So here I am in the middle of a council housing estate with the cold winter wind eating through my goretex. I sheepishly walk up the stairs having heard a shout from above "She's dead - call LAS". I walk up to a cheap green door thats been split in half and I can see familiar round damage marks near where the lock used to be. This is an unexpected development - a welfare check for a mid-thirties lady doesn't usually prepare you for a dead body.
The officers already on scene ask "Have you done one of these before?" I nod, but I'm lying, I've been out of training school for two weeks but I'm confident I remember what to write. I push the door open and there she is. She could be asleep except for the blood on her nose and the purple colouration in her skin. She looks peaceful and I expect that has something to do with the empty bottle of vodka on the floor. I can smell vomit but I don't smell rotting flesh. She hasn't been dead all that long.
I look around the room for signs of struggle as I put on my purple gloves. I ask my colleague to help me search for injuries or anything suspicious. I turn her over and she's cold and stiff. She's heavy and I struggle - as the bed creaks I think for a moment that its her bones but think better of it. I try and leave her in situ and cover her up with the duvet again. I get my pen out as I'm expected to do and decide to spend the minimum time in the room as I describe it concisely and detailed in my book. I call up for an ambulance to attend. There's no rush and I don't expect to see them soon. I start completing my notes with the distraught brother who is crying. I find the concept of a grown man crying difficult to deal with.
The ambulance crew attend and tell me they're going to complete their notes in the ambulance - the poor man in front of me doesn't need another set of uniforms to deal with. It's before trained paramedics can officially pronounce life extinct so I call the police doctor. They return and give me a copy of the triplicate form. I read it with interest looking where all the boxes are ticked and the crew's names wishing my paperwork were as simple to complete.
As I wait for the doctor - who's in no rush - more family turn up requesting to see the body. I deny them - the doctor has to see her first. I feel sorry for them but it takes some pressure off me as they grieve together. I wait in the kitchen out of the way wishing I'd eaten something when my colleagues got takeaway earlier. The doctor arrives and I show him in - as he pronounces life extinct I note the time and the supervisor who's arrived confirms that it isn't suspicious. CID are monitoring - which means they've totally forgotten about this call. I won't. I sit there in the kitchen whilst various family members go in to look at the body. They ask about the blood around the nose and I tell them the doctor states it was brought on by the fitting. I check medical records and listen to what those closest to her have to tell me. She was told to stop drinking or one of her alcohol induced fits could kill her.
I look through her personal effects to make sure there's no goodbye notes. There isn't but there is a bottle of TCP. "That's what she used to mask the smell when she was at work" her brother says as he sees me inspecting it. She worked at a lab in a hospital he tells me. A hospital I know all too well. I go to the kitchen and am introduced to her daughter who is 16. She is distraught. I don't know what to say. She has lost her mother at the hardest time in her life. I am waiting for the undertakers. I will them to hurry up I can't handle the family anymore. They have no animosity towards me but I feel like just my presence is unwelcome. They've probably never had a police officer in their house before.
The undertakers arrive and I wonder how someone ends up doing that job. Family business I think. They pick her up and throw her onto the stretcher and strap her in. The whole process seems disrespectful and I'm glad the family can't see it. They cover her with a blanket and take her down the stairs. I am offered a cup of tea which I decline. It feels wrong to make someone put themselves out after losing a loved one. The family can't wait for a housing association funded carpenter to come and fix the door and it's heart-wrenching to watch the grieving family repair their own door. I think it's wrong and wonder how it has come to this.
I send my overtime form - I go home - I tell my friends what I did today "not much" I say. Life has changed permanently for the family, I will get up and go back to work the next day.
I walk into the court and get changed into my tunic. I laugh and joke with other officers that are there. I walk up to court 1. I see the family sat outside and they are crying. They all look very smart. They recognise me and the brother shakes my hand and says "Thanks very much officer. I told the Coroner to go easy on you cos you're new" I thank him and head into the court. I'm briefed by the clerk and I sit there with sweaty palms. I haven't been in court before. I stand in the witness box for seconds and its over. I nod to the family as I walk out. I get changed and get on the train home. I go to the pub - my day is done. The family go home with a 16 year old daughter who's lost her mum through alcohol.
