A new Police Commissioner has been appointed in London. Her name, Cressida Dick. The first woman to lead the Metropolitan Police. She led the re-investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and did a damned good job of it by all accounts.
That's all very nice, but what does it mean to the officers on the ground?
Diddly squat. That's what.
It makes zero difference to the boys and girls who are rushing around and desperately holding onto London's sanity by their fingernails. In fact, if it hadn't been plastered all over the news, I wouldn't even have known we had a new Commissioner. I do remember that when Sir Hogan Howe took over the role he replaced a lot of the antiquated computers that simply didn't work. After that, nothing.
That isn't to say the Commissioner isn't doing anything useful. I'm sure they are. It just isn't noticeable from where I am sitting. To me it appears that the role of Commissioner has become a blur between that of a politician and a representative that goes to events to shake peoples' hands and tell them how well we are doing, but promising them we'll improve.
The face of The Met. An expensive face of The Met, at around £250,000 a year.
Sir Hogan Howe would publish a weekly diary of his activities to officers online. I always thought it sounded like that of an excited child that had been invited to a variety of VIP events. I am genuinely convinced he did a lot of good, and that Ma'am Dick will too, but whether or not they will help me or my colleagues in any way whatsoever is very unlikely.
Sir Hogan Howe arrested someone last year and the media went bananas. That same day Anonymous Bobby arrested two shoplifters and didn't even get a mention in the local newspaper. But then again, perhaps my face wasn't deemed as nice as that of Sir Bernard.
Anonymous Bobby
Showing posts with label met police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label met police. Show all posts
Monday, February 27, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Can A Copper Have A Cuppa?
On the BBC today was a story about two police officers who had stopped off to get a cup of tea on their way to a call. Unbeknownst to the officers a female was deceased and hanging at the address they were due to attend.
The call had come from a concerned friend who had received a suicidal message from the female in question. The call was originally directed to the ambulance service but was also passed to the police, most likely due to their ability to force entry into an address if required.
Police call handlers graded the call using normal the police triage. It was graded 'S'. This is the second highest grading a call can receive ('I' grade being the highest) and gives officers up to one hour to arrive on the scene. Whilst the limit is an hour, officers should arrive as soon as possible. ('I' grade calls have a 14 minute limit).
Lack of police officer numbers and recent cuts means that the officers out on the street, namely the response units, are almost always en route to one call or another. Whether its an 'I', 'S' or 'E' grade. ('E' grades have a 72 hour limit, they are unofficially known as "E-ventually" calls). That means that over a 10 hour day officers are constantly on their way to one call, diverted to another of higher grading, stopping at something they have come across direct such as a damage only road collision etc etc. Hardly ever are they 'On Patrol' - or free for whatever call comes out.
So this beggars the question, is it really that unreasonable that these two officers stopped to grab two cups of tea from Mcdonald's, which they probably drank whilst en route? For if officers only ever went to the toilet, had a drink, or ate whilst they were 'On Patrol' they would never do any of the beforementioned necessities.
Had PC Tony Stephenson and PC Gavin Bateman not stopped to pick up the two teas, the female would still have been dead in her home. She had died before the original call was made.
A 2 day hearing is due around the conduct of these two officers next week, costing God only knows how much. All because they dared to stop to get a cup of tea, before making the 'S' grade within the allotted one hour time slot. At a time when the public needs every police officer possible out on the street protecting them, this seems like a waste of everybody's time.
Police officers eat, drink, smoke, urinate and defecate just like everyone else. They are not entitled to any official break and often manage a constant flow of calls and people needing help by stopping and doing these things whilst en route to lesser graded calls such as the one in question.
An unprecedented attack on police officers on the street from within, the public and the media continues, and now it seems that despite the difficult work we do, we aren't even entitled to the most Englsih of constitutions, a simple cup of tea.
Anonymous Bobby
The call had come from a concerned friend who had received a suicidal message from the female in question. The call was originally directed to the ambulance service but was also passed to the police, most likely due to their ability to force entry into an address if required.
Police call handlers graded the call using normal the police triage. It was graded 'S'. This is the second highest grading a call can receive ('I' grade being the highest) and gives officers up to one hour to arrive on the scene. Whilst the limit is an hour, officers should arrive as soon as possible. ('I' grade calls have a 14 minute limit).
Lack of police officer numbers and recent cuts means that the officers out on the street, namely the response units, are almost always en route to one call or another. Whether its an 'I', 'S' or 'E' grade. ('E' grades have a 72 hour limit, they are unofficially known as "E-ventually" calls). That means that over a 10 hour day officers are constantly on their way to one call, diverted to another of higher grading, stopping at something they have come across direct such as a damage only road collision etc etc. Hardly ever are they 'On Patrol' - or free for whatever call comes out.
So this beggars the question, is it really that unreasonable that these two officers stopped to grab two cups of tea from Mcdonald's, which they probably drank whilst en route? For if officers only ever went to the toilet, had a drink, or ate whilst they were 'On Patrol' they would never do any of the beforementioned necessities.
Had PC Tony Stephenson and PC Gavin Bateman not stopped to pick up the two teas, the female would still have been dead in her home. She had died before the original call was made.
A 2 day hearing is due around the conduct of these two officers next week, costing God only knows how much. All because they dared to stop to get a cup of tea, before making the 'S' grade within the allotted one hour time slot. At a time when the public needs every police officer possible out on the street protecting them, this seems like a waste of everybody's time.
Police officers eat, drink, smoke, urinate and defecate just like everyone else. They are not entitled to any official break and often manage a constant flow of calls and people needing help by stopping and doing these things whilst en route to lesser graded calls such as the one in question.
An unprecedented attack on police officers on the street from within, the public and the media continues, and now it seems that despite the difficult work we do, we aren't even entitled to the most Englsih of constitutions, a simple cup of tea.
Anonymous Bobby
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Anonymous Bobby and Domestic Incidents
Ask any police officer and they will tell you, we deal with a LOT of domestic incidents.
Sometimes things get out of hand, and we are called. We all argue with our loved ones and sometimes things can get a bit ridiculous. However, there does appear to be a lot of people incapable of holding a relationship without constant police assistance.
The nature of domestics means that any domestic related incident leads to a report taking up valuable police time. I've personally been to a domestic whereby the husband has called us because his wife has hidden his Xbox and he wanted to play with it. The compulsory paperwork that follows takes around 30 minutes. The majority of the time, it is people as pathetic as the example I have just outlined calling us.
I always tell people, if police are frequently being called to you and your partner, perhaps it isn't working. This seems like ridiculous and alien advice to some people.
One incident I'll always remember was a French couple. The wife had called us as her husband was angry and throwing things around their home. Unfortunately neither spoke a word of English so we were trying to communicate through an interpreter over the phone. Suddenly the husband attacks. With vengeance in his eyes he lunges at myself and my colleague. We roll around on the floor with him to get him restrained. Meanwhile his wife has armed herself with a handbag and is swinging it viciously at my colleague and I. In the background a rather bewildered interpreter could be heard on the phone asking if we needed his assistance any further. All good fun and a comical scene to reflect on, except that the couple had children and they were distraught.
If I had a pound for every person who had called police to get their partner removed from their home, only to let them back in the next day and call us again, I would be rich enough to never don that foresaken uniform ever again.
Reflecting on the man and his Xbox, another call I once went to comes to mind. A neighbour had called us to a loud disturbance in the flat opposite her own. Upon our arrival, sure enough, hysterical shouting and crashing could be heard inside. A loud bang on the door from us and the flat fell silent. Footsteps gingerly approached the front door from inside and it opened. A young chap wearing a headset poked his head around the door, looking bemused. As it turned out he had been rigorously defending a fortification on Call of Duty on his Xbox and had probably got a little carried away with his role.
It's not really a laughing matter, though. I've also seen domestics that have led to murder, rape, serious assaults and abuse. Understandable then that a bloke taking Call of Duty so seriously is actually appreciated as a little light relief.
Anonymous Bobby
Sometimes things get out of hand, and we are called. We all argue with our loved ones and sometimes things can get a bit ridiculous. However, there does appear to be a lot of people incapable of holding a relationship without constant police assistance.
The nature of domestics means that any domestic related incident leads to a report taking up valuable police time. I've personally been to a domestic whereby the husband has called us because his wife has hidden his Xbox and he wanted to play with it. The compulsory paperwork that follows takes around 30 minutes. The majority of the time, it is people as pathetic as the example I have just outlined calling us.
I always tell people, if police are frequently being called to you and your partner, perhaps it isn't working. This seems like ridiculous and alien advice to some people.
