Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Other commitments have taken up a large part of my time and volunteering with the Special Constabulary, and the blog, have had to take a back seat.
We’ll keep you posted as to whether I can continue to blog about life as a Special or whether one of my colleagues will be taking over for the time being.
Thanks for reading the posts I have written and for your interest in the Specials.
SC Martin Shepherd
Happy New Year! Wishing you a safe and healthy 2012.
If your New Year’s resolution is to help others in your community, why not sign up for one of our four forthcoming Specials Awareness Events being held in Nottinghamshire in January and February?
If you’re interested in becoming a Special, make sure you sign up to one of our four forthcoming Awareness Events being held in Nottinghamshire in early 2012.
Firstly, I’d like to apologise for not updating the blog for a while. A case of the flu has unfortunately kept me from coming on duty, but I’m back now and will hopefully be updating regularly again.
Secondly, I haven’t yet had chance to send my best wishes to my colleague who was involved in a hit and run collision while on duty in Nottingham where she sustained a badly broken leg. It makes you realise that the work we do as Special Constables and the police in general can be dangerous at times. It hasn’t phased her though and the last update I heard was that she is quickly recovering from her injuries and is determined to be back out on patrol as soon as possible.
This week, I went on duty on Friday 2 December 2011. Here’s what I got up to.
17:00 – Arrive at Hucknall Police Station. Put on my uniform and check my emails. It’s an early start tonight because we’ve been asked to help out at a Christmas Carnival in a neighbouring town.
17:30 – Arrive at the carnival to find out it’s been cancelled at the last minute! We’re still expecting a lot of people who aren’t aware of the cancellation to attend so we stick around. Everyone was in good spirits and there were no problems.
20:00 – Arrive back at Hucknall Police Station and grab a quick bite to eat.
20:30 – We are asked by the Sergeant to patrol an area the other side of the town that’s having a problem with criminal damage, so we head over and make ourselves known to the residents.
21:30 – On our way back to the police station, we come across a man lying in the middle of the road. We walk over expecting the worse, but it turns out he’s had a bit too much to drink. Luckily a taxi driver who knows him well drove past and offered to take him home.
22:00 – The control room asks us to join in the search for a missing woman. We check the area she was last seen as well as looking through the CCTV of local shops for any sightings. The force helicopter eventually joins the search.
23:30 – We jump in the car with a response officer to attempt an arrest of a suspect who is alleged to have smashed a window at a local pub.
00:30 – Our Sergeant asks us to perform a series of bail compliance checks on offenders in the local area to make sure they are sticking to their bail conditions.
02:00 – Off duty.
No blog this week but pictures from Friday night’s foot patrol in Hucknall, courtesy of photographer Jack Storey.
I was called to court last week to give evidence about an incident I attended a few months ago and it got me thinking. Not many people realise that Special Constables have to frequently attend court, exactly the same as regular officers. I certainly didn’t before I joined!
I’m not going to lie, the first time you attend court is terrifying, and especially for someone like me who had never been to court before joining the police. You are standing there in a police tunic in front of a judge or magistrate and suddenly the whole world seems to be looking at you. It does get less scary with time though and just becomes part of the role. Now it doesn’t bother me at all and it’s actually interesting to see the criminal justice system working from start to finish.
I seem to get called to court around three times a year. The majority of times this will be at the local Magistrates’ Court, but it is possible to be called to the Crown Court depending on the severity of the alleged offence. You can’t really refuse to go, but your employer does have to give the time off and there are ways to claim back any lost earnings and expenses.
If you’re thinking of becoming a Special, I wouldn’t let the fact you may have to attend court put you off applying. If you’re particularly worried about courts though, it’s certainly something to keep in mind. You wouldn’t want to spend a year of your life going through the recruitment process and training to have to give it all in when you get called to court for the first time.
As well as attending court, I also went on duty on Friday 4th November 2011. Here’s what I got up to.