I don't know what inspired me to write this but I remember every detail as if it were today. This was from a while ago now and doesn't correspond to the date of the post. I'm going to do a few more "nostalgia" posts. Comments please
Tyler
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Administration
Today was quite "Q" which meant I had a chance to get on top of my crimes and related paperwork.
My colleague also had a few bits and bobs to do which was handy and I got a chance for the odd cup of tea which was nice.
I went to do a routine welfare check after a four day old incident got sent through to us. Immediately after knocking I was met by a hostile reception and of course the smell of alcohol on the breath. "We've sorted it we don't need you coppers here get off my f***ing doorstep copper" was the welcome. We were looking for the bloke who called us
Occupant - "He's not here"
My colleague - "Well where is he then?"
O - " I don't f***in' know you smarmy b*tch - don't get smart with me"
MC - ?????
After slamming the door to go and get said male (turns out he was upstairs the whole time) I heard through the door "Cocky b*tch, I'll have her sergeant on the phone - why doesn't she get a real job?"
What like being unemployed and pissed at 10am? Who makes these people?
A strange call which came in as a shoplifter detained and then turned into an assault and then a crime report (obviously!) unfortunately we couldn't get on scene soon enough to get any result other than that but it will still need investigating. There is some CCTV and a school uniform so it might lead to something.
Once we'd finished up there we went looking for someone who had recently been attempting to use a counterfeit driving license to open a bank account but someone else found them first.
Then the control room for 16 divisions had to be evacuated so we had a brief moment of respite while it switched over to another site. I'm sure there were cheers in the other vehicles too!
Tyler
My colleague also had a few bits and bobs to do which was handy and I got a chance for the odd cup of tea which was nice.
I went to do a routine welfare check after a four day old incident got sent through to us. Immediately after knocking I was met by a hostile reception and of course the smell of alcohol on the breath. "We've sorted it we don't need you coppers here get off my f***ing doorstep copper" was the welcome. We were looking for the bloke who called us
Occupant - "He's not here"
My colleague - "Well where is he then?"
O - " I don't f***in' know you smarmy b*tch - don't get smart with me"
MC - ?????
After slamming the door to go and get said male (turns out he was upstairs the whole time) I heard through the door "Cocky b*tch, I'll have her sergeant on the phone - why doesn't she get a real job?"
What like being unemployed and pissed at 10am? Who makes these people?
A strange call which came in as a shoplifter detained and then turned into an assault and then a crime report (obviously!) unfortunately we couldn't get on scene soon enough to get any result other than that but it will still need investigating. There is some CCTV and a school uniform so it might lead to something.
Once we'd finished up there we went looking for someone who had recently been attempting to use a counterfeit driving license to open a bank account but someone else found them first.
Then the control room for 16 divisions had to be evacuated so we had a brief moment of respite while it switched over to another site. I'm sure there were cheers in the other vehicles too!
Tyler
Monday, 25 February 2008
Policy summary
Now, I know I promised there wouldn't be much negativity on this blog but here's a post I drafted after a particularly rough patch at work and in the absence of fresh material (gotta love rest days!) I thought it was time for a new post....
It is the policy of the UKPS that: -
any accident with an injury no matter how small or how reported for the purposes of claiming compensation will incur a decent amount of writing
any crime report submitted will have fault found in it by a civilian who's never been a police officer before or tried to write a detailed report at 4am
morale will not be tolerated at any time and should this eventuality occur it must be recorded and thoroughly investigated
there will be two ways to do everything and doing something to the best of your ability and in line with common sense is not always the best way
it is no longer good enough to prevent crime and arrest offenders it is more important to make your superiors look good at all times than do your job
despite all of this there can be an insulting pay increase and you must like it or lump it and carry on working 24/7 over weekends/christmas etc
Despite all this, I am keen to go to work in the hope that one day I will turn up and something will have changed.