One incident I'll always remember was a French couple. The wife had called us as her husband was angry and throwing things around their home. Unfortunately neither spoke a word of English so we were trying to communicate through an interpreter over the phone. Suddenly the husband attacks. With vengeance in his eyes he lunges at myself and my colleague. We roll around on the floor with him to get him restrained. Meanwhile his wife has armed herself with a handbag and is swinging it viciously at my colleague and I. In the background a rather bewildered interpreter could be heard on the phone asking if we needed his assistance any further. All good fun and a comical scene to reflect on, except that the couple had children and they were distraught.
If I had a pound for every person who had called police to get their partner removed from their home, only to let them back in the next day and call us again, I would be rich enough to never don that foresaken uniform ever again.
Reflecting on the man and his Xbox, another call I once went to comes to mind. A neighbour had called us to a loud disturbance in the flat opposite her own. Upon our arrival, sure enough, hysterical shouting and crashing could be heard inside. A loud bang on the door from us and the flat fell silent. Footsteps gingerly approached the front door from inside and it opened. A young chap wearing a headset poked his head around the door, looking bemused. As it turned out he had been rigorously defending a fortification on Call of Duty on his Xbox and had probably got a little carried away with his role.
It's not really a laughing matter, though. I've also seen domestics that have led to murder, rape, serious assaults and abuse. Understandable then that a bloke taking Call of Duty so seriously is actually appreciated as a little light relief.
Anonymous Bobby
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Anonymous Bobby and the Naked Man
Being a police officer in London one is regularly surprised with how many people one encounters entirely in the buff. It really is more common than you would ever believe.
It was a brisk Sunday morning, approaching 0730 hours and I was on patrol with David (the same David I was working with in 'The Swinging Man' blog). The birds were singing away and David and I were discussing what to get for breakfast. The radio, rather rudely in my opinion, interrupted us and informed us that an elderly lady had called stating there was a naked man stood outside her house. David and I gave each other a knowing look and accepted the call.
Minutes later we were pulling into the quiet cul-de-sac. Sure enough a young man, probably aged about 25 years, was stood outside a detached bungalow, completely naked, and standing in a pose as if he were a footballer in a defensive wall, defending a free kick.
I exited the vehicle and approached. "You alright mate?" I asked. "Do I look alright?" he retorted. He had me there. It was a stupid question, but how does one engage with a male stood stark bollock naked on a fine morning in suburban London?
David and I were hesitant with him. The circumstances would suggest he was having a mental health breakdown. As I approached I saw that he had several large burns on his body. I could make out the exact pattern of the heat pad of an iron on his skin. This told me everything I needed to know in an instant. He had been kidnapped, held against his will and tortured. Most likely for information, money or recrimination.
The old lady who had called us brought out a blanket and wrapped it around the poor chap and we took him to hospital. As it turned out, and unsurprisingly, he was not particularly fond of the police and did not want to enthrall us with the tale of his undoing. He was incredibly well known to police and known to associate with violent gangs. He had been kidnapped from another part of London the previous night by a rival gang.
There isn't too much you can do but record an incident like that, without any cooperation and not knowing the full circumstances of what has occurred.
What was worse was that David and I had completely gone off the idea of breakfast.
Anonymous Bobby
It was a brisk Sunday morning, approaching 0730 hours and I was on patrol with David (the same David I was working with in 'The Swinging Man' blog). The birds were singing away and David and I were discussing what to get for breakfast. The radio, rather rudely in my opinion, interrupted us and informed us that an elderly lady had called stating there was a naked man stood outside her house. David and I gave each other a knowing look and accepted the call.
Minutes later we were pulling into the quiet cul-de-sac. Sure enough a young man, probably aged about 25 years, was stood outside a detached bungalow, completely naked, and standing in a pose as if he were a footballer in a defensive wall, defending a free kick.
I exited the vehicle and approached. "You alright mate?" I asked. "Do I look alright?" he retorted. He had me there. It was a stupid question, but how does one engage with a male stood stark bollock naked on a fine morning in suburban London?
David and I were hesitant with him. The circumstances would suggest he was having a mental health breakdown. As I approached I saw that he had several large burns on his body. I could make out the exact pattern of the heat pad of an iron on his skin. This told me everything I needed to know in an instant. He had been kidnapped, held against his will and tortured. Most likely for information, money or recrimination.
The old lady who had called us brought out a blanket and wrapped it around the poor chap and we took him to hospital. As it turned out, and unsurprisingly, he was not particularly fond of the police and did not want to enthrall us with the tale of his undoing. He was incredibly well known to police and known to associate with violent gangs. He had been kidnapped from another part of London the previous night by a rival gang.
There isn't too much you can do but record an incident like that, without any cooperation and not knowing the full circumstances of what has occurred.
What was worse was that David and I had completely gone off the idea of breakfast.
Anonymous Bobby
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Where It All Began For Anonymous Bobby
Everybody remembers their first arrest. I was fortunate, you could say, as mine was slightly more exciting than the average body for shoplifting or similar.
It was a cold December night and I had been on response team for only a few days. I was working with two very experienced PC's, who have probably been retired for a long time now. Other officers on our team were chasing a young lad who had been robbing other youths at knife point. The suspect was making off through the rear gardens of addresses near where we were situated.
I was so new that speeding through London's streets with blue lights flashing and sirens wailing was still exciting. It was dark so the blue lights reflected on the street signs and were almost blinding. As we approached where the young man was being chased he darted across the road in front of us and into an estate on our left.
I flew out of the vehicle and gave chase. To get into the estate I had to hurdle a small fence about 2 feet in height. I did this successfully, however the grass on the other side was icy and I promptly fell 'arse over tit' on the other side. Undeterred I got to my feet and continued to chase (I was a much younger man back then). I gained ground, he was young but had already been running for several minutes and was beginning to tire. I reached out and my hand brushed his hood which flapped behind him in the wind. I was so close as he jumped down 4 or 5 stairs into a stairway in the block of flats. I followed. I obviously hadn't learned my lesson. The concrete was solid ice as I landed and I repeated my inelegant fall from a few moments earlier.
It is testament to the folly of youth, excitement and an eagerness to please that moments after my second fall I caught up with the young man and tackled him to the floor with an interception that even the most hardened rugby player would have been proud of.
I arrested him for possession of a bladed article and robbery. He cried all the way to custody. The skin on my knees took weeks to heal.
It's sad to say but I'll be completely honest with you. If that same incident occurred tomoroow I wouldn't even bother giving chase. I don't know what happened to the lad but I'm sure it was a pathetic slap on the wrist. The grief, writing and hassle that follows such an arrest makes it not worthwhile in the first place, to anybody. It is a likely estimation that the harshest punishment laid out because of the above situation was to my poor knees. On the plus side, I had obviously impressed my colleagues. As we returned to the station, for the first time, one of them offered to make me a cup of tea. I had been accepted.
Anonymous Bobby
It was a cold December night and I had been on response team for only a few days. I was working with two very experienced PC's, who have probably been retired for a long time now. Other officers on our team were chasing a young lad who had been robbing other youths at knife point. The suspect was making off through the rear gardens of addresses near where we were situated.
I was so new that speeding through London's streets with blue lights flashing and sirens wailing was still exciting. It was dark so the blue lights reflected on the street signs and were almost blinding. As we approached where the young man was being chased he darted across the road in front of us and into an estate on our left.
I flew out of the vehicle and gave chase. To get into the estate I had to hurdle a small fence about 2 feet in height. I did this successfully, however the grass on the other side was icy and I promptly fell 'arse over tit' on the other side. Undeterred I got to my feet and continued to chase (I was a much younger man back then). I gained ground, he was young but had already been running for several minutes and was beginning to tire. I reached out and my hand brushed his hood which flapped behind him in the wind. I was so close as he jumped down 4 or 5 stairs into a stairway in the block of flats. I followed. I obviously hadn't learned my lesson. The concrete was solid ice as I landed and I repeated my inelegant fall from a few moments earlier.
It is testament to the folly of youth, excitement and an eagerness to please that moments after my second fall I caught up with the young man and tackled him to the floor with an interception that even the most hardened rugby player would have been proud of.
I arrested him for possession of a bladed article and robbery. He cried all the way to custody. The skin on my knees took weeks to heal.
It's sad to say but I'll be completely honest with you. If that same incident occurred tomoroow I wouldn't even bother giving chase. I don't know what happened to the lad but I'm sure it was a pathetic slap on the wrist. The grief, writing and hassle that follows such an arrest makes it not worthwhile in the first place, to anybody. It is a likely estimation that the harshest punishment laid out because of the above situation was to my poor knees. On the plus side, I had obviously impressed my colleagues. As we returned to the station, for the first time, one of them offered to make me a cup of tea. I had been accepted.