18:30 – Arrive at Hucknall Police Station. Put on my uniform, check my emails and catch up with a few bits of admin from previous shifts.
19:00 –Attend a briefing with our local Inspector and Hucknall’s new Street Pastors. It’s their first night out so we are asked to make sure everything goes smoothly for them.
19:30 – On foot patrol with another Special. The weather’s miserable which seems to have kept everyone indoors. I can’t say I blame them.
23:00 – I join another couple of Specials who are patrolling in a police van. Everywhere is still quiet, but it’s nice to be in the warm.
01:00 – The local pubs and bars are starting to kick out and we have to calm down a few alcohol fuelled arguments. That’s one of the benefits of being out and visible at the right times – you can get stuck in and calm down tense situations before they turn into violence.
01:30 – We come across a female walking down the middle of the road. She seems to be falling over every few steps so we drive over to see if she’s all right. She’s had a bit too much to drink and struggles to tell us where she lives or how she’s getting home. We were not happy to leave her alone at that time of the morning, so found her driving license and took her home to her mum’s house which was only a short distance away. Her mum was very happy she was returned safe.
02:00 – Time to go home. It’s been one of my less eventful shifts of late, but I still go home feeling it’s been worthwhile.
Find out more about Nottinghamshire’s Specials visit www.nottinghamshire.police.uk
You may have noticed in my last few blog updates that I usually do quite long shifts on a Friday evening through to the early hours of Saturday morning. I’ve been asked a few questions asking whether this is the norm for a Special Constable.
To answer that - it is and it isn’t. ‘Clear as mud’ you may be thinking? Let me explain.
A large proportion of Specials choose to work on a Friday and Saturday evening when Police resources are most stretched and waking up for paid employment in the morning isn’t an issue. Often this is a 7pm – 2am type shift, but many choose to work even longer.
‘Choose’ is the key word though! Whether you can only spare a couple of hours, or are able and happy to work longer shifts like I often do, any time you can spare is always greatly appreciated! As long as you are doing the 16 hours a month Nottinghamshire Police ask for, there’s no need to do any more if you really can’t spare the time.
Even though you are not compensated financially for your role as a Special Constable, Nottinghamshire Police are required to comply with the Working Time Directive the same way that any other employer would have to. This means having sufficient breaks in between your paid employment and coming on duty as a Special, as well as timing your shifts in line with the directive.
You are offered a chance to opt-out of the Working Time Directive when you join, but it is important to make it clear that you are in no way required or pressured to. There’s no point in doing a long shift in your paid employment to then come on duty absolutely exhausted and perform a long tour of duty as a Special (which can in itself be very demanding at times). It’s all about striking a balance between paid work, home life and your time as a Special.
This weekend I had lots of free time, so chose to come on duty on both Friday and Saturday evenings. Here’s what I got up to.
Friday 28th October 2011
18:00 – Arrive at Hucknall Police Station. Put on my uniform, check my emails and catch up with a few bits of admin from previous shifts.
18:30 – Another Special and I decide to patrol on foot around the local crime and antisocial behaviour hotspots. It’s already dark and I’m struggling to get used to these early nights!
21:00 – Everywhere is unusually quiet tonight. We expected it to be very busy with Halloween being just around the corner, but it just goes to show how unpredictable policing can be. Many people think that patrolling on a quiet night would be boring, but you are still constantly interacting with members of the public and who knows how many offences are being prevented by your very presence.
23:00 – We receive information that there’s a regular drink driver who’s currently drinking in a bar. We receive details of the vehicle (which was parked in the car park). We made response officers aware and stood opposite for a while to keep an eye out for the vehicle.
Shortly after, the vehicle emerged from the car park. We radioed our control room and the vehicle was stopped a short distance down the road. The driver blew over the limit and was subsequently arrested. Thanks to the intelligence received, another potential drink-related accident has been avoided and the offender is no longer on the road.
00:30 – A member of the public alerts us to a man collapsed a short distance away. We went to investigate and found the man who was lying in the remains of his Chinese takeaway. He wasn’t responding to us, so we called an ambulance.
