Page 211 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

It wasn’t until the familiar sight of Buckingham Palace loomed into view that
the reason for all the secrecy became apparent. Escorted straight into the
grounds, beyond the palace gates, he was met from the car and escorted
into the palace and sat down in a small lounge at a table with one other
seat.

Within a few moments, the large doors opened and HM The Queen entered
the room. Showing the correct courtesy, Derek waited for ma’am to speak
first. In her soft tones, she explained that she had been briefed by Andrew of
the work Derek was undertaking in Thailand. Derek told me that ma’am
asked very searching questions, not for one moment shying away from the
ghastly and horrific scenes that he had to deal with. Tea and small cakes
were served and the conversation continued until ma’am felt she had heard
enough.

Ma’am shook Derek’s hand and thanked him for his sterling efforts and
wished him a safe journey back to Thailand. Once HM the Queen had left the
room, Derek was escorted back to the waiting car, back to the airport and
soon he was on the flight back to his duties at the Tsunami, pinching himself
to make sure he hadn’t dreamt the last few hours.

In January 2010, Derek was proud to be awarded the OBE for his services to
policing in her Majesty’s New Year Honours List.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Having related Derek’s experiences, returning to my humble existence seems
somewhat routine, but this is where Derek and I met and worked together so
often back in the eighties.

Every CID Aide accepts that they have to perform he role of ‘bag-carrier’ for
the experienced Detective who leads every investigation. I knew this and of
course was happy to watch and learn from the experience of the guys. As an
aide, I would work a shift pattern mixing 8x4, 9x5 and 2x10 shifts. The bonus for
me, for the six month attachment period anyway, was no night shifts.

Day shifts would start with actions required from the Night Duty Detective’s
‘Night-Note’. This was a summary of events, arrests and enquiries that had
taken place overnight and often required further enquiries such as taking
witness statements, interviewing overnight prisoners and conducting further
enquiries about incidents to bring them to a conclusion. Afternoon and
evening shifts presented the opportunity to catch up on paperwork, prepare
court files and dealing with incidents as they arose.

The part of the job I always loved most were the self-initiated enquiries
leading to planned arrests. This bought much greater satisfaction, initiating Page211
and involved in enquiries from start to finish, as opposed to picking up the