Besides, I was on double bubble today so can't complain too much!
It is the policy of the UKPS that: -
any accident with an injury no matter how small or how reported for the purposes of claiming compensation will incur a decent amount of writing
any crime report submitted will have fault found in it by a civilian who's never been a police officer before or tried to write a detailed report at 4am
morale will not be tolerated at any time and should this eventuality occur it must be recorded and thoroughly investigated
there will be two ways to do everything and doing something to the best of your ability and in line with common sense is not always the best way
it is no longer good enough to prevent crime and arrest offenders it is more important to make your superiors look good at all times than do your job
despite all of this there can be an insulting pay increase and you must like it or lump it and carry on working 24/7 over weekends/christmas etc
Despite all this, I am keen to go to work in the hope that one day I will turn up and something will have changed.
Besides, I was on double bubble today so can't complain too much!
Saturday, 16 February 2008
A worthy read
Monday, 11 February 2008
A mild night
A steady Sunday night every now and then doesn't go amiss.
But someone had other plans... I signed my car out and went for a trundle around, not being a response vehicle for the evening meant I would be dealing with any crime reporting and anything urgent I was relatively near, luckily I had a colleague with me to share the writing. The good thing about being a 'panda' is you are not tethered to the radio as much so you can do a bit of proactive policing which makes a nice change, especially as the calls you take generally don't have a time restraint.
We were following a car along one of the main roads on our patch and my colleague pointed out that the car had a bald tyre so he was pulled over in order to rectify this. On closer inspection the vehicle had four adorable little children in the back seat. I can never understand why parents think this is acceptable - even if they are all going to a birthday party. I asked the father where he thought his children would end up if they had a crash "The front" he said and I pointed out that more than likely they'd end up about 20ft in front of the car having met the windscreen on the way through. He didn't like that but either way the kids had to go with uncle in a cab to continue their evening.
While my colleague completed the ticket (for the bald tyre - words of advice for the dangerous load) I made sure the child seats were fitted in the back which the father obliged. The kids were becoming restless so I thought I'd entertain them with some road safety advice. I asked them to show me how to fit a seatbelt which they knew and demonstrated. I then told them that whenever they travelled in cars they should use seatbelts even if it's not mum and dad's car. They were about 6 years old and I think the message was well received and I hope they remember it for their own sake.
The calls kept pinging up on the box and we kept accepting them whilst we went looking for more vehicles to stop. Then I saw a man driving whilst talking on his mobile phone and stopped him. He was ticketed and will be receiving 3 points on his license.
We were right on top of a call where a female had had her car window smashed and seen the suspects run off. We got there very quickly and had a good look round for the 3 inerbriates but with no joy so we headed to the address to take the report. Whilst we were there we were offered a seat and also some orange juice. We politely declined but as we went to leave the house we were accosted by the victim's youngest daughter with two glasses of juice. It was a nice gesture and much appreciated. I left wondering why all families couldn't be so pleasant.
We cleared up some more calls that seemed to have been outstanding for days before popping in for some chinese take away. I was then tasked to take an appropriate adult home as she had been mucked about by the handover team and just as we dropped her off we were called up and asked to attend a domestic nearby which had been outstanding an hour or so.
We attended and the mother stated she had been hit by her 14 year old son and she wanted him nicked. So he was arrested and taken to a cell hopefully to learn a valuable lesson. He was a pleasant kid and I hope he's not too far gone to learn a lesson before he just becomes another statistic.
Whilst we were dealing with my arrest we heard LAS put up an urgent assistance and refreshingly the world and his wife put up to accept the call. If I'd have been free I would have been rushing there myself but wasn't available. I wonder if its the same one Xf refers to.