Anonymous Bobby
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Trump vs. May - A Police Officer's Perspective
This is a blog about the experiences of a police officer in London. Sometimes it will inevitably dip into political issues but I will avoid doing so where possible.
Now in true Met Police fashion I shall contradict all of the above.
It's difficult to talk about anything without referencing Donald Trump at the moment. I'm not going to talk about his immigration policies or anything else which is grabbing headlines at the moment. I want to discuss his attitude towards the men and women of the American police services.
Trump and Mike Pence have both been very vocal in their support of police officers in America. They have shown both gratitude and respect for the work done by police services and spoken about maintaining police officer conditions and numbers.
In contrast, whilst Home Secretary, Theresa May led an unprecedented attack on police services, and police officers alike. She became a Wicked Witch type figure amongst police officers. She oversaw pension cuts, pay freezes, benefits being slashed, and officer numbers dwindling to a point of workloads putting unbearable strain on those remaining.
One can criticise Trump for a multitude of reasons. It isn't difficult to do. But one thing he has brought that I find refreshing is his attitude towards police. He understands that the thin blue line is what stands between his success and total chaos. May, on the other hand, appears to treat the police like the enemy. Rarely, if ever, does she come out and voice support for the work being done. Only in UK government can an incident like 'Plebgate' occur. An undercurrent of disdain and distrust appears to run between officers and politicians, in both directions admittedly.
There are always lessons to be learned, in every situation.
I'm not coming out in favour of Trump and Pence, but it's easy to dismiss him completely when in fact our own leaders could learn a little something about protecting the people that protect them every single day. So take note, Mrs May, Trump's policies may be causing you no end of grief, but you have something to learn from him nonetheless.
As for the police in America, I'm sure they are happy to have a President who supports them so wholeheartedly. I would imagine that many of the men and women of the United States' police are driving around with 'Make America Great Again' bumper stickers on the back of their vehicles.
Anonymous Bobby
Now in true Met Police fashion I shall contradict all of the above.
It's difficult to talk about anything without referencing Donald Trump at the moment. I'm not going to talk about his immigration policies or anything else which is grabbing headlines at the moment. I want to discuss his attitude towards the men and women of the American police services.
Trump and Mike Pence have both been very vocal in their support of police officers in America. They have shown both gratitude and respect for the work done by police services and spoken about maintaining police officer conditions and numbers.
In contrast, whilst Home Secretary, Theresa May led an unprecedented attack on police services, and police officers alike. She became a Wicked Witch type figure amongst police officers. She oversaw pension cuts, pay freezes, benefits being slashed, and officer numbers dwindling to a point of workloads putting unbearable strain on those remaining.
One can criticise Trump for a multitude of reasons. It isn't difficult to do. But one thing he has brought that I find refreshing is his attitude towards police. He understands that the thin blue line is what stands between his success and total chaos. May, on the other hand, appears to treat the police like the enemy. Rarely, if ever, does she come out and voice support for the work being done. Only in UK government can an incident like 'Plebgate' occur. An undercurrent of disdain and distrust appears to run between officers and politicians, in both directions admittedly.
There are always lessons to be learned, in every situation.
I'm not coming out in favour of Trump and Pence, but it's easy to dismiss him completely when in fact our own leaders could learn a little something about protecting the people that protect them every single day. So take note, Mrs May, Trump's policies may be causing you no end of grief, but you have something to learn from him nonetheless.
As for the police in America, I'm sure they are happy to have a President who supports them so wholeheartedly. I would imagine that many of the men and women of the United States' police are driving around with 'Make America Great Again' bumper stickers on the back of their vehicles.
Anonymous Bobby
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Police Jargon 3
The latest in my series of blogs explaining the unique language of police officers in London
Mong - An idiot. Somebody incapable of living their life without constant supervision.
Wiping Your Feet On The Way Out - A reference to somebody's home which is disgustingly dirty.
Doughnuts - A punishment. Any indiscretion could lead an officer to be required to buy doughnuts for his entire team. An officer may walk in late and be greeted by shouts of "Doughnuts!".
Soon Be Christmas - A term said when things are bad. As in "Never mind, it'll soon be Christmas".
Death Message - The task of attending someone's next of kin to inform them that their loved one is deceased.
Tit Hat - The large helmet traditionally associated with British police officers.
MetCab - The process of using a police vehicle in order to get home, usually when drunk. The drunk party would not drive but get a colleague to drive them home in a police car.
Over the Side - Somebody is 'over the side' if they are are cheating on their partner.
Bosh - To bosh something is to get rid of it in the easiest way possible. For example an incident may be 'boshed' by simply convincing all relevant parties that no further action is required. This is also known as Putting something in a box.
Met Bundle - The somewhat chaotic bundle of bodies that often ensues when trying to restrain somebody. Also known as a Roll Around.
Doing Somebody's Legs - Stitching somebody up.
Job's Fucked - A reference to how 'The Job' has detereorated to a point that nothing works. It is fucked.
Anonymous Bobby
Mong - An idiot. Somebody incapable of living their life without constant supervision.
Wiping Your Feet On The Way Out - A reference to somebody's home which is disgustingly dirty.
Doughnuts - A punishment. Any indiscretion could lead an officer to be required to buy doughnuts for his entire team. An officer may walk in late and be greeted by shouts of "Doughnuts!".
Soon Be Christmas - A term said when things are bad. As in "Never mind, it'll soon be Christmas".
Death Message - The task of attending someone's next of kin to inform them that their loved one is deceased.
Tit Hat - The large helmet traditionally associated with British police officers.
MetCab - The process of using a police vehicle in order to get home, usually when drunk. The drunk party would not drive but get a colleague to drive them home in a police car.
Over the Side - Somebody is 'over the side' if they are are cheating on their partner.
Bosh - To bosh something is to get rid of it in the easiest way possible. For example an incident may be 'boshed' by simply convincing all relevant parties that no further action is required. This is also known as Putting something in a box.
Met Bundle - The somewhat chaotic bundle of bodies that often ensues when trying to restrain somebody. Also known as a Roll Around.
Doing Somebody's Legs - Stitching somebody up.
Job's Fucked - A reference to how 'The Job' has detereorated to a point that nothing works. It is fucked.
Anonymous Bobby
Friday, January 27, 2017
Operation Minstead
Operation Minstead refers to the investigation into the prolific burglar/rapist that had plagued London's elderly community for decades. He had acquired the nickname 'The Nightstalker'.
Since the 1980s there had been many similar offences. Late at night a suspect would remove a pane of glass in the window of an elderly person. It was always an elderly person whom lived alone. Items were carefully moved to one side and the perpetrator took his time to cut telephone wires (and in later years place mobile phones on top of kitchen cabinets). Credit cards and cash were taken before he would gently sit on the bed of the elderly person. He would then commit rape and sexual assaults on his terrified victims. He targeted both male and female victims aged around 80 years.
His crimes took place over 20 years and are believed to number in the hundreds. Many victims are believed to have been too ashamed to have come forward. Many died before plucking up the courage to come forward. Some, having reported the matter, died soon after the offence, having never been the same since the awful intrusion.
Operation Minstead was the operation set up by the Metropolitan Police in order to catch The Nightstalker. It spanned decades and many officers deemed The Nightstalker too good at his crimes to ever be caught. He was, once, chased for a mile having just committed an offence by a lone police officer, but he was lost in a car park.
Police had descriptions of their man from several victims and CCTV of him withdrawing money from a cashpoint (ATM) using a victim's stolen credit card. They also had his DNA. But none of the DNA matched that which was held on the National DNA database.
The Nightstalker was caught a couple of years ago. By then, police knew the model of car he was using and 'old fashioned police work' (hundreds of police out at night looking for a man matching The Nightstalker's description in the model of car involved) they stopped him with his implements having recently committed one of his trademark crimes.
His DNA matched that left at several of the crime scenes.
His name was Delroy Grant, 53 years of age. He was a mini cab driver who spent the day caring for his wife who suffered from multiple sclerosis. Neighbours described him as a gentleman. His was mild mannered and obsessively clean and tidy. He tried to blame the crimes on his son, but that simply did not add up.
He was never found guilty of all his crimes because so many victims had either died, or not come forward. The Crown Prosecution Service picked 29 of the strongest cases against Grant and he was convicted of them. He was sentenced to a minimum 27 years. Meaning he could be freed aged 80, the average age of his victims.
