Page 57 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

Senior Course

Week 5 arrived and by now I had settled into course life. My embarrassing
moments and experiences strangely seemed to win me more friendships
which made the coming weeks far more enjoyable.

I was overjoyed to be placed in the top 3 in the class for my week 5 mid-
course exam and was now looking forward to being classed as a Senior in
week 6. The change in attitude from instructors, together with the respect
and responsibility that came from the new junior course set a completely
different, though still disciplined, more relaxed atmosphere.

It was now our responsibility to ensure the student bar was shut at 10:30 and
lights were all out by 11:00pm. Passion alley and the front gate security also
formed part of our additional responsibilities.

As the senior course we were expected to demonstrate exemplary behaviour
and discipline as we were now setting the example for the juniors. By now,
you would have to be very foolish to risk all you had worked for by letting
standards slip at this stage.

Our class consisted of 13 men and 6 women because at this time mid 1980
policewomen were significantly less in number as fewer female applicants
wanted to join the service. In total out of my class of nineteen there were
nine of us from the West Midlands, the others came from forces as far afield
as Essex, Greater Manchester and South Wales. The one force never
represented was the Metropolitan Police whose own training centre was at
Hendon in North London.

By the end of the course, we would all possess enough knowledge of the law
and how it is applied to serve as a basis for the real police work that would
very soon be upon us.

To reach the required standards of our examinations we had to be able to
recite key acts and sections of legislation drawn from the Criminal Law, Road
Traffic and General Police Duties. There is little value quoting chapter and
verse of what we learned in this book and much of it would cure any
insomnia the reader might suffer.
Perhaps of interest due to repeated use in TV programs and documentaries
are a couple of definitions you may have been familiar with.

The definition of a Police Constable:

‘A Constable is a citizen, locally appointed, but having authority under the
Crown, for the protection of life and property, the maintenance of order, the
prevention and detection of crime and the prosecution of offenders against
the Peace’. Page57