Page 70 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

helpful to everyone, experienced and otherwise. Control work was often
stressful, managing the whereabouts of all the officers for 8 hours at a time,
but Roger always wore a smile and had a great sense of fun and words of
encouragement for us all. Once Trevor spotted you were a worker, he would
defend you to the hilt and I quickly came to learn he was the ‘go to’ ‘skipper’
(supervisor) on the shift. As a young inexperienced probationer, the skippers
and the guys on the shift seemed between them, to have experience in
bucketloads, a great attitude and work ethic, which I found myself wanting
to emulate.

First Arrest

That first week I was ‘broken-in’ relatively easily which gave me the chance
to get to know my colleagues and the D3 patch I would be working for my
police service. Road Traffic Accidents and Traffic Process (vehicle and driver
offences) were very much what filled my pocket note book entries. However,
from the outset, traffic offences, whilst considered bread and butter for
probationers, brought me no great satisfaction. What I craved was the
opportunity to ‘right wrongs’, to help stem the rising tide of criminal
behaviour. The part of the definition of a Constable that resonated most with
me was ‘The protection of life and property, the maintenance of order, the
prevention and detection of crime’. This was the area where I knew I would
want to spend most of my police career.

My chance came in the second week when I was posted as an observer to
DM19, in a marked Austin Allegro ‘panda car’. These weren’t the faster
response vehicles and as such patrolled a smaller geographical area. DM19
was the area within a couple of miles radius of Erdington Police Station. It was
a 2-10 shift and I was to accompany WPC Roz Payne. From her collar
number, 4997 I already knew she was experienced and from all I’d heard she
was a great police officer who had a reputation for getting stuck in and
bringing home good results.
I should point out here that I will not name offenders throughout this book, not
for fear of any reprisals, but out of respect to the few whose lives took on a
more law-abiding route. Experience showed that many them were recidivists
(repeat offenders) who chose criminal activity as their path, however it would
not be fair to any that turned their life around, to sully a now cleansed
reputation.

Early in the afternoon the call came over the radio “DM19 where are you?
Report of persons on premises, St Marks Church, Stockland Green. What’s
your ETA?” Roz told me we were a few minutes away at most. “Delta Mike 19
Delta 3, we’re close by, ETA 2-3 minutes (Estimated Time of Arrival)” I excitedly
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responded.