Anonymous Bobby
Since the 1980s there had been many similar offences. Late at night a suspect would remove a pane of glass in the window of an elderly person. It was always an elderly person whom lived alone. Items were carefully moved to one side and the perpetrator took his time to cut telephone wires (and in later years place mobile phones on top of kitchen cabinets). Credit cards and cash were taken before he would gently sit on the bed of the elderly person. He would then commit rape and sexual assaults on his terrified victims. He targeted both male and female victims aged around 80 years.
His crimes took place over 20 years and are believed to number in the hundreds. Many victims are believed to have been too ashamed to have come forward. Many died before plucking up the courage to come forward. Some, having reported the matter, died soon after the offence, having never been the same since the awful intrusion.
Operation Minstead was the operation set up by the Metropolitan Police in order to catch The Nightstalker. It spanned decades and many officers deemed The Nightstalker too good at his crimes to ever be caught. He was, once, chased for a mile having just committed an offence by a lone police officer, but he was lost in a car park.
Police had descriptions of their man from several victims and CCTV of him withdrawing money from a cashpoint (ATM) using a victim's stolen credit card. They also had his DNA. But none of the DNA matched that which was held on the National DNA database.
The Nightstalker was caught a couple of years ago. By then, police knew the model of car he was using and 'old fashioned police work' (hundreds of police out at night looking for a man matching The Nightstalker's description in the model of car involved) they stopped him with his implements having recently committed one of his trademark crimes.
His DNA matched that left at several of the crime scenes.
His name was Delroy Grant, 53 years of age. He was a mini cab driver who spent the day caring for his wife who suffered from multiple sclerosis. Neighbours described him as a gentleman. His was mild mannered and obsessively clean and tidy. He tried to blame the crimes on his son, but that simply did not add up.
He was never found guilty of all his crimes because so many victims had either died, or not come forward. The Crown Prosecution Service picked 29 of the strongest cases against Grant and he was convicted of them. He was sentenced to a minimum 27 years. Meaning he could be freed aged 80, the average age of his victims.
Anonymous Bobby
Thursday, January 26, 2017
You Can't Save Them All
We've all seen the movies where somebody is dragged from the sea, or found collapsed, and our hero gets straight down and starts doing CPR. Shortly afterwards the poor suffering victim will splutter back to life and thank their new found hero.
I've had some success when it comes to CPR and lives have been saved. But it is not how the movies or television depict it.
Effective compressions on a person's chest are likely to break the ribs. One is required to compress about a third of the way into the person's torso. Imagine feeling the ribs crack beneath your hands as you push down. Then with each compression you can feel the broken bones inside the chest cavity.
I have been reliably informed by a doctor that CPR does not actually bring anybody back to life, it merely keeps the body alive. Compressions keep the blood moving around the body and therefore supplying it with oxygen, and rescue breaths into the victim's mouth keeps oxygen in the blood.
So you never actually bring someone back to life with CPR, you merely keep them alive.
It's not a glamorous task either. I would like to flatter myself by telling you stories of a poor, dying damsel in distress, images of me ripping my shirt open to reveal a six pack glistening in the sun while I run towards her in slow motion, before kneeling to bring her back to life with a few sensual compressions and a lingering kiss/rescue breath.
You'll be glad to know that the story I shall share is much more realistic, and a lot more gory.
A homeless man had jumped from a hostel window, falling from the second floor to the street below. As he had jumped his head had moved backwards and he descended as if lying flat on his back in bed. He landed this way and did not move. His head was flat on the pavement.
A fall from the second floor is most survivable. It is generally accepted that a fall from the 4th floor or higher will ultimately guarantee death. However, if you hit your head you could die from falling from a standing position.
Anyway, I was the first to reach this man. His facial expression told me he was dead. But there were onlookers. As I knelt beside him I started to see a grayish, clear liquid seep from the back of his head. I began chest compressions. Police officers are told that even if they know a person is dead, try CPR, their family may be looking on and just need to see someone trying to save their loved ones. Equally the public report feeling helpless and seeing somebody take action reassures them. Apparently.
That didn't matter though, I thought I had a good chance of saving this man.
CPR is a curious task. You become completely enveloped by the rhythm and strength of what you are doing. Making sure you do 30 compressions to 2 breaths (luckily I had a mask to help deliver the rescue breaths). I have always found that I become somewhat detached from my environment when conducting CPR. And that is how I found myself that day. It wasn't until I felt myself being dragged away by a paramedic concerned that I had completely lost the plot that I snapped back to reality.
The paramedic told me the male was gone. He turned the body slightly and I saw the man's brains dripping from the back of his head, which had taken the full force of the impact with the pavement.
I was covered in juices and blood. But, you can't save them all.
Anonymous Bobby
I've had some success when it comes to CPR and lives have been saved. But it is not how the movies or television depict it.
Effective compressions on a person's chest are likely to break the ribs. One is required to compress about a third of the way into the person's torso. Imagine feeling the ribs crack beneath your hands as you push down. Then with each compression you can feel the broken bones inside the chest cavity.
I have been reliably informed by a doctor that CPR does not actually bring anybody back to life, it merely keeps the body alive. Compressions keep the blood moving around the body and therefore supplying it with oxygen, and rescue breaths into the victim's mouth keeps oxygen in the blood.
So you never actually bring someone back to life with CPR, you merely keep them alive.
It's not a glamorous task either. I would like to flatter myself by telling you stories of a poor, dying damsel in distress, images of me ripping my shirt open to reveal a six pack glistening in the sun while I run towards her in slow motion, before kneeling to bring her back to life with a few sensual compressions and a lingering kiss/rescue breath.
You'll be glad to know that the story I shall share is much more realistic, and a lot more gory.
A homeless man had jumped from a hostel window, falling from the second floor to the street below. As he had jumped his head had moved backwards and he descended as if lying flat on his back in bed. He landed this way and did not move. His head was flat on the pavement.
A fall from the second floor is most survivable. It is generally accepted that a fall from the 4th floor or higher will ultimately guarantee death. However, if you hit your head you could die from falling from a standing position.
Anyway, I was the first to reach this man. His facial expression told me he was dead. But there were onlookers. As I knelt beside him I started to see a grayish, clear liquid seep from the back of his head. I began chest compressions. Police officers are told that even if they know a person is dead, try CPR, their family may be looking on and just need to see someone trying to save their loved ones. Equally the public report feeling helpless and seeing somebody take action reassures them. Apparently.
That didn't matter though, I thought I had a good chance of saving this man.
CPR is a curious task. You become completely enveloped by the rhythm and strength of what you are doing. Making sure you do 30 compressions to 2 breaths (luckily I had a mask to help deliver the rescue breaths). I have always found that I become somewhat detached from my environment when conducting CPR. And that is how I found myself that day. It wasn't until I felt myself being dragged away by a paramedic concerned that I had completely lost the plot that I snapped back to reality.
The paramedic told me the male was gone. He turned the body slightly and I saw the man's brains dripping from the back of his head, which had taken the full force of the impact with the pavement.
I was covered in juices and blood. But, you can't save them all.
Anonymous Bobby
Saturday, January 21, 2017
The Man Who Cut His Nose Off To Spite His Face
People do bizarre and unexplicable things.
There was a man who was wanted by police. He knew police were looking for him and so he took a knife and stabbed himself. Whether or not he intended to die I do not know. How he thought this would help if he did not intend to die, is also beyond me. Sadly, in this case it appears that he would have been better off if he had died.
His injuries were extensive and he suffered a stroke moments after self harming.
The stroke was catastrophic and he was left unable to communicate and was left, for want of a better word, a vegetable. He was only a young man and he had drawn his life to a partially premature end. Doctors would later predict that the man would not recover to his former self.
It's hard to understand how or why a person may take such drastic action. The offence for which he was wanted was relatively minor and he had not suffered any serious mental health problems prior to the incident. His family were left to pick up the pieces for the rest of his life because of one ridiculous and emotional outburst.
As a police officer I find myself regularly surrounded by such tragedy. It is most difficult to rationalise people's actions in one's mind. It is also difficult to explain to people the effect being around such events has on me. What am I supposed to tell my wife when I get home after each shift? I, like most police officers with 'non-job' wives, simply say nothing.
Anonymous Bobby
There was a man who was wanted by police. He knew police were looking for him and so he took a knife and stabbed himself. Whether or not he intended to die I do not know. How he thought this would help if he did not intend to die, is also beyond me. Sadly, in this case it appears that he would have been better off if he had died.
His injuries were extensive and he suffered a stroke moments after self harming.
The stroke was catastrophic and he was left unable to communicate and was left, for want of a better word, a vegetable. He was only a young man and he had drawn his life to a partially premature end. Doctors would later predict that the man would not recover to his former self.