Although he smelt strongly of alcohol, it’s always important not to jump to conclusions and to look for any other signs of illness. Having said that, on this particular occasion it turned out he had indeed just had a bit too much to drink and he came around shortly after.
02:30 – We responded to a call where someone’s neighbour was threatening her and she had decided enough was enough. We established what had been said and reasuured the caller before going to speak to her neighbour who was unfortunatly not in (or sleeping). It’s an ongoing problem, so we make the local beat officers aware before going off duty so they can look at resolving it for her.
02:20 – We respond to an abandoned 999 call where someone had put the phone down before being connected to the Police. The BT operator heared screaming and shouting and alerted our control room. We arrived to find out that it had been a heated argument between a couple. We removed one of them to a friend’s house for the night to prevent any further arguments occuring.
We then went back to the Police Station to complete a risk assesment which is done after every domestic incident. These are used to identify any ongoing problems and ensure that we give the best possible help to any victims of domestic violence.
04:00 – Off Duty.
Saturday 29th October 2011
22:00 – On duty at Hucknall Police Station. Coming on duty tonight was a last minute decision so I’m in a bit later than usual.
22:00 – I’ve barely had chance to put my uniform on before we get asked to assist officers who were attempting to catch a stray dog. This is not usually the domain of the Police, but this particular dog was running up the wrong side of a busy dual carrigeway!
23:10 – We are called to a fight in progress outside a bar in a neighbouring town. CCTV operators are watching the incident unfold and it’s getting quite heated. We are the first to arrive at the scene. The fight had stopped by the time we got there, but the atmosphere is still heated and we try to establish what’s happened.
With the help of CCTV, we are able to identify the main suspect and another Special arrests him. He is carrying a knuckle duster in his pocket, so is further arrested for that. We take him to the custody cells where he is booked in. We are busy for the next couple of hours dealing with this arrest.
01:20 – We attend an alarm activation at a local business and CCTV at the premises has picked up torch lights. We arrive to find the gate secure. We search the area thorughly, but if anyone was there, they have now gone. No members of staff are present and it’s too dark to see if anything has been stolen.
02:00 – We are sent to a Halloween party that’s got a bit out of hand. We’ve received multiple calls that fireworks are being let off on the street and the neighbours are understandably getting annoyed at this hour. We speak to the partygoers who agree to calm things down.
We speak to the callers who are grateful for us coming and inform us that it’s an on-going problem. We make sure we let the local beat officers know before going off duty so they can look at ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
03:00 – Time to go off duty. Another enjoyable weekend.
After speaking to a number of new and potential Specials, it seems the number one concern they have is the dangerous situations we find ourselves in. It would be wrong of me to say that we never encounter dangerous situations in the line of duty, because we do.
The Police as a whole are often the ones running to assist when every other member of the public’s instinct is to run away.
The good thing is, you are fully trained to deal with the majority of situations the world has to throw at you. Nottinghamshire Police provide extremely good officer safety training to all of its regulars and specials. You are never expected to enter life threatening situations alone without serious thought and specialist teams of officers (Firearms, Dogs etc) are always available to assist.
We receive exactly the same safety equipment as a regular officer and you are fully trained to use them to protect yourself and members of the public if the situation calls for it.
As a Special, you are a sworn Constable and swear the same ‘Police Oath’ in front of a Magistrate as any other officer does. Amongst other things, you swear to ‘Serve the Queen in the office of Constable’ and to ‘Prevent all offences against the people and property’.
It’s not something to enter into lightly, but if you decide to join Nottinghamshire Police as a Special, you can rest assured that you will have literally thousands of officers behind you and backup is always around the corner!
An example of when officers come to each other’s assistance is shown in my latest tour of duty. Here’s what I got up to on Friday 21st October 2011.
17:00 – On duty at Hucknall Police Station. Join the response team for the daily briefing, check emails and complete a few bits of paperwork outstanding from my previous tour of duty.
