Nicholas Dias's blog

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

Yesterday while performing the role of the resourcing sergeant I was approached by PCSOs BIRT and HARRISON who informed me of some sterling investigative work that they had been carrying out. Earlier that day they had attended the CO-OP where a television had been stolen by two females. PCSO BIRT viewed the CCTV and believed that she could identify one of the females in question as she had seen her previously in some Brighton Crime Reduction Partnership photos of persons of interest. Further enquiries revealed a customer who had witnessed the females taking the television into a local pub.

PCSOs BIRT and HARRISON tracked down the pub and identified from patrons that the females had gone from that location in a taxi. Not willing to leave the investigation at this point PCSOs BIRT and HARRISON identified not only the taxi company but the driver in question and the address where the two females had been dropped off. It was at this point that intelligence checks resulted in the address being matched with the female that PCSO BIRT had previously identified.

I quickly assigned 3 officers, PC BROWN, SC RANKIN and SC BAYLEY who attended the address in question and located the 2 females happily watching the brand new TV in the lounge. The box was present and the TV itself was still wrapped in its protective cellophane. While officers BROWN, RANKN and BAYLEY were arresting and transporting the females to custody, PS PALMER assisted the cause by taking a victim statement from the store manager and obtaining the outstanding evidence required for interview.

This was an absolutely cracking piece of investigation and team work between neighbourhood patrol and response teams in tracking down 2 OP TEALEAF suspects and catching them red handed with the stolen property.

Sun 6 May 2:12PM

Pensions, Windsor and my View from the Frontline

*******Disclaimer******

First and foremost I want to say that any views, opinions and impressions expressed on this blog are mine alone and while I am a Sussex Police Officer I neither speak for police officers in general nor for Sussex Police. This is normally important but more so when talking about a subject as inflammatory as the current Windsor review.

The above being said I have spoken to a number of officers and there seems to be a general environment of apprehension on the frontline at the moment. Windsor Part 2 has just been announced and when listening to officers reading the proposals I kept hearing shouts of exasperation as they were reading how each of the recommendations may affect them. This comes as the recommendations from Windsor Part 1 are just now starting to be put in place but also as police officer pension contributions have risen as of the 1^st April.

To start with the pension issue much has been made about the benefits of police pensions in terms of age at retirement and the value of the pension paid. For me the main reason that I joined the police was to make a difference for the public (something true for most public servants) and I feel I did sacrifice a much higher wage in the private sector to achieve this. However, a close second was the fact that the police offered a secure career path and a good pension at the end of it both of which have been subject to change since I joined. In terms of the pension there were loud shouts that the police pension is much better than that of the private sector, which is true, however, that is also because we pay in much more than many in the private sector. My friend who works for one of the top electronics firms pays 3% into his private pension; now since as of the 1^st April I am currently paying 12.25% of my salary into my pension I would definitely hope that it is considerably better than his. 12.25% is also quite considerably higher than any of the other public servants which can be seen in the fact that the pensions offer made by the government in November last year capped the NHS pension scheme at 9.8%, civil service at 5.6% and teachers at 9.6%. Further to this the increase of 1.25% that came into effect on 1^st April hasn’t got me anything more in terms of my pension it has simply increased my outgoings.

I’m really not one who wants to prevent modernisation of public services as I think the police service got “fat” during the last 10 - 15 years as ever more money was pumped into it year on year and that we avoided the key modernisations applied to other public services. While the public believes that there are too few police officers generally, I believe that there are too few police officers in key frontline positions and too many in posts which should be civilianised. However, the way to go about changing this is not to drastically cut budgets and push forces into making knee jerk reactions but to look at the long term. This is the only way to build towards a more effective service for the future.

