As the bike shop owner was reading out the description, we were going through a red light, sirens blaring. Kim suddenly made a squeaking sound, and pointed at the intersection we had just gone through. I slammed on the brakes, and looked. True enough, there he was. Bright red T-shirt with a white logo on the front, and a bike that was gleaming in the bright midday August sun. Read More >

"You know what we're going to have to do, don't you?", Kim said to me, as she shoved her notebook back into her stab-vest. I nodded, curtly. It looked like the rest of the shift was going to be a race against the wits of a 14-year-old. Read More >

"We've had a report of a group of six youths fighting with knives in Guy Street Park, descriptions to follow," the familiar voice of the CAD operator crackles on the radio. "We have one IC3 male, around five foot five, wearing a black hoodie and a red baseball cap". The CAD operator is relaying from the 999 call in progress. "We also have an IC3 male, skinny, around six feet tall, wearing a dark track-suit with a large NIKE logo, and an IC1 male wearing jeans and a red sweater. Several knives have been seen. More descriptions to follow." Read More >

There was glass everywhere. I could feel it sticking into my shoulders where it had gotten caught under my Met-Vest. It was gnawing into my sides. My eye felt... Odd... but there wasn't time to find out whether I'd been hit by a shard of glass there as well. Read More >

"Uhmm, I don't really know how to put this, officer. Last night, I was walking up the street with my Xbox 360, and then a ninja came and punched me in the face. He stole my Xbox!" Read More >

"Mate, if you don't get back in your car and shut the hell up, I'm nicking you for breach of the peace". I'm trying to stay as calm as I can, as my face is about an inch away from his. Read More >

"You're about to make a very stupid mistake, my friend", I say to the man, as he is shifting his weight to his back foot. I know what is coming. I also know that there's a video camera pointing at us. Read More >

“I have my first amendment rights!” the man shouted. “You can’t tell me what I can say and what I can’t say! You’ll hear from my embassy, you fucking nazis! This is the last time I’ll visit your stinking little island! Fuck you, get off me!” he screamed, as he was struggling against the two sets of handcuffs. He wasn’t a pretty sight. Read More >

“Patricia Smith? What’s her date of birth?” asks the triage nurse at the other end of the phone line. I tell her. “Nope, sorry, nobody by that name here”, the lady says, and rings off. Read More >

His name was Jamie. “My friend, I have absolutely nothing against the police”, he confided, still leaning against the car, “but this really is rather a bit of an inconvenience, and I wish you weren’t doing this”. Read More >

“Call an ambulance”, I shout, as I’m running across the road to the man on the asphalt. He is making a horrible gargling sound. In the three seconds it took me to cross the road, his white t-shirt was soaked with claret. Read More >

Not long ago, I was in the United States on a short holiday. We ended up in Chicago, in a rather, well, ‘authentic’ pizza place. In the corner, there was a table of Chicago’s Finest. I’ve always been a little curious about how real-life policing happens in the colonies, so I asked if I could join them for a bit. “Uhm… Yeah”, one of them said, seemingly unsure. Read More >

"We’ve just had report of criminal damage in progress, outside 12 Church walk. An IC2 youth, around 12 years of age, smashing up a car. On an I-grade". Read More >

“Oh, bollocks, he’s not breathing”, my colleague says. That’s my cue to swear, drop my radio in the passenger seat, and come running to help him. This particular motorcyclist is wearing a full-face helmet, and he needs a solid dose of CPR to keep him from popping his clogs. Read More >

“I want him out of here”, the woman screeches, as she’s reaching over my shoulder, fingers curled into a claw, and her impressively long nails slashing, musketeer-style, through the air in the direction of her partner. Read More >