door.

Sarah finished School at 12pm and went to a friends party she returned home at 18pm.

The suspect had a thing face and smelt badly of Sweat.

On speaking to her she said a balck man pulled a knife out on her boyfriend so he throw a car at him, and they both drove off as they were worried.

Officers went over to the male who appeared to be asleep and attempted to arouse him but he was not responding.

Knife found under drivers seat foot well matt of a vehicle being used for mini crabbing by driver

the suspect had bail condition not to go to the premises or contact himself

Suspect 2 gave a full and frank no comment interview.

Informant states that his vehicle was damaged by suspect sctratching the bonnet and complete nearside with a sharp object.

Victim believes he knows who the suspects may be, at this stage he is reluctant to provide details, untill he is able to obtain further evidence.Victim has now placed a video camera in his bathroom to record any activity.

When arrested he stated " I was not driving, I was only parking it here ".

The travelers were two women and two men with a large group of children. all aged approximately 40.

The shop is located behind the security shutters which are at the front of the shop.

The victim is registered blind from birth and cannot give a very good discription of the suspect other than he was wearing a stripped top and was well spoken.

After arrest the Police searched the kitchen and found a kitchen knife and was taken by police.

Victim states that after the assault, she tried to reset her own nose, causing it to bleed profusely and realised it was a silly thing to do.

Victim was approached from behind by unknown suspects knife held to his trout

The damage is a small one inch near lock forced bit of wooden door.

Mr X was standing outside the location with blood over his face he stated that he had been in the bar area drinking when he had gone to the bar and was approached by two(2) males who were giving it LARGE

The victim has only liited use of English language. English speak very difficult to underhand

suspect removed his arm and was struggling to get his breath.Suspect was wearing a black beret and comfortable black leather shoes.

JS

COPS

Care of Police Survivors (otherwise known as COPS) is a UK registered charity dedicated to helping the families of police officers, who have lost their lives in the line of duty, rebuild their lives. It aims to ensure that survivors have all the help they need to cope with such a tragedy, and that they remain part of the police family.Care Of Police Survivors (COPS) would like to see every police officer in the UK wearing a COPS lapel pin, in remembrance of a fallen colleague.

Please visit COPS.

36 police officers have died in the line of duty in England, Scotland and Wales in the past 20 years - 11 shot, 10 stabbed and three beaten to death, while 12 were killed by vehicles.

PC Sharon Beshenivsky was the sixth woman out of 1,600 officers to die in Britain since the formation of the modern police service in 1829. The last female officer shot dead was PC Yvonne Fletcher, 25, outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. Women make up 21% of the 43 English and Welsh forces.

COPS

Police Memorial

Police Roll of Honour Trust

Police Officer Killed

Well as im sure you are all aware by now PC Sharon Beshenivsky was killed whislt attending a call to a personal attack alarm at a travel agents in Bradford. Her crewmate PC Teresa Milburn was shot and injured in the incident.

This is quite an alarming storey which has provoked some debate over the arming of police and the increase of armed incidents in many forces. Only the next day in my area there was an armed robbery where shots were discharged, but luckily no rounds hit any body.

This is on another point frightening as the weapons being used are live and not replica weapons and are loaded with live amunition. Also the seeming willingness for people to use the weapons against police and the public.

Also other weapons are being used, mainly knives and suspects seem to be only to willing to have a go at the police in an attempt to "get away".

What is this country turning to where the poeple who are there to protect you are coming under increasing threat from suspects which in all honesty we are not trained to deal with. Our numbers are so low backup is not always nearby (read upto 20 mins away on immediate), Our ARV's are to low in number and are streched out over the whole force, suspects no longer wait on a scene which is contained to think their way out, they just fight and shoot their way out before extra units can get there as they dont want to face armed police.

So what is the solution.

There are groups who dont want police to be armed because of the risk of innocent people being hurt or killed, they cite fatal shootings by police as the main reason why police shoud not be armed.

There are groups who feel that we should be armed by routine as if the criminals are willing to shoot should we not be able to protect the public and ourselves.

People say if we were to arm then we would become like the USA and armed crime would soar as more criminals would up the anti to compete with us.

I am more in favour of having more avaliable armed officers, not dedicated ARV but your standard PC who is firearms autherised, has acess to weapons and is trained in their use, who has passed the psycological testing, physical testing and firearms testing.

The same would apply to Taser, by giving us more options both lethal and non-lethal we could become more effective, this would instill more public trust as they would know we CAN deal with the more increasing violence, the criminals would know we can deal effectively with the incident and may think twice about carrying weapons, let alone using them.

Also we need proper deterants in the courts, if you carry a weapon then you will be punished properly, if you use a weapon then likewise.

No one wants armed police walking around with machine guns, but discrete arming may be the only way ahead.

JS

Comments

Hi to anyone who reads this site.

Please leave me some comments so it seems i am not writing this for only me to read.

Positive or negative appreciated as it gets quite lonely over here!.

JS

CPS

Anyone who works in policing knows the perils of the CPS. I have stated before how much of a nightmare they can be in trying to get an offender charged.