Windsor 1 is just coming into place and it was a mixed bag in my opinion for the frontline as while on one hand it provides support in terms of a payment for unsociable hours, an allowance for mutual aid and a payment for certain specialist skills such as for public order officers and detectives, there were also recommendations which will reduce protection to officers that prevent them from being taken advantage of. Examples of this are the fact that a Chief constable will be able to change shift patterns without approval and the abolition of double time for overtime worked at less than 5 days notice. The imposition of double time at less than 5 days notice rather than time and half at less than 15 days acted as a deterrent to protect officer’s private lives so that they were either given suitable warning or suitable compensation. There is now no additional benefit to a force of warning officers early that they are required to work during their rest days and officers can simply be told the day before. Bank holidays have also been changed so that officers themselves are able to nominate their own bank holidays, now this is fine as long as officers are not prevented from taking them on certain days such as actual bank holidays and other key times of the year. As if this were the case then it would be saying that National Bank Holidays were worth less for a police officer than every other citizen of the country. A Tuesday in March is definitely not the same as Good Friday or New Years Day.

While there were plus points financially for frontline officers from Windsor 1 they will still be taking a 2 year pay freeze like the rest of the public sector and with inflation still at just over 3% that amounts to an effective 6% pay cut over 2 years. Just as this financial imposition is coming into place The Windsor Part 2 recommendations have been announced and these have caused a great deal more concern than those announced in part 1. While I accept that the majority of the recommendations have been made to modernise the police and bring it in line with other public services, there is one difference between officers and other public servants, the fact that we are prevented by law from striking. The most worrying recommendation is that forces will be able to enforce compulsory redundancies to remove officer posts. However, without the ability to strike what is to stop a force overspending one year and cutting jobs to balance the books. This is especially worrying when a more experienced higher paid officer could be made redundant one year only to be replaced the following year by a newly recruited/promoted and more importantly lower paid officer.

With the exception of the above recommendation I am actually in favour of the majority of Part 2’s recommendations especially annual fitness tests which will improve officers longevity, reduce sickness and improve productivity. Shortening pay scales will ensure officer’s get to higher pay faster and installing a competency related measure for remaining at the top pay increment will ensure that officers stay motivated and maintain productivity befitting their level of experience. The management of this scheme will be key in ensuring that officers can actually achieve the required measures rather than simply employing a system which means that only a small number of officers can reach that top pay level. Increasing the pension age to 60 makes sense as people live longer but only if there are jobs available for older people otherwise what will an officer live on after his or her 30/35 years of service until they attain the age of 60.

There is no doubt in my mind that these reviews are focussed on saving money first and modernising second, I can understand this looking at the size of the national debt along with the annual budget deficit. However, if the government and forces truly want to save money then there needs to be a whole scale rethink regarding what positions in the force actually require a warranted officer to complete. Civilianising or removing those posts that don’t require a warranted officer will save drastically more money than simply reducing or changing the ways that officers are paid. There needs to be an easier method and enhanced recruitment of serving officers from warranted positions into police staff roles with an equivalent reduction in pay but not significant damage to their pensions. Few officers with 20 years experience really want to be rolling around in the middle of the street with a drunk and violent individual; however, losing their skills entirely from the force would be a travesty. Officers deal with the public every day, manage critical incidents and balance a demanding workload; these are skills that any organisation should be trying to retain. Pushing for short term contracts or encouraging them is narrow minded in my opinion and will only go to encourage more corruption as a small minority of officers see that they have to earn what they can when they can before moving on.

Generally I think officers just want to see a little recognition for the extremely hard job they do. The most frustrating and infuriating point for me is that I had absolutely nothing to do with the national debt or the economic crises. In many ways I am the epitome of what the government wants from a public servant, I attended university and have since paid off my student loan, the only debt I have is my mortgage and generally what I earn I spend to keep money flowing through the economy. Yet despite this I appear to be suffering the brunt of the economic fallout as my bills are considerably more now than they have every been as I am paying more in pension, tax, VAT and national insurance. Many moan that bankers’ bonuses are too large and should be reduced; it is actually my basic salary rather than a bonus that is being reduced. I am not against private industry especially the banks as they are the true driving force behind our economy but really fair is fair the frontline are working as hard as they ever have only to see their future moving further away and their current lives getting harder and harder with little they can do about it. I actually liked the fact that I couldn’t strike because it removed the possibility of taking that action which stands so starkly against everything that I believe in, however, without it what power do officers have to stand and say “NO” when we feel that we are being taken advantage of. For this reason I will be attending London on 10^th May simply to show that I am concerned about my future and the future of the police service.

