Page 126 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

mind. The many victims I would encounter often expressed the same feeling,
that ‘things’ could be replaced, what could not be erased was the sense of
invasion and intrusion caused by the offence. The deliberate mess these
creatures left behind added salt to the wounds, the worst of which was
leaving human excrement in the family bed, the most private of areas.
Though thankfully rare, the sick mentality of such disgusting acts never
ceased to leave me feeling bewildered and angry.

Opportunistic thefts occupied a considerable amount of our time on the
beat. With an amateur fascination for psychology, I was as much interested
in the workings of the mind as I was the ‘points to prove’ with any given set of
circumstances.

I recall conversations with the youngest lad of a well known ‘feral family’ on
my patch. No more than 12 years old, this kid was a downright pest in the
local community. If he wasn’t nicking other peoples’ property, he was
damaging it or running amok around the streets with his ant-social behaviour.
I had little hope of this lad rehabilitating especially after our conversations. I
asked him if he had any sense of what behaviour was right and what was
wrong. His parents had obviously drummed their corrupt sense of immorality
into this kid because he explained that the only wrong was ‘getting caught’,
anything else was ok. When the rot goes that deep into a family, the future
for the youngsters inevitably involves a cycle of repeat offending that would
be difficult to break.

I was to see more evidence of the culture of this family when called to a
domestic dispute at the house. The wife called the police to say her husband
had been knocking her about and she wanted him arrested. I attended the
house with another officer to find the slanging match in full swing. Mom had
a reddened face saying her husband had belted her and she let us in. As we
went in, she said he’s belted her for not doing the housework. I asked if she
wanted her husband arrested and if she was prepared to make a statement
and see it through to court. She said yes, so we asked him to stand up so we
could arrest him. At this point her mood changed and she became instantly
defensive of her abuser. “Take yer fucking hands off him, leave him alone,
get out my house” she said in a complete turnaround. This was a frequent
occurrence in domestic disputes, with wifey calling the police to add weight
to her argument, then retracting when it came to us nicking him. Another
waste of our time.

Neither of them worked, both claiming all the benefits the state would allow.
Dad seemed proud of the fact that he claimed extra for invalidity benefit. He
was a huge 30 stones animal of a man and I surmised his only invalidity was a
weakness in his arms preventing him from washing. As I glanced around the
room, the carpets were worn down to floorboards and the state of the place Page126
was disgusting, with mangy dogs wandering around, their fur and excreta