Page 204 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

CID - October 1985

Nervously excited, I turned
up early for my first day as a
CID Aide back on familiar
ground at Erdington Police
Station, on Monday 21
st
October 1985.

Erdington Police Station is a
two-storey building built at
the junction of Sutton New
Road and Wilton Road.

The CID office was on the
upper floor (pictured), that Figure 93 Erdington Police Station - CID Office Top Floor
overlooked the busy main carriageway.

On arrival I met with the Detective Inspector, a friendly old-schooler Alan
‘Cloughy’ Moore. I never did find out why he earned that nickname. He
welcomed me to the office and sat me just outside his office, seated
opposite one of the DC’s I had held in such high regard, DC Ray Bird.

Let there be no misunderstanding about the cartoon detective at the
beginning of this section. I had no illusions of becoming a latter-day Sherlock
Holmes or other famous detective. The cartoon is merely a sign-post of the
change of direction my police career took from this point forward.

With only five and a half years in the job, I considered myself extremely
fortunate that I had the opportunity to aim toward my goal of becoming a
detective. So young in service, what I could not have known was that I would
never again don the blue serge uniform I’d so proudly worn.

There are those people who are innately talented in their chosen careers.
These folks enjoy success without apparent effort, which is of course untrue.
Like the graceful swan gliding across the water seeming like they are merely
floating along, when in fact, below the surface their legs are paddling hard.
The talented folk appear even more gifted because they make it look so
natural and so easy.
Many others achieve a degree of success by pure hard graft. Any deficiency
in talent is compensated by dedication and persistence.

I never considered myself a natural thief-taker, nor was I a talented copper,
either in uniform or latterly as a CID aide. I was however a grafter and was
under no illusion that I would always have to work hard to get the results a
few others seemed to achieve in their sleep. Page204