So i found this over on another blog (thanks to DC)

Short Update

Well, I had one week of nights following my driving course where to be honest not a lot happened apart from one night where I got into a bit of a fight and also went to sort out a rave with the rest of the shift.

My scrap wasn't too bad to be honest but I radioed for Urgent Assistance basically because I had a crew of Specials with me and a lot of unhappy people who were keen for this person not to be arrested. Luckily its was kept relatively controlled until my backup arrived and the group of people made off when they saw all the other crews attending.

Then we had a rave to shut down in the early hours which was not fun as dealing with 200+ drugged up people who were not keen on us shutting down the rave. With about 15 officers. Needless to say we gave them 4 hours to go or we come back mob handed as we needed a lot of officers to deal with this by force, but they did shut up shop and moved off. Ill have to give more details another time.

My main grip is my Assistance shout, one crew cannot be trusted to the extent that you hope its not this officer attending when they are the only backup. Absolutely shocking the fact that this person is allowed to operate the way they do, constantly critical of other officers even to the point to slagging the driving off while actually on a blue light run. At long last its not just me this person keeps on criticizing and they engineer a situation where they think they are untouchable, but 2 can play that game.....

Sorry for the short or cryptic post but i will expand in other posts what i am actually getting at!

3 Weeks and I'm back on shift.

Well my 3 week driving course has been completed. I had what is called a crosscheck on Thursday which is when basically instructors swap cars and assess each others crews.

fortunately for me I passed the first crosscheck with no problems which was a relief. I end the course with a good recommendation that I am suitable for advanced training which is a bonus as I want to do Advanced Driving courses and eventually join RPD (Roads Policing Department).

I got a bit of crap while I was away but nowhere near as much as when I did my stage 6 course which has kind of made my decision for me. I was usually of the opinion that I want to stay on shift for a good few years then go into RPD hopefully, now with everything that's been going on such as moving goalposts I have pretty much decided I'm going to apply as soon as I see a vacancy.

I cant believe that I worked so hard to get my docket down to manageable levels and keep on top of my investigations only to be shit on by AIMT who have changed the rules yet again. Meaning I now need to do a lot of irrelevant stuff to get a job filed. Which pisses me off no end especially with shitty comments "you have breached CPIA by not doing this!!" well I didn't breach it last bloody time did I but now apparently I am.

Great.

Well to AIMT I kind of have to say, what goes around comes around policing goes in circles. You may be the big thing now but next year you will be back on shift or doing some other menial back stabbing job which involves never leaving the nick and staring at a computer screen. Why the hell did you join the police?? I don't know anyone who joined the police and said "yeah I want to join the police to sit behind a desk everyday and never go out!!!!"

Roll on a vacancy on RPD in the mean time ill be doing my best to get noticed by them, do as much traffic stuff as possible and try and have as much fun as I can with my new found ability (or permit) to use blues and 2's.

Job gets you down some times but I like proving points just to be able to say "FCUK YOU" I am better than you lot whom sit at a desk criticizing all officers.

Ahhh Rant over!

Roll on Hell week of nights but thats another rant!!!

Blue Lights

Well into my second week of learning to drive response cars. Started off driving a marked car learning the principles and practicing Roadcraft (Which is a book about safe driving).

There is a fair bit to learn and its a different driving style and depending on how you drive and how long you have been driving for can be difficult or easy.

But its a good way of driving which stands us in good stead for driving response.

I have had good fun driving so far even though the majority has been below speed limits as there is alot to practise and get right before we can get to drive response. It has been handy being excempt from national speed limits so if there is a national then there is no limit for us.

Did my first blue light run the other day through quite a busy town which was interesting. Made a few mistakes but none which compramised the safety of the car or anyone else. But its the first time of blue lights really so didnt do too badly, hopefully it will improve and come together over the next few days.

Found out today that when i pass the course i am entitled to become a member of the Institute Of Advanced Motorists (IAM) without taking the tests as my training i am recieveing now is exceeding the level they test at. Which is good as i can get a discount on my car insurance!

Roadcraft From Amazon

Slow nights

So far this week we have had a Q set of nights, We get spells like this every once in a while but tonight its Friday Night and has the makings of a potentially bust shift seeing as the numbers of people out in the evening was relatively low.

We expect a traveller wedding tonight in one of our towns which could be interesting especially if anyone gets in their way whom arnt expecting them. Imagine little johnny out on the beer and decides hes billy big potatoes. Shoots off at the mouth and gets battered because he thinks hes bigger than he is.

Could happen quite easily with the muppets on my area.

Well, only this night shift and 2 late shifts them im done for a while, Off for a week then on a course for 3 weeks or so getting my response driving ticket.

I need a break from shift as its been ages since i have been away, not taken holiday yet because of the downsides of taking leave. If im away then my jobs dont get progressed, if my jobs dont get progressed then i get moaned at by management or more to the point the AIM team who oversee our active investigations. Who seem to think that by remotely looking at our investigations on the computer they know whats best. Not taking into account other jobs that we attend throughout the shift.

Why has this burglary not been completed yet?