As many police bloggers have said before we are best friends with the LAS and always a cheery wave or "woop" on the sirens to greet them when our paths cross. We try our best to be prompt to assist them. Last night it was urgent and a number of units from other divisions were even running from wherever they work which was nice to see and I know the LAS appreciate it.
Tyler
But someone had other plans... I signed my car out and went for a trundle around, not being a response vehicle for the evening meant I would be dealing with any crime reporting and anything urgent I was relatively near, luckily I had a colleague with me to share the writing. The good thing about being a 'panda' is you are not tethered to the radio as much so you can do a bit of proactive policing which makes a nice change, especially as the calls you take generally don't have a time restraint.
We were following a car along one of the main roads on our patch and my colleague pointed out that the car had a bald tyre so he was pulled over in order to rectify this. On closer inspection the vehicle had four adorable little children in the back seat. I can never understand why parents think this is acceptable - even if they are all going to a birthday party. I asked the father where he thought his children would end up if they had a crash "The front" he said and I pointed out that more than likely they'd end up about 20ft in front of the car having met the windscreen on the way through. He didn't like that but either way the kids had to go with uncle in a cab to continue their evening.
While my colleague completed the ticket (for the bald tyre - words of advice for the dangerous load) I made sure the child seats were fitted in the back which the father obliged. The kids were becoming restless so I thought I'd entertain them with some road safety advice. I asked them to show me how to fit a seatbelt which they knew and demonstrated. I then told them that whenever they travelled in cars they should use seatbelts even if it's not mum and dad's car. They were about 6 years old and I think the message was well received and I hope they remember it for their own sake.
The calls kept pinging up on the box and we kept accepting them whilst we went looking for more vehicles to stop. Then I saw a man driving whilst talking on his mobile phone and stopped him. He was ticketed and will be receiving 3 points on his license.
We were right on top of a call where a female had had her car window smashed and seen the suspects run off. We got there very quickly and had a good look round for the 3 inerbriates but with no joy so we headed to the address to take the report. Whilst we were there we were offered a seat and also some orange juice. We politely declined but as we went to leave the house we were accosted by the victim's youngest daughter with two glasses of juice. It was a nice gesture and much appreciated. I left wondering why all families couldn't be so pleasant.
We cleared up some more calls that seemed to have been outstanding for days before popping in for some chinese take away. I was then tasked to take an appropriate adult home as she had been mucked about by the handover team and just as we dropped her off we were called up and asked to attend a domestic nearby which had been outstanding an hour or so.
We attended and the mother stated she had been hit by her 14 year old son and she wanted him nicked. So he was arrested and taken to a cell hopefully to learn a valuable lesson. He was a pleasant kid and I hope he's not too far gone to learn a lesson before he just becomes another statistic.
Whilst we were dealing with my arrest we heard LAS put up an urgent assistance and refreshingly the world and his wife put up to accept the call. If I'd have been free I would have been rushing there myself but wasn't available. I wonder if its the same one Xf refers to.
As many police bloggers have said before we are best friends with the LAS and always a cheery wave or "woop" on the sirens to greet them when our paths cross. We try our best to be prompt to assist them. Last night it was urgent and a number of units from other divisions were even running from wherever they work which was nice to see and I know the LAS appreciate it.
Tyler
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
A whole lot of nothing
If you're in the job and reading this you'll know there are periods where nothing seems to happen and you end up scratching around for work. Sometimes you end up with something a bit strange.
This day was a bit like that. It started off fine - school kicking out time is not always the best time to come on duty - but there was the barrage of "group of 50 school kids fighting - unknown if weapons are involved" and off toddle the double crewed unit to see a lot of school kids hanging around chatting and typing "asnt..." on the box. It can be quite fun though screaming around on blues & twos and not having to lift a pen at the end of it. However someone had other plans.
