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In a bid to give the public an insight into frontline policing, many forces have ride along schemes and while the transparency is welcome, it reveals inefficiency both in terms of process and the use of officer time in areas which really should be the preserve of mental health professionals.
This is my broad conclusion after spending a shift on a ride along with two police constables from the Met Police based in North West London. It’s a cloudy July day and I’m on the day shift, starting at 0700 and ending at 1400 (although not quite as you’ll see below). Wearing an alarmingly orange tabard emblazoned with the words Community Observer front and back, there is no chance anyone will think I am a plain clothes police officer along for the ride with my uniformed colleagues.
I signed up for the scheme – and anyone in London can do the same – online and agreed that I would write about it in general terms and take no notes or photographs during the ride along. I was not allowed to go into any private property with the officers and I followed their instructions throughout. I’ll admit, I approached this with some trepidation.
In good hands with my assigned officers, both with over eight years in the job, we left the police station after they completed all their checks and took to the road as an area team. The continual rumble of words from two different radios in the car provide a cacophony of information, instructions and, most importantly, a call that we could attend.
More by luck than anything, my morning included four different call types, each of which is instructive in its own way.
Responding to a call on blue lights and sirens (much quieter inside than out, thankfully) to the centre of London results in much confusion about the location of a well known high street chemist as the 999 caller is not based in the store where the shoplifter has been spotted. Wasting valuable minutes wading through the confusion, I wonder why we don’t see the location on our map and a difference between the caller location and the incident location.
Location is a problem for our next response to an address known by its building name and not the street number. I yearn for them to have better location information to stop them guessing whether to turn left or right along the street.
I learn about when police cars can use their blue lights and sirens and drive at speeds I can only imagine doing in congested central London. I am reassured by our driver who tells me he has done a lot advanced driver training and uses the language of risk and proportionality.
We spend a long time at an address where one resident has called 999 to complain about the erratic and anti-social behaviour of another resident. One of my officers joins a colleague to listen to one of the resident’s evolving story that unfolds into a drawn out drama that stretches the bounds of reality. And yet they listen, they respect him and have a professional courtesy and firmness that leaves him with his dignity intact.
Hearing from the two officers dispatched to speak to the other resident, it’s clear that this dispute has been going on for years and there are mental health complexities which these officers can do no more than touch the surface to provide the help these residents need to resolve their issues.
The Met Police has adopted Right Care Right Person to reduce the number of mental health calls it attends and look to other agencies who are better equipped respond to those in crisis. I talked about this with my officers and it’s clear the theory is good but the reality is that if there’s nowhere to refer someone to, then they still end up taking the calls and doing the best they can.
We see some of the same issues at a call to a domestic violence incident but it’s more nuanced as it’s a family home and the health needs are more subtle.
In between calls I ask the officers lots of questions about their uniform. It looks uncomfortable and heavy but am told they are used to it; the baton and the taser are important tools but not often deployed and the hidden pockets contain mobile phones and, surprisingly, a notebook and pen. I had thought the latter was an artefact of the past and that digital note taking was normal but not here. The body worn video is switched on with a tap and records vital evidence but is only downloaded back at the station and not live streamed back to the control room.
Having wasted time looking for a car thief long gone on his numberplate-less moped, we return to base in time for 1400 and the end of the shift in the car. The officers tell me they will now spend hours doing paperwork, writing up the calls. They have laptops in the car as well as a ruggedised tablet and have used them a bit during the shift but it’s only scratched the surface of what’s required before they can take off those heavy black ‘vests’ and clock off.
And, if you’re wondering how they eat or go to the bathroom while on patrol, I now know a great 24 hour petrol station good for coffee and caffeine laden drinks and where all the police stations are in the vicinity for a quick loo stop.
I just wish they would eat and drink a bit better and have time to take a break because this job is unrelenting in its demands; crime doesn’t respect lunchtime and like them, I ate mine well into the afternoon. I left the ride along admiring their professionalism and calmness in the face of the unknown and often very unpleasant, as they work to keep us all safe knowing that they’ll be back the next day to do it all over again.
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