It's hard to understand how or why a person may take such drastic action. The offence for which he was wanted was relatively minor and he had not suffered any serious mental health problems prior to the incident. His family were left to pick up the pieces for the rest of his life because of one ridiculous and emotional outburst.
As a police officer I find myself regularly surrounded by such tragedy. It is most difficult to rationalise people's actions in one's mind. It is also difficult to explain to people the effect being around such events has on me. What am I supposed to tell my wife when I get home after each shift? I, like most police officers with 'non-job' wives, simply say nothing.
Anonymous Bobby
Friday, January 20, 2017
Police Jargon 2
The second in Anonymous Bobby's Police Jargon series....
The Job - 'The Job' is a general way of referring to the police as a whole. For example:
John: "See that bloke over there?"
Boris: "Yeah, isnt't he in The Job?"
John: "Yeah he works in Croydon."
In some instances it is shortened to simply 'Job'. For example:
John: "That bloke is Job."
or
John: "I hate that bloke he is always talking Job" (indicating that he is always talking about the police and his occupation).
Jobfit - This is a term used to describe a person of either sex who is considered sexually attractive but only when compared to other police officers. In the general population they may be of average looks, whereas compared to other police officers, and the limited selection available, they would be classed as 'Jobfit'.
Sack of Shit - Refers to anybody he looks untidy. He "looks like a sack of shit".
Weary - Anything or anybody who makes things unnecessarily difficult. A call somebody is dealing with may be weary, meaning it is complicated and likely to be protracted. Or an officer may be considered weary for doing things to the letter of the law or taking too long to complete tasks.
PC Rain - Considered by all to be the most effective police officer the world has ever seen. PC Rain is simply, the rain. It is a reference to the tendency of crime to significantly diminish whilst it is raining.
Refs - Short for refreshments. Used to describe a break. "I'm going for refs now" or "What have you got for refs?"
Q - Police officers are a superstitious bunch. It is widely considered that using the word 'quiet' in any form will bring a sudden increase in crime and calls. Rather than risk saying 'quiet' officers say 'Q'. For example:
John: "It's really Q tonight isn't it?"
Boris: "Yeah, I haven't seen it this Q for a long time".
Old Sweat - An officer of considerable experience.
A Microwave - The opposite of an old sweat. Somebody who has been in The Job for less than 3 or 4 years and already thinks they know it all.
John: "That bloke has been in The Job for 5 minutes and he thinks he's done".
Hence, microwave.
Job Pissed - Somebody who loves The Job and lets it define them. They may work all of their days off and all the overtime they can get their hands. They will continuously 'talk job'.
A Doris - A female.
iPoo - An iPoo is caused by a sudden and desperate need to defecate. If such need is so desperate that the officer requires his blue lights and siren to get to the nearest washroom, then it is deemed an iPoo.
Anonymous Bobby
The Job - 'The Job' is a general way of referring to the police as a whole. For example:
John: "See that bloke over there?"
Boris: "Yeah, isnt't he in The Job?"
John: "Yeah he works in Croydon."
In some instances it is shortened to simply 'Job'. For example:
John: "That bloke is Job."
or
John: "I hate that bloke he is always talking Job" (indicating that he is always talking about the police and his occupation).
Jobfit - This is a term used to describe a person of either sex who is considered sexually attractive but only when compared to other police officers. In the general population they may be of average looks, whereas compared to other police officers, and the limited selection available, they would be classed as 'Jobfit'.
Sack of Shit - Refers to anybody he looks untidy. He "looks like a sack of shit".
Weary - Anything or anybody who makes things unnecessarily difficult. A call somebody is dealing with may be weary, meaning it is complicated and likely to be protracted. Or an officer may be considered weary for doing things to the letter of the law or taking too long to complete tasks.
PC Rain - Considered by all to be the most effective police officer the world has ever seen. PC Rain is simply, the rain. It is a reference to the tendency of crime to significantly diminish whilst it is raining.
Refs - Short for refreshments. Used to describe a break. "I'm going for refs now" or "What have you got for refs?"
Q - Police officers are a superstitious bunch. It is widely considered that using the word 'quiet' in any form will bring a sudden increase in crime and calls. Rather than risk saying 'quiet' officers say 'Q'. For example:
John: "It's really Q tonight isn't it?"
Boris: "Yeah, I haven't seen it this Q for a long time".
Old Sweat - An officer of considerable experience.
A Microwave - The opposite of an old sweat. Somebody who has been in The Job for less than 3 or 4 years and already thinks they know it all.
John: "That bloke has been in The Job for 5 minutes and he thinks he's done".
Hence, microwave.
Job Pissed - Somebody who loves The Job and lets it define them. They may work all of their days off and all the overtime they can get their hands. They will continuously 'talk job'.
A Doris - A female.
iPoo - An iPoo is caused by a sudden and desperate need to defecate. If such need is so desperate that the officer requires his blue lights and siren to get to the nearest washroom, then it is deemed an iPoo.
Anonymous Bobby
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Police Jargon 1
Police officers have their own language. Abbreviations, anagrams, police slang and jargon form a completely new language. I have, in the past, had full conversations with other officers in front of a suspect regarding their offence whereby they would think we were just talking gobbledy-gook. Below I shall outline some of this jargon for the purposes of clarity in this ongoing blog.
R5 - This originates from a method of reporting back a radio signal. If someone is speaking on the radio they can be deemed to be between R1 and R5. If somebody is R1 they have poor signal and are unreadable on the radio. R5 would mean they are loud and clear. It is still used on the radio in London today. It has also spread to everyday conversation. For example:
Officer 1 (We shall call him John): *Stood in the street and notices a particularly attractive young lady walk past*
Officer 2 (We shall call him Boris): * Fails to notice said female*
John: 'Boris look....' *Gives a nod toward the female in question*
Boris: *Following the direction of John's nod and noticing the female* 'Ah. You're R5 mate'. *Nods in approval*
A crude yet poignant example of R5's entry into everyday police language.
A Body - Now this does not mean what you would imagine. If an officer 'has a body' it merely means that they have arrested somebody and are currently dealing with the matter. This can also be referred to as 'One in the bin' (a person in custody) or 'a body in the bin'.
RTC - A Road Traffic Collision, formerly known as an RTA (Road Traffic Accident). These incidents were, and I'm sure you'll agree crucially, changed to RTC's rather than RTA's as an RTA would imply that the matter was an accident whereby this assumption can not legitimately be made without investigation, therefore the term RTC was born. Somebody probably got promoted for noticing that oversight. Quite right too.
Foxtrot Oscar - Simply 'Fuck Off'.
Batshit Crazy - A delicate term referring to someone of poor mental health. Also used for this purpose, the term 'wibble'.
Slag - Not the traditional definition. In fact the term 'slag' has a completely different meaning in police language to its everyday use. In police language 'slag' means anything that is 'no-good' and 'crime ridden'. For example a person can be slag. He would not be a slag. He's just slag. An address can be slag. Or slaggy. Example:
John: "See that bloke over there?"
Boris: "Yeah, he looks well slaggy". (indicating that he looks like a wrong 'un)
John: "He is. I nicked him last week. Proper slag".
Boris: "Isn't he from 14A Anonymous Drive?"
John: "Yeah"
Boris: "We're always going there, it's such a slaggy address".
Not a typical conversation between two officers, but you get the idea.
EAB - The small blue booklet normally filled out after an arrest or used to take a statement from a victim/witness.
Trap 1 - Trap 1 or 2 and so forth is a system to refer to which toilet cubicle an officer is in. Example:
John: "Where's Inspector Anonymous?"
Boris: "He's in Trap 1."
John: "Did you see Trap 2 earlier? It looked like somebody had spontaneously combusted in there".
B-1-N - The bin. Example of use:
John: "Where did you put that statement from earlier?"
Boris: "I filed it under B-1-N." (Meaning he put it in the bin).
L-O-B - Load of bollocks.
Skip - a car. Usually in disrepair. Also used for this purpose, the term 'shed'.
"On Me" or to frantically tapping the top of one's head - 'On Me' simply means come to me. If a person, or persons, is too far away to hear you but they can see you, you would simply repeatedly tap the top of your head with your hand until they comply and come to you.
IC7 - The IC code refers to a person's ethnicity and officially goes from IC1-6. IC7 is unofficial and refers to a person with ginger hair.
A Cluster Fuck - Meaning all hell has broken loose and nobody is really in any form of control. Example:
John: "What happened at that arrest earlier, it sounded crazy on the radio?"
Boris: "It was a complete Cluster Fuck mate".