Because i am awaiting witness details from the attacked company?

Why have you not chased them?

I wrote to them asking for the details, they have yet to provide them.

This is not acceptable, chase them for the details.

I am on lates and nights how can i chase a company?

Come in early to chase them?

I suggest if they dont give me the details then its not important to them and if they cant be bothered to give me what i need then why should i bother chasing them?

Ahh burocracy, dont you just love it!

Roll on the 3 weeks off, but having said that ill have a loads of crap when i get back.

Why has this job not been progressed?

Because i was in a car from 9 - 5 driving response.

This is not acceptable you were working so should be progressing your enquiries.

Just cant win sometimes!

Crikey

I have just noticed how long it has been since i last posted an update. The reason being i have been without broadband and as such too lazy to do it on dial up since moving house, but eventually BT got the soldering iron out and got me some fast(er) internet after 4 months of waiting.

Well since my last update things have pretty much been the same. Except for a nasty new shift pattern - some nasty people and bombs and a few major incidents.

I finally managed to get on top of my paperwork and seem to be doing OK and keeping on top of it but i suspect as i am off on a 3 week course soon it may start to build up again.

Yes another course... but this one will autherise me to drive cars in a response manor ie blues and 2's which i have been waiting for it feels like forever.

KNIVES:!
These seem to be comming more prevelant over the past few months. We were kind of complacent about actually comming face to face with one as its not common for someone to pull a knife on police. Me and a crewmate were talking about the recent Thames Valley knife murders in Wokingham saying that we wern't really aware of what could happen because we had become complacent. She had not been challenged with a knife or was at close quarters with one and neither had I.

Well that was like saying "its a quiet shift isnt it".

We went to a job where a kid was being a bully to his grandparents, few offences but the grandfolks were really scared of him. We attend and do the paperwork as mateyboy had left.

A short while after we leave mateyboy returns and the grandparents go upstairs and lock themselves in the bedroom and call police.

We reattend and gain entry by climbing fences etc as he didnt want to open the door to us.

We both walk into the kitchen (worst place to make an arrest due to potential weapons) and approach the guy. He goes to grab a knife, we grab him and lob him to the floor following a struggle i get punchd and crewmate gets kicked he gets his head put to the floor and arested. The guy was really strong as he was influenced by drugs we thing.

We although we got the job done it brought a reality home. A young lad actually went for a knife and it was only because of the talk me and my crewmate had that morning that we saw and dealt with the threat otherwise we may not have been aware of the attempt to get the knife and it could have been so very different.

Been a long time

Hi all,
Been away for a long time it seems. Since my last post i have lost my broadband due to a house move so this is one of the first times i have been able to use dial up access to the net.

Things have changed somewhat since i last posted. The shift has been reduced, a new shift pattern has been introduced and i have been fighting to get on a response driving course which according to the training manager "ITS MY PRIORITY TO GET PEOPLE ON COURSES" hmm well in a month we will have all of 2 response drivers for the police area. Nothing like a bit of pressure.

A quick summary of the past 2 months.

Most of June i was off due to a house move and various planned trips so i was only at work for half the month so i didnt really get to do alot and it was a slow month for crime for some reason. We were on occasion driving for 8 hrs and not getting deployed to any jobs.

July so far has gone mad. Last week of nights meant we were attending jobs from when we booked on till when we finished.. We ran 3 police officers per shift manning 2 cars. i Managed to get asaulted effecting an arrest (my skipper took the brunt) and i fell through a building. Made lots of arrests and got alot of detections for the crew. I think since the start of the month my shift has had about 30 detections and 40 odd arrests. To say its been mad is an understatement. Seems like summer and beer has finally arried as alcohol has played a large part in the arrests. As well as the little brats off school hanging around damaging stuff for fun. It seems so far we have been in the right place at the right times.

Will give a better update shortly.

Grrrrr SDU

Why do i always have to become ill when i'm on my long weekend! Glad of the rest though to be honest, im going to have a hectic week or two i think. You know when you just get "that" feeling that everything is going to go wrong!

Thing with the police is, when you are away be it on sick or holiday, nothing changes in the workload. It just stays there getting smellier and older with whinging MOP's leaving voicemails for you. Not that it ever enters their minds that you may actually have a life outside the police and dont work 24hrs a day just for them.

Crime investigation can take some time. Sometimes you are relying on others to provide information to you to be able to progress the case further (if anyone has worked with the met then you will know what i mean when you ask them to do something for you!)

Hopefully ill be tasked with the SDU tomorow (service delivery unit) where you are allocated crimes to deal with. These are the ones that do not require police attendance and can be crimed slow time. Quite why it has to be apolice officer i dont know. There are pleanty of civilians out there who can do the same thing and dont need police powers to do this job.

As it will give me some time to try and progress some of my jobs while trying to not crime the allocated crimes as i could do without the crap in my docket as its taken me ages to get it down to a manageable level.

Half of me likes rushing round dealing with immediates, the other half is quite happy to sit and do my own work. I think that i could do with the time to recover from this cold and progress my cases.

I may be getting half sensible in my old age!