Page 105 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

Figure 41 Reward for my efforts 1983

Beat Officer Bennett

Whilst based on the AES at Kingstanding, I was able to witness areas of the
job that were of most interest and appeal to me. The AES office sat in a
corridor with the Permanent Beat Officers Squad room on one side and the
CID office on the same level.

The CID was where I had my sights set and the team at Kingstanding were
renowned for their industrious professionalism and thief taking. If not here,
working with Detectives of this calibre was where I felt could learn and
contribute most. The team were led by a gentle giant of a man, DS Malcolm
Ross who was 6’9” tall in his stocking feet. His team included DC Brian ‘Beaky’
Breakwell whose frequent red nose earned him his nickname, DC Ron Carlill
who looked every inch like a ‘teddy boy’ of the sixties with a hairstyle
emulating Elvis Presley.

The last member was DC Nigel Wier a man I was to come to admire over the
coming months for the depth of his knowledge and a work ethic I wanted to
emulate. Like Terry Cleaver from my uniform shift days, Nigel was well known
by the criminal fraternity and he knew them equally well. To my mind, even
with my limited experience, he was to the CID what Terry was in uniform, a
consummate thief taker. He was so well known because he was so bloody Page105
good at his job and the villains knew it. A year or so later, Nigels’ skills would