Mon 9 Apr 6:53PM

Rest days at last, perfect remedy to a long set - 29th March

Hello sun you’re what I’ve been missing. I spent the majority of last summer locked in my little office reading for one essay or another and watching the world and the nice weather pass me by.

There’s nothing more rejuvenating than sitting with the sun beating down on you. I’m currently lying in the rear garden of my block of flats trying to coax my kittens out of the bush they hide in whenever we take them outside. My neighbours must think I’m mad as whenever I’m outside I seem to be standing around arguing with a bush and clearly losing.

This set of 7 shifts has felt so long particularly seeing as it came just 2 days after my previous set of 8 shifts. Luckily I have the mighty boys and girls of D section who make work so much easier. Last night there were over 10 grade 1 emergencies within a period of about 3 hours but they simply navigated their way through them making arrests where required and using alternative methods when not.

Of particular note were Dave and Tom who arrested 5 for burglary other than dwelling, arranging all of the transport and gathering all the relevant evidence so that the individuals could be spoken to in the morning. Steve and John also picked off the bitty jobs which while not emergencies have vulnerable people at the end of them that need protecting. Star of the set was Russ singled out over the full set as having worked tirelessly for all of the supervisors.

As i write this Vicky’s returned home after passing her pre advanced driving course, for which I’m so proud of her  & the kittens have decided to emerge from bush to try & catch flies, so all is currently right with the world. 

Mon 9 Apr 6:52PM

Consolidation Years

I’ve just got back from the first of my consolidation year courses as part of the high potential development scheme (HPDS). Having thankfully passed the initial 2 year diploma I now have 2 years to cement and expand my experience, part of which involves 2 day courses every 6 months. This first one was entitled critical decision making and provided a fascinating insight into the mechanics and mentality of making decisions not only in the police but also in other environments. As part of this we had the pleasure of hearing from a surgeon regarding critical incidents in operating theatres (as well as a few gruesome pictures) and from an air traffic controller on remaining calm amid mounting pressure.

By far the highlight of the course was a talk by retired Colonel Bryan Watters OBE who gave a truly eye opening lecture on his experiences in the army when deployed in Bosnia. A rare privilege to hear such an honest account about the kind of life and death decisions that I hope I never have to make. We were also lucky to be able to hear from Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick QPM on her time in the police service during which she has overseen a number of very high profile departments and operations and whose time I almost felt guilty about taking up.

As I think I’ve mentioned previously while the HPDS offers such a fantastic opportunity for learning and development that is just half of what my cohort will take from it. The other and almost more important side is the relationships that are developed between each of the participants from all of the different forces. I know it’s such a cliché to say but I really could see the future leaders of the police service sitting around me some of whom are already onto their 2^nd promotion since joining the scheme. I’m often very jealous sitting and watching the higher level that some of them operate on, but in revenge I have been trying to get as many recordings of their antics in the bar at the end of the days as I can so as to remind them of where we started together when they reach those dizzy heights later in life.

Going away and spending time with these exceptionally driven individuals always forces me to reflect on my own career which is still very much up in the air in terms of what I want out of it. I applied for the HPDS more for a challenge than out of a definite desire to shoot up the ranks and I often feel torn between the wish to continue developing and challenging myself and that of finding a role that I truly love which I can make my own and settle down into. Having had this discussion recently with my mentor I think his advice was pretty much on the money, to stay in a role until you feel that you’re no longer learning and then to try for something new. Having said that he then advised moving jobs and taking the CID exam so settling down definitely seems a long way off.

Thu 22 Mar 4:39PM

The danger of complacency

A recent incident highlighted the fact that complacency is the most dangerous aspect of response policing as even though we deal with critical incidents every day, complacency is what either gets you into serious trouble or gets someone seriously injured. I’ve been lucky thus far in my career not to have suffered as a result of this, which is not to say that I haven’t fallen into the trap just that I’ve not yet suffered as a result.

A simple example which will stay with me for the rest of my career is one where I was with a more senior colleague during my probationary period and we were called to a lay-by on the A27 where a foreign lorry driver had reported an illegal immigrant as having stowed away in the back of his lorry and then run off. We arrived at the incident and located the young male a short distance away in the woods. My colleague and I escorted him back to the police vehicle where he was placed into the rear while my colleague went off to speak with the lorry driver. I walked round the vehicle, got into the rear and shut the child locked door to be confronted by a knife sitting on the seat between the young male and myself. There is no better wakeup call than the instant realisation that you could’ve been seriously hurt.