18:00 – I team up with another Special. We decided to go out and do a bit of early foot patrol around the town centre. There’s something in the air tonight and I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a busy shift! Is it a full moon?
18:50 – An honest member of the public has found someone’s handbag and given it to us. Luckily, there’s a document with a name inside. We take it back to the Police Station and arrange for it to be returned to its owner. I’m sure she will be happy.
21:25 – We come across someone we believe to be in possession of drugs. I tell the male I’m going to search him at which point he ran off. I chased after him on foot but he quickly disappeared into some gardens. Luckily, the man’s car was parked a short distance down the road, so my colleague waited with the car while I carried on searching for him. As expected, he returned to his vehicle shortly after. Both he and the car were searched for drugs. Nothing was found. We also searched the area where he disappeared in case he had disposed of any evidence with no luck. With no evidence, we have to let him go. Frustrating, but these things happen and people who decide to break the law are usually caught at some point!
21:45 – Seconds after that search, we are asked to help some of our regular colleagues who are at another incident. Someone has run away from the scene. The neighbours are out and things are getting a bit heated. We arrive and the offender has already been arrested. He’s not happy though and has decided to spit all over the inside of the police car and break the window. We stay with the arrested man while another colleague picks up a police van with a cage. I join two of our regular colleagues to take the man into custody (cells). The man is head-butting the inside of the cage so we transport him on blue lights to get him there as quickly as possible. Luckily, he has calmed down by the time we arrive and is booked in without any issues. He was further arrested for damaging the police car as well as his original offence.
23:30 – Back on patrol in the town centre and we can’t walk a full length of the High Street without having to break up at least a couple of heated arguments. The pubs haven’t kicked out yet so we prepare ourselves for the next few hours.
00:20 – A member of the public alerts us to a disturbance happening around the corner. We quickly arrive to see about 15 people having an argument. We try to calm the situation down and find out what’s happened, but the situation is tense and we are outnumbered so we ask for back up. Thirty seconds later another four officers have arrived and we are able to establish what has happened. It turns out that someone allegedly shouted racist abuse to another person waiting for a bus. The crowd took exception to this and everyone started arguing. Racism of any nature is not tolerated and the suspect was quickly arrested by another Special. I take all the witness details and ensure that the situation has fully calmed down before carrying on with our patrol.
00:40 – The pubs are slowly starting to close. Everyone else is dealing with previous incidents, so it’s just the two of us out tonight to police the Friday night drinkers. Hopefully everyone will make their way home without incident, but we know backup is only round the corner if things don’t go as hoped.
00:58 – A few calls have come in regarding a party that is getting a bit too loud. It’s getting late now and the address is only a short walk from where we are, so we are asked if we can attend. We arrive at the address, explain the situation and politely ask if they wouldn’t mind keeping the noise down. The owner is not happy that we’ve been called and tells us we should be “catching burglars and murderers” rather than at her address. The music eventually gets turned down and we carry on with our patrols.
01:40 – The streets are a bit calmer now and everyone seems to be making their way home. Just when we think the night has ended, we are asked to attend a 999 call where a man has been assaulted. We arrive and he clearly has a nasty injury to his lip. He doesn’t want an ambulance however, so we take witness details from the scene and take him back to the police station to get photographs of his injury and provide first aid. Unfortunately, the victim has had a little too much to drink to give an accurate statement tonight, so we take his details, make sure he is okay and send him home. All the pubs are now closed so we are unable to collect any CCTV. I prepare a file to handover to the morning shift who will investigate the incident later in the day.
04:40 – It’s been a busy shift and another late finish. I can go home knowing that we have hopefully prevented at least a few offences and the majority of people have been able to enjoy their Friday night out safely.
Are you interested in becoming a Special Constable? Nottinghamshire Police is holding a Specials awareness event at The Arrow Centre, Annesley Road, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, NG15 8AY (next to the Ambulance station) on Saturday 5th November 2011 at 10am.