I shall divulge more jargon to you another time. I hope you have enjoyed these revelations. Save the blog to your favourites, follow me on Twitter @anonbobbyblog and tell you're friends and family. For now, I'm off to Trap 1.
Anonymous Bobby
R5 - This originates from a method of reporting back a radio signal. If someone is speaking on the radio they can be deemed to be between R1 and R5. If somebody is R1 they have poor signal and are unreadable on the radio. R5 would mean they are loud and clear. It is still used on the radio in London today. It has also spread to everyday conversation. For example:
Officer 1 (We shall call him John): *Stood in the street and notices a particularly attractive young lady walk past*
Officer 2 (We shall call him Boris): * Fails to notice said female*
John: 'Boris look....' *Gives a nod toward the female in question*
Boris: *Following the direction of John's nod and noticing the female* 'Ah. You're R5 mate'. *Nods in approval*
A crude yet poignant example of R5's entry into everyday police language.
A Body - Now this does not mean what you would imagine. If an officer 'has a body' it merely means that they have arrested somebody and are currently dealing with the matter. This can also be referred to as 'One in the bin' (a person in custody) or 'a body in the bin'.
RTC - A Road Traffic Collision, formerly known as an RTA (Road Traffic Accident). These incidents were, and I'm sure you'll agree crucially, changed to RTC's rather than RTA's as an RTA would imply that the matter was an accident whereby this assumption can not legitimately be made without investigation, therefore the term RTC was born. Somebody probably got promoted for noticing that oversight. Quite right too.
Foxtrot Oscar - Simply 'Fuck Off'.
Batshit Crazy - A delicate term referring to someone of poor mental health. Also used for this purpose, the term 'wibble'.
Slag - Not the traditional definition. In fact the term 'slag' has a completely different meaning in police language to its everyday use. In police language 'slag' means anything that is 'no-good' and 'crime ridden'. For example a person can be slag. He would not be a slag. He's just slag. An address can be slag. Or slaggy. Example:
John: "See that bloke over there?"
Boris: "Yeah, he looks well slaggy". (indicating that he looks like a wrong 'un)
John: "He is. I nicked him last week. Proper slag".
Boris: "Isn't he from 14A Anonymous Drive?"
John: "Yeah"
Boris: "We're always going there, it's such a slaggy address".
Not a typical conversation between two officers, but you get the idea.
EAB - The small blue booklet normally filled out after an arrest or used to take a statement from a victim/witness.
Trap 1 - Trap 1 or 2 and so forth is a system to refer to which toilet cubicle an officer is in. Example:
John: "Where's Inspector Anonymous?"
Boris: "He's in Trap 1."
John: "Did you see Trap 2 earlier? It looked like somebody had spontaneously combusted in there".
B-1-N - The bin. Example of use:
John: "Where did you put that statement from earlier?"
Boris: "I filed it under B-1-N." (Meaning he put it in the bin).
L-O-B - Load of bollocks.
Skip - a car. Usually in disrepair. Also used for this purpose, the term 'shed'.
"On Me" or to frantically tapping the top of one's head - 'On Me' simply means come to me. If a person, or persons, is too far away to hear you but they can see you, you would simply repeatedly tap the top of your head with your hand until they comply and come to you.
IC7 - The IC code refers to a person's ethnicity and officially goes from IC1-6. IC7 is unofficial and refers to a person with ginger hair.
A Cluster Fuck - Meaning all hell has broken loose and nobody is really in any form of control. Example:
John: "What happened at that arrest earlier, it sounded crazy on the radio?"
Boris: "It was a complete Cluster Fuck mate".
I shall divulge more jargon to you another time. I hope you have enjoyed these revelations. Save the blog to your favourites, follow me on Twitter @anonbobbyblog and tell you're friends and family. For now, I'm off to Trap 1.
Anonymous Bobby
Friday, January 13, 2017
The 10 Year Old and his Teacher
People often ask "What is the worst thing you have ever dealt with?"
Officers around the World will recognise that question, and also the numb blankness that follows as you try and recall a stand out incident. I still don't know the answer, but one incident that jumps to my mind is the case of the 10 year old boy and his assistant teacher.
The boy's father had noticed a change in his son's behaviour. Something wasn't right and when he questioned him further the boy soon revealed that an assistant teacher at his school had been molesting him for the past few months. The father, stricken with grief and not knowing what to do, took the boy to hospital. He explained what his son had told him and the hospital called the police. I arrived with my colleague Ben to deal with them.
As response officers we only deal with the initial investigation. We would take a brief initial account from the boy and allow for the collection of forensic evidence. We would also be responsible for the initial counselling of the boy and his father, along with hospital staff.
The boy was clearly damaged. He was distraught and felt ashamed. He was upset. His father was inconsolable. We had a hard job on our hands.
We got the account of the incident from him, the details of which I will spare you. The assistant teacher had allegedly been anally raping the boy for months. Doctors confirmed that the boy had suffered some trauma in the suggested area.
I had to take the boy into a room and seize his clothes. It must have been very difficult for him to be alone with a stranger, albeit a police officer, having experienced what he had allegedly experienced. It was difficult to console him and I felt a duty to somewhat restore his faith in adults as best I could.
The teacher was arrested (I wasn't allowed anywhere near him for forensic reasons, which was probably for the best). We delivered the boy and his family to the appropriate specialists having spent 8 hours with them.
An incident like that stays with you for a while. It's not like reading about it in the paper or seeing it on television. You are there. You see it, smell it, interact with it, influence it, and live it. It becomes a part of you and once you have experienced something like that poor boy up close, a part of you changes forever.
I never found out what the outcome of the incident was. I didn't want to know and I still don't. This incident was many, many years ago now but I still occasionally see Ben (my colleague that day). He did follow up on the incident and whenever I see him he asks me "Do you want to know what happened with the 10 year old and the teacher yet?". My answer is always "No". I know enough already.
Anonymous Bobby.
Officers around the World will recognise that question, and also the numb blankness that follows as you try and recall a stand out incident. I still don't know the answer, but one incident that jumps to my mind is the case of the 10 year old boy and his assistant teacher.
The boy's father had noticed a change in his son's behaviour. Something wasn't right and when he questioned him further the boy soon revealed that an assistant teacher at his school had been molesting him for the past few months. The father, stricken with grief and not knowing what to do, took the boy to hospital. He explained what his son had told him and the hospital called the police. I arrived with my colleague Ben to deal with them.
As response officers we only deal with the initial investigation. We would take a brief initial account from the boy and allow for the collection of forensic evidence. We would also be responsible for the initial counselling of the boy and his father, along with hospital staff.
The boy was clearly damaged. He was distraught and felt ashamed. He was upset. His father was inconsolable. We had a hard job on our hands.
We got the account of the incident from him, the details of which I will spare you. The assistant teacher had allegedly been anally raping the boy for months. Doctors confirmed that the boy had suffered some trauma in the suggested area.
I had to take the boy into a room and seize his clothes. It must have been very difficult for him to be alone with a stranger, albeit a police officer, having experienced what he had allegedly experienced. It was difficult to console him and I felt a duty to somewhat restore his faith in adults as best I could.
The teacher was arrested (I wasn't allowed anywhere near him for forensic reasons, which was probably for the best). We delivered the boy and his family to the appropriate specialists having spent 8 hours with them.
An incident like that stays with you for a while. It's not like reading about it in the paper or seeing it on television. You are there. You see it, smell it, interact with it, influence it, and live it. It becomes a part of you and once you have experienced something like that poor boy up close, a part of you changes forever.
I never found out what the outcome of the incident was. I didn't want to know and I still don't. This incident was many, many years ago now but I still occasionally see Ben (my colleague that day). He did follow up on the incident and whenever I see him he asks me "Do you want to know what happened with the 10 year old and the teacher yet?". My answer is always "No". I know enough already.
Anonymous Bobby.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Taser Taser!!!
Disclaimer: Some details have been changed to render this incident difficult to recognise in order to protect the anonymity of all involved.
Officers on response teams started to carry Taser a few years ago after an officer in Harrow suffered horrific injuries in an attack by a man with a knife. When the Commissioner (Sir Bernard Hogan Howe) visited that officer in hospital he asked him "What could have prevented your injuries?" the officer replied "a Taser". To the Commissioner's credit, Taser was soon available to a limited number of response team officers, of which I was one.
People often ask if I've Tasered anybody. My answer is now "a couple of people".