Another easy job - "can someone assist a revenue inspector ascertaining details of a passenger" easy peasy. On arrival however it turns out this man had used 2 counterfeit travelcards worth £45 each (very well produced on the college computer) to get on the bus. Now we had two options - a) confirm details and let the transport company prosecute or b) nick the bloke for fraud
Now many would have chosen option a) and the pen would have remained full of ink. However I saw an opportunity to use the newly implememented fraud act for the first time and chose option b). He was arrested for "possessing articles to commit fraud" and taken to the nick. What followed was quite interesting
- Conducted a s18 because we thought we may be able to find computer and printing equipment used for making these cards
- Man was then interviewed by the handover team (well I'm not gonna do it am I?) and cautioned by the time I finished the Crime Report and notes
- Man got a proper caution from the new guvnor - not a "sign here and say you're sorry" but a right earbashing :)
- And my favourite point - from time of arrest to completing all this - 6hrs which also meant I got off on time having topped my figures up :)
However it wasn't all good. Turns out you need to check the cooking instructions of a Fray Bento's pie before you take the lid off - its much easier
This day was a bit like that. It started off fine - school kicking out time is not always the best time to come on duty - but there was the barrage of "group of 50 school kids fighting - unknown if weapons are involved" and off toddle the double crewed unit to see a lot of school kids hanging around chatting and typing "asnt..." on the box. It can be quite fun though screaming around on blues & twos and not having to lift a pen at the end of it. However someone had other plans.
Another easy job - "can someone assist a revenue inspector ascertaining details of a passenger" easy peasy. On arrival however it turns out this man had used 2 counterfeit travelcards worth £45 each (very well produced on the college computer) to get on the bus. Now we had two options - a) confirm details and let the transport company prosecute or b) nick the bloke for fraud
Now many would have chosen option a) and the pen would have remained full of ink. However I saw an opportunity to use the newly implememented fraud act for the first time and chose option b). He was arrested for "possessing articles to commit fraud" and taken to the nick. What followed was quite interesting
- Conducted a s18 because we thought we may be able to find computer and printing equipment used for making these cards
- Man was then interviewed by the handover team (well I'm not gonna do it am I?) and cautioned by the time I finished the Crime Report and notes
- Man got a proper caution from the new guvnor - not a "sign here and say you're sorry" but a right earbashing :)
- And my favourite point - from time of arrest to completing all this - 6hrs which also meant I got off on time having topped my figures up :)
However it wasn't all good. Turns out you need to check the cooking instructions of a Fray Bento's pie before you take the lid off - its much easier
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Weird and wondeful
I haven't had a lot of time over the festive season to post because I've been racking up the overtime so looking forward to February! I haven't had any days that were worthy of a full post to themselves however so I thought I'd take an assortment of the weird and wonderful calls from the last fortnight or so.
I am absolutely astonished at the lack of respect some offspring have for their parents. Although not a parent myself I have always respected mine (barring a phase in the teens!) and I thought this was normal.
I was called to an address after someone had been seen causing a disturbance - possible break in. Parade tea put down and off into the night in a wash of blue. On arrival the communal door was open, but I could see a bloke sitting quite happily in front of the TV in the front room so I knocked on the door - albeit cautiously. After a lot of banging and "Police - open up please" the door was finally opened. My colleague walked in first and immediately asked for me to call an ambulance. Strange. I looked into the room and could see an elderly female lying on the ground with a fair bit of blood splattered about, on closer inspection it was coming from her nose. The guy who had been watching TV was her son - who quickly resumed his cigarette and whatever programme was on after letting us in. He seemed totally unfazed by his elderly and ill mother lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
He never explained why he hadn't called an ambulance, I think he just didn't care.
Another call to an address off our patch for a "suicidal" female. We realised on arrival it was in the ominous tower block in front of us. I tested my new drop key - and it worked - up to the flat we went. The operator had said the female sounded drunk on the phone as did the person shouting in the background. As I approached the door I could already smell the stale booze and 'gloved up' before knocking on the door. I was glad I had when the door opened to reveal the most putrid dwelling (inhabited by the living) so far. The carpets were worn down to the underlay, the toilet looked like it hadn't been flushed for years and was stained permanently round the bowl. I could see the bed stacked up with various mouldy bits of magazines and shopping bags - plus the empty bottles of white lightning (3l for £1.50). Oddly there seemed to be half eaten slices of bread all over the flat - but I won't describe the kitchen!