Complacency is no less of a worry now that I’m a supervisor and in fact could actually have even more serious consequences due to the nature of the incidents I oversee. It is sometimes difficult to remember that at the end of each potentially critical incident there is a person in need of help.

An example from a few years ago is a female with depression who had split up with her partner and who contacted her via social media to state that she was going to commit suicide. The lady in question had a considerable history of self harm having been admitted to hospital on just under 50 previous occasions in similar circumstances but who had never suffered serious harm as a result. On this occasion the police were not initially contacted as it was believed to be an idle threat.

A day passed and the police were informed. I was despatched as a “method of entry” trained officer to break down her door and check on her welfare. A colleague and myself broke in to find the lady on the couch, still alive but suffering from laboured breathing. There was vomit down her front and over the area around her and so I immediately radioed for an ambulance while supporting the female’s head and trying to speak with her. The ambulance attended promptly and quickly removed the lady and I was left at the location feeling happy that all would be fine and that I’d done my job well by getting in quickly and saving her life.

Unfortunately that feeling was not to last as 10 minutes later I was informed that the lady had died on the way to the hospital. It’s so sad to think that maybe if we’d been 5 minutes quicker getting to the location, 5 minutes quicker getting through the door or been informed 30 minutes earlier then she may still be alive and especially hard to try and save someone only to see them slip away.

Mon 5 Mar 11:07AM

Safe Working Environment

I can count on one hand the times where I have been genuinely worried for my safety while working for the police, however, one of those occasions occurred on Tuesday evening while policing the Brighton and Hove Albion / Milwall game. The lead up to the game had been fairly ordinary for an event at the new Amex Stadium, with a number of the fans drinking in town and the surrounding pubs before making their way to the ground. While a tiny number of people had been arrested for public order offences there was no real trouble to speak of.

I was assigned as a sergeant with 4 constables to police the outside of the South Stand from where the away fans watch the game. Before the start of the game the away fans made their way into the stand with very little trouble and began watching the first half, buoyed somewhat by an early goal. This situation continued throughout the first half until half time when there was suddenly a shout over the police radio of a fight inside the refreshments area of the away stand, which was quickly followed by an emergency button activation (this is where an officer deems it to be an emergency situation and presses the red button on top of their radio. This has two results, firstly it alerts everyone on that radio talkgroup of the emergency and secondly it clears the radio for 10 seconds so that the officer can relay the circumstances without interruption). You never know what you are going to walk into when responding to an emergency activation but that’s the last thing on your mind as all you want to do is get there and make sure of the safety of your colleagues.

Along with PCs Boatwright and Brown and Sergeant Palmer I entered the stand to be met with a torrent of abuse and the sight of a small number of officers and stewards being surrounded by approximately 80 Milwall fans. We pushed through and turned to face the crowd which consisted of about 30 really angry individuals and about 50 on lookers interested in getting involved against the police. It’s about this time when you realise just how hopelessly outnumbered you are as looking out from my position I could see 30 people in front of me shouting “Scum,” “murderer” and various other things that I can’t put on here. The ones at the front were also dancing back and forward with their arms raised shouting “Come on then.”

A number of the crowd were also showing signs of having been sprayed in the preceding incident and were clearly very angry about this (Sussex officers use CAPTOR spray which contains an artificial compound similar to that in chillies which causes peoples eyes to close and causes short term localised pain). It was at this time that I felt the first coin pinging off the top of my helmet followed by more hitting my hi vis jacket and then felt the cool refreshing rain of beer being thrown from the back of the crowd. I also had the pleasure of seeing a number of the individuals at the front of the crowd spitting towards me which is always the highlight of my job.

All in all there was a period of about a minute where I really didn’t know how things were going to turn out. Further spray was deployed and I shouted at everyone to draw their batons in an attempt to at least stare down the barrel of the now very angry crowd of individuals pushing backwards and forwards in a bid to have a piece of the action. Within minutes we were joined by public order officers but even with their assistance we were still outnumbered and it only seemed to further ignite the crowd who were so engrossed with the situation that they missed their team scoring a second goal. It was at this time that the PSU commander through some effective decision making and dynamic actions co-ordinated a push out of officers to create a sterile area and then forced the crowd back into the seating area.

