So last night....
I went for a ride along with a response unit from Lewisham Police to get a look behind the curtains of what the job takes.
Shakey start with the front desk not knowing about the arrangement but after one of the sergeants running about a bit I was assigned to 2 officers for the night.
Quiet start to the shift, leaving the station just before 11pm. A bit of a look around the patch, nothing much happening.
Just before 1am we got our first chance to run on blues to reports of a fight. After a 5 mile blue light run, with some absolute terrible driving by members of the public, we arrived with other units, to find it had been stood down as a play fight.
Shortly after assigned to another call, not i-grade. Encountered some more interesting driving along the way, with words of wisdom offered to them for their poor driving.
Just before 2am the officers suggested food at 2.30..
Obviously at 2.20 a car came onto our radar, and after a couple of short bursts of speed, and what seemed it was going to be a fail to stop, a car was stopped. Extra units called for, good quick show of numbers, resulting to one being taken into custody.
To complete the experience I was then permitted to go to custody to see how the processing of someone who has been arrested works. Having seen it all on TV, I was shocked to see just how much longer the process is. Not in a bad way, but it's really not like you see it on TV. Very thorough indeed.
Even seeing the evidential breathalyser machine being used is nowhere near as swift as they show on TV. Just the process of leading up to taking a sample takes a while.
Once the person was safely in a cell, it was time for the paperwork. That is where the real surprises came in. A large pool of hot desks for officers to do their "paperwork" at. A very detailed and long winded system to get everything on record in body cam footage.
Obviously I realise this is VERY important and needs to be done properly, but seeing so many officers at desks having to get all the paperwork done before returning to the streets really highlights how much time is spent on this process. To add insult to injury, after almost 2 hours of doing the report, inc time taken to grab some food, the system decided to crash and the whole report was lost.
As he started it all again, the sergeant came over and suggested it might be a good time to call it a night. I would be lying if I said I wasn't relieved.
It was a real eye opener, and something I would love to do again one day. I would genuinely recommend it to anyone, especially those who have questions about policing and how it works.
Huge thanks to the officers I spent the shift with for answering all my questions and giving me a genuine view of how the streets are policed. And the challenges the police face.
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