The first time I Tasered someone it was a man in his house, he could be heard by neighbours to be smashing items of furniture in his home. We arrived and he came to the front window of the house, looking out onto the street. He could be seen with a large kitchen knife in each hand. His eyes were wild and daring and he was shouting incoherently. It was clear to my colleague and I that he was suffering a mental health crisis. After failed negotiations through his window with him we had to force entry into his house with an enforcer. As the door flew open my colleague and I feared for our safety. The male had not dropped the knives and had now disappeared deeper into the house. We had to force entry when we did as the male was intimating that he would cut his own throat with the knives. The door flew open and we stood in the doorway with our Tasers drawn. A couple of other officers were behind us, they did not have Tasers. As we slowly edged our way through his hallway the male burst out of a door on our right and charged at us. I shot him but it had no effect as the two probes were too close together.
A Taser fires two 'probes' attached to wires. These probes have hooks on the end which hook into clothes or skin. An electric current is then passed between these two probes through the person's body, disabling them. If the two probes are too close together when they hit a person, the current only passes through a small part of their body. Ideally, you want your probes in two separate muscle groups. That would completely incapacitate anybody.
My shot was enough to shock the male and he ran into his bedroom, with my colleague and I in hot pursuit. The male still had the knives in his hands as I took aim again and this time got an effective probe placement on the male. He was restrained and nobody was significantly injured.
Taser is a controversial issue. Having carried one for a while I have seen the good it has done and the injuries and harm it has prevented to so many people. The Metropolitan Police get a lot wrong. As we go through this blog together you'll come to see how I believe The Met get MOST things wrong. But, the training around Taser is simply world class. An outspoken member of Amnesty International was seen on television to be criticising police use of Taser, so the Taser trainers invited him along to witness the quality of training and policies and procedures around its use. He did a complete U-turn in days.
The male I Tasered was clearly suffering a serious mental health issue but had shown both violence towards himself with the knives, and to us by charging at us with the knives. A situation which could have led to serious injuries to many people was resolved without any serious harm to anyone. All because that officer from Harrow said "a Taser" and, more importantly, Sir Hogan Howe listened.
Anonymous Bobby
Officers on response teams started to carry Taser a few years ago after an officer in Harrow suffered horrific injuries in an attack by a man with a knife. When the Commissioner (Sir Bernard Hogan Howe) visited that officer in hospital he asked him "What could have prevented your injuries?" the officer replied "a Taser". To the Commissioner's credit, Taser was soon available to a limited number of response team officers, of which I was one.
People often ask if I've Tasered anybody. My answer is now "a couple of people".
The first time I Tasered someone it was a man in his house, he could be heard by neighbours to be smashing items of furniture in his home. We arrived and he came to the front window of the house, looking out onto the street. He could be seen with a large kitchen knife in each hand. His eyes were wild and daring and he was shouting incoherently. It was clear to my colleague and I that he was suffering a mental health crisis. After failed negotiations through his window with him we had to force entry into his house with an enforcer. As the door flew open my colleague and I feared for our safety. The male had not dropped the knives and had now disappeared deeper into the house. We had to force entry when we did as the male was intimating that he would cut his own throat with the knives. The door flew open and we stood in the doorway with our Tasers drawn. A couple of other officers were behind us, they did not have Tasers. As we slowly edged our way through his hallway the male burst out of a door on our right and charged at us. I shot him but it had no effect as the two probes were too close together.
A Taser fires two 'probes' attached to wires. These probes have hooks on the end which hook into clothes or skin. An electric current is then passed between these two probes through the person's body, disabling them. If the two probes are too close together when they hit a person, the current only passes through a small part of their body. Ideally, you want your probes in two separate muscle groups. That would completely incapacitate anybody.
My shot was enough to shock the male and he ran into his bedroom, with my colleague and I in hot pursuit. The male still had the knives in his hands as I took aim again and this time got an effective probe placement on the male. He was restrained and nobody was significantly injured.
Taser is a controversial issue. Having carried one for a while I have seen the good it has done and the injuries and harm it has prevented to so many people. The Metropolitan Police get a lot wrong. As we go through this blog together you'll come to see how I believe The Met get MOST things wrong. But, the training around Taser is simply world class. An outspoken member of Amnesty International was seen on television to be criticising police use of Taser, so the Taser trainers invited him along to witness the quality of training and policies and procedures around its use. He did a complete U-turn in days.
The male I Tasered was clearly suffering a serious mental health issue but had shown both violence towards himself with the knives, and to us by charging at us with the knives. A situation which could have led to serious injuries to many people was resolved without any serious harm to anyone. All because that officer from Harrow said "a Taser" and, more importantly, Sir Hogan Howe listened.
Anonymous Bobby
Monday, January 9, 2017
Police Officer Mentality
I can't speak for all police officers. My experiences will be different to every other police officer in the world. My opinions will be different. However, I know hundreds of police officers, personally and professionally. My friends are all police officers. I know police officers' mentality. There are certain consistencies and aggravations that appear to be broadly shared. Now it may be that my experiences are biased toward the thinking of a London officer, but I suspect not.
Let me say this, police officers are generally good people. In fact, in my experience, a vast majority of officers are good people, trying to do good things. Newspapers and television appear to be painting police officers as the modern day Boogeyman, but they are an easy scape goat.
Police services do not generally defend themselves publicly in the media. Among police officers, when a story hits the headlines, they know that eventually it will be concluded that the police made errors, it was their fault. The public need somebody to blame and the police services seem to fill that role both effectively and happily. Unfortunately, this does somewhat dampen the morale and good will of officers who strive to help others, or hinder them respectively.
Within 'The Job' morale is not seen as an important issue. Senior Leaders are concentrating on efficiency and money saving, possibly rightly so. But to completely neglect the importance of officers' mental well being and morale is dangerous. You have to keep your workforce somewhat happy in any business or service. Any retail manager will tell you that a happy, content employee will sell more, attend more and have a positive influence on both the atmosphere and sales figures of a store than an employee who feels unhappy, exploited and cheated.
So what are all these officers whinging about?
Well, I'll outline a few gripes that seem to come up time and again in my daily work life.
Minimum Strength - An emergency response team will cover one borough, normally out of one police station and will answer calls made to the public from emergency (or i graded calls, with a 14 minute response time maximum) to non-emergency calls (s graded calls with a maximum 1 hour response and e graded, with a maximum 72 hour response, hence why they are sometimes dubbed 'eventually calls'). Borough to borough it varies how many police officers are needed on a response team but, somewhere down the line, it has been decided that each borough will have its own minimum strength for that borough's response team. For example, let's imagine where I work the minimum strength is 20 officers. That means the Met Police have decided that to have less than 20 officers on a response team at any one time is unsafe for both the public and those officers on duty. Teams may have 35 officers on but they may be at court, or abstracted at any time or on annual leave, but never should a team fall below 20 officers. Every officer in London knows how easily and how often the strength of their team falls 10-20% below the minimum strength, usually at a weekend when people are most needed. That not only puts us officers at risk, but if you need the police urgently, it may be a long time before there are officers free to get to you. "So tell the Senior Leadership Team!" I hear you scream "They have to do something about it!". Well, no. I've heard many officers bring this issue up to Senior Officers who have the power and influence to remedy this situation and the answer is always the same. It goes along the lines of not letting officers have annual leave when they really want it to be with their families in order to maintain minimum strengths. Morale sapping I'm sure you'll agree.
Equipment - Next time you see a police officer on the street, go and ask them how long it took them to log onto a computer that day. I'll leave that there. There you go, you have homework. This doesn't take into account the almost impossibility of acquiring new uniform, getting hold of an ESD (roadside breath test), enforcer (the big red thing we use to smash your door in if you need us, or you're hding from us!) etc etc etc. Oh, and while you're talking to that officer about the computers, ask him about the state of the toilets at his station (make sure you have digested your lunch first). Officers work in squalid, cramped conditions in old decaying buildings. Morale sapping I'm sure you'll agree.
The Judiciary - As I have outlined before, I've been on a response team for nearly a decade. Safe to say we are still arresting the same people, for the same offences now as we were when I started. Literally, the same people. The same people are burgling people's houses now as when I arrested them for burglary 9 years ago. They've been arrested for it many times since as well. And convicted. Truth sentencing is too short and they are soon out doing it again and again and it's YOU who suffers. I've reported hundreds of burglaries in my time and most of the time I can tell who has done it just by the methods used and the items taken, not enough to secure a conviction obviously. The same people now are breaking into your cars overnight as were doing it 9/10 years ago when I joined, and theyve been arrested and presented to a court dozens of times.