While a few individuals took a while to realise the moment had passed the vast majority returned to watching the game. Surprisingly the full time whistle resulted in no further problems as all of the fans simply left the area as they had arrived in a calm and relatively quiet manner. As with most experiences I have had of violence the return to normality is almost a shock and thankfully on this occasion one with no lasting memories as with the exception of a few bumps to one officer and the after effects of the spray I believe everyone involved was unharmed.

Fri 24 Feb 2:00PM

Caught Red Handed

Operation Tealeaf is currently a divisional priority for Brighton and Hove as the city is suffering from a spate of thefts which are undoubtedly linked to the current economic downturn. Chief among the offences of this nature are thefts from person and thefts from unattended bags when people are out on Friday and Saturday nights.
PCs Ben Vatnsdal, Rob Staplehurst and I were on patrol on East Street on Saturday night when we were approached by a male who stated that a female who was walking off down the road had just stolen his £800 watch.
Ben approached the female and she immediately denied any wrong doing stating that she only had the watch that she was wearing and that she had never seen the male before in her life. Ben searched her bag under Section 1 of PACE and there are few more satisfying moments than those when you find the stolen item. A big wink and a smile from Ben to me said that the female was about to have an awkward couple of hours trying to think of an explanation for why a watch from a man she had never met had ended up in her closed bag. Amazing that her attitude suddenly changed to “if I give it back can we just forget about it.”
The female was previously unknown to police and just goes to show that temptation can affect many people. And a word of warning for all those planning to go out in the near future, keep your property close and mobiles safe.

Tue 21 Feb 10:43PM

No rest for the wicked

Thursday finally saw the submission of my last essay for my diploma in police leadership and management and I could actually feel the weight lifting off my shoulders as soon as I clicked the send button. While certainly not the best essay I’ve ever written I’m pretty confident that it will at least get the pass that I need to complete the course.

Unfortunately for me finally completing the essay wasn’t so much accompanied by a fanfare as it was with a freezing cold night shift. I was down to be CG98 for the evening and oversee the incidents on the division something which was made all the more difficult by a silly 17 year old female who had gone out for the evening, had too much to drink and then run off from her boyfriend following an argument. During the course of her strop there were 6 police officers and 2 members of ambulance crew involved with dealing with her. Even now after turning up 3 hours later safe and well at home I’m sure that she has no real realisation about just how much of a drain on emergency services she was that evening. The rest of the night was the usual distribution of domestic incidents, assaults and general attention seeking that seems to dominate my working life. That ideal from Star Trek, (I’m not a trekky simply one for whom the idea struck a chord) where everyone works for the betterment of mankind really does seem a long way off.

The following two shifts were the 2100 – 0700 hours shifts which are truly the worst of our 10 week pattern. We spend the first 7 hours on high visibility foot patrol in the centre of Brighton monitoring the night time economy before returning to the station to respond to the emergency calls until 0700 hours. There is nothing more demoralising after a cold night spent dealing with people who have had too much to drink than to go back to the office and hear over the radio all of the emergency incidents flooding in as people fail to return home safely. On Saturday I didn’t even manage to get back to the office to take over as the duty sergeant as I came across a male attempting to throw himself in front of cars on the Old Steine and had to detain him under the mental health act. When I did eventually get back I almost immediately ran out of officers thanks to a string of fights across the division. It’s very difficult to hear that someone is having their head stamped on and not have anyone available to send to it. Especially as the majority of the other incidents taking place were more winner and loser than offender and aggrieved.

I’m sorry if this is a bit of a downbeat entry as I truly love my job but it can also get you down when you have a string of evenings during which you are more of a children’s nanny than an actual crime fighter. The two cures for this kind of malaise are time away or a really fantastic incident that you get stuck into and reap the rewards from. This next set I hope to have both as I’m away for the first two days training in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear response during which I will have the pleasure of being exposed to CS gas as I practice my techniques before starting another set of shifts where hopefully I can get out and about and be a bit more proactive.