The inhabitant told us her mate who was a street dweller who she was friendly with had been getting depressed and mentioned suicide so she called police.
"How much have you had to drink?"
"only one"
"I mean today not in the last ten minutes" (I felt like saying)
I confirmed that ambulance was on way on the radio and they arrived soon afterwards. The street dweller didn't really need any medical or police attention so we waited while she packed her bag and left the flat as she had outstayed her welcome. I then witnessed the most surreal conversation.
Street dweller takes a swig of super strong lager
Occupant - "Oi that's my drink - you're a ****ing alcoholic!"
SD - "You're a ****ing alcoholic!"
O - "Yeh but you're a greedy one!"
Me - "There must be a distinct difference.."
O & SD - "Eh?!"
Obviously a lot of strange stuff goes on in this job, which is one of the interesting parts of it. I will aim to post a full day account when I have one but I am away from work for most of this month. However, I have some older drafts that I may be able to post in the interim
Bear with me
Tyler
I am absolutely astonished at the lack of respect some offspring have for their parents. Although not a parent myself I have always respected mine (barring a phase in the teens!) and I thought this was normal.
I was called to an address after someone had been seen causing a disturbance - possible break in. Parade tea put down and off into the night in a wash of blue. On arrival the communal door was open, but I could see a bloke sitting quite happily in front of the TV in the front room so I knocked on the door - albeit cautiously. After a lot of banging and "Police - open up please" the door was finally opened. My colleague walked in first and immediately asked for me to call an ambulance. Strange. I looked into the room and could see an elderly female lying on the ground with a fair bit of blood splattered about, on closer inspection it was coming from her nose. The guy who had been watching TV was her son - who quickly resumed his cigarette and whatever programme was on after letting us in. He seemed totally unfazed by his elderly and ill mother lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
He never explained why he hadn't called an ambulance, I think he just didn't care.
Another call to an address off our patch for a "suicidal" female. We realised on arrival it was in the ominous tower block in front of us. I tested my new drop key - and it worked - up to the flat we went. The operator had said the female sounded drunk on the phone as did the person shouting in the background. As I approached the door I could already smell the stale booze and 'gloved up' before knocking on the door. I was glad I had when the door opened to reveal the most putrid dwelling (inhabited by the living) so far. The carpets were worn down to the underlay, the toilet looked like it hadn't been flushed for years and was stained permanently round the bowl. I could see the bed stacked up with various mouldy bits of magazines and shopping bags - plus the empty bottles of white lightning (3l for £1.50). Oddly there seemed to be half eaten slices of bread all over the flat - but I won't describe the kitchen!
The inhabitant told us her mate who was a street dweller who she was friendly with had been getting depressed and mentioned suicide so she called police.
"How much have you had to drink?"
"only one"
"I mean today not in the last ten minutes" (I felt like saying)
I confirmed that ambulance was on way on the radio and they arrived soon afterwards. The street dweller didn't really need any medical or police attention so we waited while she packed her bag and left the flat as she had outstayed her welcome. I then witnessed the most surreal conversation.
Street dweller takes a swig of super strong lager
Occupant - "Oi that's my drink - you're a ****ing alcoholic!"
SD - "You're a ****ing alcoholic!"
O - "Yeh but you're a greedy one!"
Me - "There must be a distinct difference.."
O & SD - "Eh?!"
Obviously a lot of strange stuff goes on in this job, which is one of the interesting parts of it. I will aim to post a full day account when I have one but I am away from work for most of this month. However, I have some older drafts that I may be able to post in the interim
Bear with me
Tyler
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