The UK Policing Thread

Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
article-1247941-006660BE00000578-929_468x312.jpg

I know that we have a good number of ex-police officers and perhaps even current police officers here from the UK so I thought it might be an interesting idea to start a separate thread where issues concerning policing in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) could be discussed at length as it comes up quite a lot on other threads. This thread could therefore act instead as a "one-stop shop" for all matters concerning policing in the UK. :) -{

So who wants to get the ball rolling?...
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
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Comments

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    I'm not a police officer (who is this best fo me or the public? :)) Earlier today I posted pictures from Reykjavik police's Instagram page in another thread. Some might just find this funny or weird, but perhaps real British police officers can discuss how far this is from their work reality and why this is?


    Here are some instagram pictures from Reykjavik police, Iceland. Some years they get a murder on Iceland, but 2015 seems to have been one of the less hardcore years: :)


    police-instagram-logreglan-reykjavik-iceland-20-605x605.jpg?w=605

    police-instagram-logreglan-reykjavik-iceland-22-605x605.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=620&h=0&crop=1

    reykjavik-police-logreglan-instagram-iceland-25.jpg

    Raykjavik-Police-Instagram-EMGN1.jpg
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    Thank you for those fun police pictures, Number24. All contributions to this thread are welcome! :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Where to start? It's a big subject. British policing has undergone a seismic change over the past fifty years, indeed many of the roles now expected to be undertaken by the police would be completely alien to officers from the 1960s & 70s. New threats, the general decline in societies core values & ruthless budgetary restraints have imposed pressures on the service the like of which has never been seen.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    On an old QI episode they showed " a Policeman's Lady Reviver " :D
    Which led me to wonder if anyone here has had to revive a lady ? :))
    ( Basically it was a tube with smelling salts )
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    I was a nurse for more years than I care to remember (32 of them) and yes, I had to revive a few ladies... and gents too.
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    On an old QI episode they showed " a Policeman's Lady Reviver " :D
    Which led me to wonder if anyone here has had to revive a lady ? :))
    ( Basically it was a tube with smelling salts )

    Theres a joke in there somewhere but I can't think of it ....
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    I was a nurse for more years than I care to remember (32 of them) and yes, I had to revive a few ladies... and gents too.
    Any of them good-lookin'?
    :v
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Sorry, old boy: Section four, paragraph twenty-five. Need to know. I'm sure you understand.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Sorry, old boy: Section four, paragraph twenty-five. Need to know. I'm sure you understand.
    :D :D :D :D :D
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I have been digging about in the loft & thought these items may bring back memories for some:

    001.jpg

    Apologies for blanking out the central numbers. This issue was pre PACE days when a police officer turning out in shirt sleeve order wore one of these shirts, a clip on tie (as protection against strangulation - ties had to be worn) & epaulettes. He would carry no other items of kit other than a pocketbook, pen(s), handcuffs & a wooden truncheon - kept in a special pocket in the right hand side of the trousers.

    PC's & Sergeants wore blue shirts, Inspectors & above white (WPCs also wore white shirts - oh & the police band wore them too)

    I think the Met used to wear blue shirts but changed to white many years before other forces.

    Oh I forgot the two way radio - Burndept at that time.
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    Being a Met girl, I only ever remember white shirts (joined 1985) and at least you had a proper truncheon not the cocktail stick I had to carry round !!

    As for the radio, we used a Storno which was only useful for throwing at people :))

    Web35-Storno-800-series.jpg
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I've found the following image of the Burndept on the net.


    BURNDEPT_Be500_3_CHN_UHF_IMG.jpg

    Big heavy blue things. I'm certain the PTT button was red on ours as the one on the photo doesn't look right. In service when I joined (1975) they were phased out in the late 1980s in favour of Motorolas.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    LR, WRT the truncheon for men - as you know it was kept in a purpose made pocket on the right hand side of the trousers with the strap dangling out. This arrangement was most awkward if you are a left hander like me.
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    I only ever used my old wooden truncheon once ,during parade on early turn (6-2) the skipper dispatched my to a call (not 999) as a poor fox had been hit by a car ,and crawled off to die under some hedge , So theres me talking to this poor old mangled fox ,telling him hes a good boy and it will be ok , then I had to bash him over the bonce to put him away , a very sad mornings work.
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    I only ever used my old wooden truncheon once ,during parade on early turn (6-2) the skipper dispatched my to a call (not 999) as a poor fox had been hit by a car ,and crawled off to die under some hedge , So theres me talking to this poor old mangled fox ,telling him hes a good boy and it will be ok , then I had to bash him over the bonce to put him away , a very sad mornings work.

    Interesting but I suppose that "duty has no sweethearts" and it put the poor animal out of its misery. :#
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    LR, WRT the truncheon for men - as you know it was kept in a purpose made pocket on the right hand side of the trousers with the strap dangling out. This arrangement was most awkward if you are a left hander like me.


    The ladies truncheon was half the size of the mens and we too had a pocket in the side of our skirts so it bashed against your leg all day.Useless bit of kit and I done think I ever bothered with it.All different these days mind ... they let women have guns and everything :)) :))
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    I only ever used my old wooden truncheon once ,during parade on early turn (6-2) the skipper dispatched my to a call (not 999) as a poor fox had been hit by a car ,and crawled off to die under some hedge , So theres me talking to this poor old mangled fox ,telling him hes a good boy and it will be ok , then I had to bash him over the bonce to put him away , a very sad mornings work.