Police Backbone - The police service (not police force, that would be intimidating) in the UK has no backbone. Let me use one example to prove my case. We do not chase mopeds. Someone on a moped could commit any offence in front of a police car and that police car will not be allowed to chase it. They can just ride off at a leisurely pace. Why? Because we wouldn't want them to fall off and hurt themselves would we? There has been a massive increase in moped enabled crime in London recently, and this is because criminals know that only a select few police cars (and i do mean few) can chase them. If you were to bring this to the attention of the SLT (Senior Leadership Team) they would say that they are working at increasing the amount of response drivers who are able to pursue mopeds. I can tell you from an officer who is out there everyday, that on my team the last person to get a driving course was well over 18 months ago and there is no sign of anyone getting one in the near future.
These are merely a few gripes that scratch the surface. Keep reading, stay with me and I'll give you a full overview of the general misery of police officers in the UK at the current time.
Anonymous Bobby
Let me say this, police officers are generally good people. In fact, in my experience, a vast majority of officers are good people, trying to do good things. Newspapers and television appear to be painting police officers as the modern day Boogeyman, but they are an easy scape goat.
Police services do not generally defend themselves publicly in the media. Among police officers, when a story hits the headlines, they know that eventually it will be concluded that the police made errors, it was their fault. The public need somebody to blame and the police services seem to fill that role both effectively and happily. Unfortunately, this does somewhat dampen the morale and good will of officers who strive to help others, or hinder them respectively.
Within 'The Job' morale is not seen as an important issue. Senior Leaders are concentrating on efficiency and money saving, possibly rightly so. But to completely neglect the importance of officers' mental well being and morale is dangerous. You have to keep your workforce somewhat happy in any business or service. Any retail manager will tell you that a happy, content employee will sell more, attend more and have a positive influence on both the atmosphere and sales figures of a store than an employee who feels unhappy, exploited and cheated.
So what are all these officers whinging about?
Well, I'll outline a few gripes that seem to come up time and again in my daily work life.
Minimum Strength - An emergency response team will cover one borough, normally out of one police station and will answer calls made to the public from emergency (or i graded calls, with a 14 minute response time maximum) to non-emergency calls (s graded calls with a maximum 1 hour response and e graded, with a maximum 72 hour response, hence why they are sometimes dubbed 'eventually calls'). Borough to borough it varies how many police officers are needed on a response team but, somewhere down the line, it has been decided that each borough will have its own minimum strength for that borough's response team. For example, let's imagine where I work the minimum strength is 20 officers. That means the Met Police have decided that to have less than 20 officers on a response team at any one time is unsafe for both the public and those officers on duty. Teams may have 35 officers on but they may be at court, or abstracted at any time or on annual leave, but never should a team fall below 20 officers. Every officer in London knows how easily and how often the strength of their team falls 10-20% below the minimum strength, usually at a weekend when people are most needed. That not only puts us officers at risk, but if you need the police urgently, it may be a long time before there are officers free to get to you. "So tell the Senior Leadership Team!" I hear you scream "They have to do something about it!". Well, no. I've heard many officers bring this issue up to Senior Officers who have the power and influence to remedy this situation and the answer is always the same. It goes along the lines of not letting officers have annual leave when they really want it to be with their families in order to maintain minimum strengths. Morale sapping I'm sure you'll agree.
Equipment - Next time you see a police officer on the street, go and ask them how long it took them to log onto a computer that day. I'll leave that there. There you go, you have homework. This doesn't take into account the almost impossibility of acquiring new uniform, getting hold of an ESD (roadside breath test), enforcer (the big red thing we use to smash your door in if you need us, or you're hding from us!) etc etc etc. Oh, and while you're talking to that officer about the computers, ask him about the state of the toilets at his station (make sure you have digested your lunch first). Officers work in squalid, cramped conditions in old decaying buildings. Morale sapping I'm sure you'll agree.
The Judiciary - As I have outlined before, I've been on a response team for nearly a decade. Safe to say we are still arresting the same people, for the same offences now as we were when I started. Literally, the same people. The same people are burgling people's houses now as when I arrested them for burglary 9 years ago. They've been arrested for it many times since as well. And convicted. Truth sentencing is too short and they are soon out doing it again and again and it's YOU who suffers. I've reported hundreds of burglaries in my time and most of the time I can tell who has done it just by the methods used and the items taken, not enough to secure a conviction obviously. The same people now are breaking into your cars overnight as were doing it 9/10 years ago when I joined, and theyve been arrested and presented to a court dozens of times.
Police Backbone - The police service (not police force, that would be intimidating) in the UK has no backbone. Let me use one example to prove my case. We do not chase mopeds. Someone on a moped could commit any offence in front of a police car and that police car will not be allowed to chase it. They can just ride off at a leisurely pace. Why? Because we wouldn't want them to fall off and hurt themselves would we? There has been a massive increase in moped enabled crime in London recently, and this is because criminals know that only a select few police cars (and i do mean few) can chase them. If you were to bring this to the attention of the SLT (Senior Leadership Team) they would say that they are working at increasing the amount of response drivers who are able to pursue mopeds. I can tell you from an officer who is out there everyday, that on my team the last person to get a driving course was well over 18 months ago and there is no sign of anyone getting one in the near future.
These are merely a few gripes that scratch the surface. Keep reading, stay with me and I'll give you a full overview of the general misery of police officers in the UK at the current time.
Anonymous Bobby
Sunday, January 8, 2017
The Swinging Man
Several years back a typical shift was coming to an
end. I was in a patrol car with my good friend, and colleague, David. We were
both weary as the calls had not stopped coming in that day, in fact we were
slowly heading back to 'The Ranch' (the police station) to type up the day's
reports. We were moments away from turning into 'The Yard' when the radio came
to life.
"I graded call to Anonymous Park, a member of
the public says he can see a man hanging from the climbing frame".
We were around the corner.
Now, these types of calls are strange. It was
daylight. It was in London, where there were a lot of people about and in 99%
of cases like this that member of the public would be mistaken in some way or
another. An I graded call, by the way, is the highest rating a call can
receive, giving a response unit a maximum of 14 minutes to get to the scene.
We needed no more than 3 minutes. This was not one
of those occasions in the 99%. This was the 1%. The silhouette of a man hanging
from the climbing frame swung gently in the breeze in the dimming light of an
Autumnal day in London. David and I drove straight into the park. Nobody else
was around, except a lone dog walker stood glumly by the swinging man. This was
our informant.
David had fetched our first aid kit from the boot
of the car and unzipped it, turned it upside down and dumped its entire
contents onto the floor rather than search around inside it. Meanwhile, I took
hold of the swinging man's waist and tried to support his weight as best as I
could. He was still warm-ish. It is worth noting that an adult male's body,
completely limp, is an incredibly heavy item and this male weighed in excess of
85KG. David produced a pair of tough-cut scissors from the mess of first aid
items on the floor, climbed onto the climbing frame and began attempting to cut
away at the ligature. After a few seconds I felt the males full weight fall
onto me and we fell to the floor together, I did my best to stop either of our
heads hitting the ground too roughly.
David and I were both experienced officers and so
while we were transmitting the relevant information to our colleagues, and
requesting an ambulance, we lay the man out and I immediately got on his chest
and started compressions whilst David placed a face mask over the man's face
and routinely blew two breaths into his lungs between my 30 compressions.
There was no sign of life from the male as a
paramedic arrived. We continued with the CPR as he did his checks. He told us
there was no pulse. Nonetheless we continued as more and more paramedics
flooded that little park. David and I would occasionally swap over as chest
compressions become tiring very quickly. For about 10 minutes we continued like
this whilst various healthcare professionals drilled into the male, injected
him, and did various other things to him that I did not understand.
Suddenly, the paramedic who seemed to be running
his team's side of the show said "I've got a pulse". I felt a strange
sense of careful optimism for him. Quickly he was scooped onto a bed and we
hurried him to the nearest hospital.
We stayed with him (as is policy) and it wasn't
long before a doctor approached David and I and told us that we had saved the
man's life. He remained on life support for a number of months before dying. So
I guess we didn't save his life after all.
I remember needing a whiskey or two when I got in
that night. It takes time to turn your brain off when you have experienced
something like that. You feel it, touch it, make decisions during it, smell it,
taste it and live it. It becomes a part of your own story and remains in your
psyche. This story is one of hundreds that I wish to share with you on this
blog. I don't recount these things to boast, or tell you all what a hero I am.
I'm nothing of the sort as you will learn as these pages pass. I want you to
understand that policing is a complex and difficult matter which takes its toll
on those who are consistently out there in situations such as the one I have
outlined above. It is not a remarkable story. It is a tragedy and one that is
played out all over London, everyday, over and over again. This blog is for the
regular participants in that tragedy, the police officers.
Anonymous Bobby
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