I also have Vicky’s Xmas present to look forward to at the end of the next set as I arranged for us to see a matinee showing of Les Miserables before eating at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux Jnr’s 2 Michelin starred restaurant, already feeling hungry just thinking about it.

Thu 2 Feb 4:26PM

I really don't want to be sitting here

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The jubilation of completing my dissertation 3 months ago is well and truly forgotten. I am currently sitting in my study trying to avoid writing my final essay entitled, “Without volunteer labour the police service could not function.” Vicky would be very disappointed to know that rather than completing the essay I am tapping away on my blog and that I spent too much of my lunchtime playing “Bejewelled Blitz”. However, as I haven’t written anything  on here for a while due to stressing about the essay I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to vent.

This is the last of my 6 essays and I really can’t wait to get my life back. I spent the last 2 sets of rest days researching, reading for and making notes regarding the essay and I’ve taken this set of rest days and 3 extra annual leave days to get the thing written. It’s a considerable nightmare being a perfectionist (some would say anally compulsive) and trying to write the best essay I can in the knowledge that I actually only have to write an essay that scores 50% to pass and complete my diploma.

Although my current meagre total is just 430 words I am happy in the knowledge that the remainder of the essay is planned and the difficulty will probably be keeping the word count down (I tend to waffle) than having to find things to talk about.

For those of you who are interested my position is that we could continue to function, though very badly it would have to be said, without the special constabulary, police service volunteers, police cadets, foster parent’s, appropriate adults, magistrates and all the other volunteers who help make our public services the envy of the world. However, what we could not function without is the public in general, as Robert Peel stated, “The police are the public and the public are the police.” Without witnesses we would see very few cases that matter through to conviction and without community intelligence we would find even fewer criminals to put before the court. On the plus side, cannabis possession and swearing on the street would certainly be at an all time low.

Now I just need to flesh that out for another 2530 words and I’ll be done.

You’ll not be surprised to find that this is not the only thing I’ve done while trying to write my essay, I have also; done all of the washing, planned the date of my stag do to make sure everyone can go and ironically organised my diary so as to make more efficient use of my time.

Anyway enough waffle and more work, otherwise I will get the “disapproving look” (something all wives, partners and mothers seem to inherently learn) later when Vicky gets home

Sun 22 Jan 3:09PM

Christmas and New Year

So how did I spend my Christmas day, well as the duties sergeant on my last section I was able to organise the Christmas shifts for Vicky and myself and it also meant that I was given strict instructions that we would not be working. As such I spent a very pleasant day with Vicky’s family, being treated to a full Christmas dinner and more presents than I probably deserve. I was also introduced to an interesting new board game called BALDERDASH at which I lost quite convincingly. Turns out that I’m quite terrible at lying, which is probably a good thing in my profession, however, I was quite worried at just how successful Vicky’s little sister Lizzie was, which also cast doubts on how much she really liked my Christmas present.

New Year’s Eve was a very different occasion. On my last section I’d organised to work an early turn on New Year’s Day and expected a very quiet shift as everyone settled themselves into a lie in following their New Year’s Eve exertions. Unfortunately when I changed sections it meant that I now had to work the horror that is the busiest night of the year. While most people were out seeing the New Year in with a small aperitif in hand I was sat in the briefing room at John Street Police Station, feeling the effects of a cold and trying to cram a foot long subway into my mouth before going out on foot again in the town centre. Still I could have chosen worse people to spend New Years with than PC’s Coppard, Stallard, Boatwright, Mackenzie and Parr, even if PC Mackenzie did come out with, “NO OFFENCE BUT I’D RATHER SPEND NEW YEAR’S EVE AT HOME ALONE WITH A BOTTLE OF VODKA THAN YOU LOT.”

Luckily for me OP Marble wasn’t that busy as PC Rain came to the rescue and ushered most people away before they became too much of a problem. The Response shift on the other hand caught the brunt of people going to house parties to avoid the weather and out of a desire to save money, with over 60 grade 1 calls during the night they were once again pulled from pillar to post.

The night ended at 0500 hours a mere 1 hour late off after a few last minute, lawful ejections, rowdy females causing trouble to security staff and one poor lad who’d had one of his teeth knocked out. Only one New Year’s resolution this time round, to see more of my family and friends who I’ve neglected this year.