    I've been giving a lot of thought to the incident in North Wales were the police purposely ran over and killed the dog that was on the carriageway.

    I would love to know what the reasoning for this was. I worked in traffic as part of the motorway control for a few years and we often had problems with animals roaming onto the motorway because we were obviously surrounded by countryside and farms. Everything from horses, sheep, geese, dogs etc but not once did we decide to kill the animal. The motorway was always closed until the animal was secured.

    My only guess with North Wales is perhaps they didn't have the units available (they were probably the only unit on!) to do a proper closure and the animal was causing problems (which I believe it was and vehicles had had to swerve to avoid it)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I always remember one of those old public information films from the early 60s,
    ( recently shown on bbc2 ) in which they stated, about police women ............

    " They can do everthing a policeman can do !" :)) just leaving out.....
    " They take up less space, smell nicer " :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    Lady Rose wrote:
    I only ever used my old wooden truncheon once ,during parade on early turn (6-2) the skipper dispatched my to a call (not 999) as a poor fox had been hit by a car ,and crawled off to die under some hedge , So theres me talking to this poor old mangled fox ,telling him hes a good boy and it will be ok , then I had to bash him over the bonce to put him away , a very sad mornings work.

    I've been giving a lot of thought to the incident in North Wales were the police purposely ran over and killed the dog that was on the carriageway.

    I would love to know what the reasoning for this was. I worked in traffic as part of the motorway control for a few years and we often had problems with animals roaming onto the motorway because we were obviously surrounded by countryside and farms. Everything from horses, sheep, geese, dogs etc but not once did we decide to kill the animal. The motorway was always closed until the animal was secured.

    My only guess with North Wales is perhaps they didn't have the units available (they were probably the only unit on!) to do a proper closure and the animal was causing problems (which I believe it was and vehicles had had to swerve to avoid it)

    I heard on the news on the radio (I think it was BBC Radio 4) that an officer had already tried to catch the dog a number of times but that it had bitten him. I think they did the right thing as they felt the only safe thing was to destroy the dog.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    When I joined the police things were very different from what they are today - less red tape for a start - & the police were often more ahem 'robust' when dealing with troublemakers & the like.

    When I first went on the beat my mentor was an old time bobby who was nearing the end of his service. I couldn't have picked a better tutor had I been given the choice.
    I remember one of his stories about when he first joined what was then the 'City' police force. On his first day (this would have been about 1950) his own mentor had told him to make sure that when he next came on duty he had plenty of pennies on him. Bemused but not wanting to go against the order of this man - who himself was an old timer - Chas dutifully did as he was told. The old boy then showed him how to fill one of his gloves with coins before heading for the bus station. Bobby senior ordered all the people who were hanging about after turning out of the pubs to get their respective buses home. Almost everyone complied without question however according to Chas a couple of likely lads didn't move quite as quickly as the old Bobby liked so were treated with a clump round the head with this coin filled glove!
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    :)) oh how times have changed ,
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • IanTIanT Posts: 573MI6 Agent
    A mate of mine ran over a dog in his Police van to put it out of its misery.

    Sadly the owner saw him.

    He never got rid of the nickname: Flat Dog
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I hope the van wasn't a Rover. ;)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    I hope the van wasn't a Rover. ;)
    :)) :))
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • IanTIanT Posts: 573MI6 Agent
    Arf, arf! :))
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    Talking of dogs ,I crewed up one night with one of the area dog vans ,(I think we had a lot of troops on that night) Any how ,the dog handler parked up ,and we got out , He passed me this padded sleeve ,which I put on ,"now run"" he says " so off I legged it with this huge bloody slobbering hound after me , Now we are both on the same side ,(I hope the dog knows that)? :)) So theres me running off shouting awww sheeettt ,and he pounces ,he has got me ,its no use trying to shake the thing off ,he will wait for his handlers command , but a fun time none the less .but that was the last time I volunteered to crew up with the K9 unit :D
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Another rambling old joke ( Not you AS) :p ;)

    Arriving at a house break in, the policeman tells the the home owner what he's going to do.
    " I'll chase the burglar on to the roof, when he falls off, the dog here is trained to rip his b*lls off !......
    ... Now take this gun "
    " what's the gun for ?" asked the home owner .
    " In case I fall off the roof first, you're gonna shoot that fooking dog !"
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    I think ive told this story before ,so for the benefit of new members ,here goes ,
    We had a combined operation on our patch ,involving MI5,C.I.D.FIREARMS ,dog units ect ect (you get the picture)
    any how reports had said that spies from the Moldovian intelligence network(M.I.N.) had been operating in our area ,and word from upstairs was ,that these spies ,needed to be arrested and deported . So on the designated evening ,the front door was smashed in ,lots of Police shouting POLICE STAND STILL and lots of swearing ,the 3 men from M.I.N were arrested and taken back to the factory . They were then according to PACE presented before a ruddy faced old skipper in custody . who looked up from his cross word puzzle and his mug of tea ,and said "Constable ,take these men upstairs to the canteen ,and pour custard over their heads !!
    to wich the P.C replied bemused ,"whys that sarge " Coz I like custard on my MIN spies came the reply .
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • IanTIanT Posts: 573MI6 Agent
    Oh Jesus that's bad...

    But I'm going to pinch it for myself!!!
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