Fri 6 Jan 5:21PM

Death in the Community

Christmas started as a very sombre affair for me as I attended two deceased persons within the community. The first of which was a very sad situation where an elderly lady with clear vulnerability issues was found dead on the floor of her kitchen. Surrounding her frail frame were bags and bags of envelopes and letters and throughout her flat my two officers and I could only find one working light bulb. While she had been able to live independently there was no food in her fridge and she only had a very small corner of her bed on which to sleep surrounded by yet more plastic bags in which she appeared to store all of her belongings. It was very sad to see and definitely made me think of my parents and to hope that my brother and I will always be there to make sure that they never have to live in similar circumstances.

Many people don’t realise that police officers attend all deaths in the community and are sometimes quite shocked to see us arrive at their houses. When police attend a death in the community they are acting on the behalf of the coroner to ensure initially that there are no suspicious circumstances and then secondly to obtain all the relevant information regarding the deceased person such as medical history, next of kin and the circumstances in which they were found. As part of this process it is necessary for officers to complete a search of the body to ensure that there are no injuries which are not apparent on first sight. This can be very distressing for the family as well as the officers and it is usually done in private to avoid any problems. Not least of which is the fact that bodies can make noises when moved and officers wincing, fainting or screaming never goes down well.

If there are no immediate family members present then it is the police’s responsibility to ensure that they are informed. This normally occurs through the passage of a death message, which involves police attending their location and speaking with the relative in person. It’s one of the most difficult things to do and something that you are given very little training for.  My first one on my own 5 years ago couldn’t have gone more wrong as I committed the cardinal sin of not waiting until the lady was sitting down. I also didn’t realise that her father had died 1 day short of his 50th wedding anniversary for which there was a big celebration planned and so his death couldn’t have been more of a shock. All I could do was watch in horror as the lady collapsed on the floor in front of me in floods of tears. Even though now I take particular pride in the approach I’ve developed it still didn’t stop the last male I passed a death message to ending up on the floor in floods of tears with me again feeling totally helpless.

Fri 6 Jan 5:20PM

The peril of being used

Domestic violence and sexual violence are particularly difficult offences for the aggrieved parties firstly in terms of the investigation and then with regards to obtaining a positive outcome. Many of these cases in fact never reach the stage of a police investigation either because the aggrieved party is too afraid or ashamed to report the matter. For these reasons I am entirely supportive of police taking positive action to arrest the suspects when allegations are made.

While the majority of allegations made are the result of genuine intentions on the part of the aggrieved or a witness it is very difficult for officers when those allegations are suspected and worse proved to be false. I state this now because of 3 recent cases that I have supervised where the aggrieved party has either used the police for their own ends or lied regarding an incident for attention.

An example involves a female who made an allegation of sexual assault against a male at a seafront club in Brighton who following the allegation then ran into the sea. Officers attended and several of my colleagues and me followed the female into the sea to rescue her when she went under the water. Once rescued from the water the female persisted in her claims of being sexually assaulted and so the male party was detained and removed to a police station. It wasn’t until the CCTV was viewed and she was challenged that she later admitted to having lied because she was annoyed at the door staff because they wouldn’t help her when she lost her passport. In this case a male’s liberty was taken and officers risked their safety by entering a rough sea all because a female was annoyed at door staff.

Similar incidents have occurred where both female and male parties have made malicious allegations of domestic violence or violence against their children by a partner simply to assist with a custody case or because they have been annoyed at them and want them to be removed for the evening. On certain occasions police can receive numerous allegations on separate occasions simply because it is an easy way to get at their ex or current partner.

I cannot stress the disservice that these individuals do to the genuine victims of crime who are too scared to report the matter for fear that they will not be believed by the police. Domestic and sexual violence are despicable crimes and anything that makes it harder for the victims to report them is a travesty. It is also difficult for officers to remain positive towards victims of crime when they are faced with individuals making up allegations which simply cannot have occurred. This is especially pertinent at Christmas when the frequency of domestic violence incidents increases dramatically and people really do need the support of police and other services.

Fri 23 Dec 10:53AM