Traffic Cops Cop School

On today's Cop School -

the cadets are faced with solving a major road traffic incident.

Will the cadets stay calm enough to solve the crime?

You're not doing this.

If we need further questions, we will ask you.

Policing the streets of London is a smashing job.

I'm Rav Wilding. This is Cop School.

Six wannabe coppers

meet the world's oldest police force.

Their mission - to complete the unique training course.

But are these cadets tough enough to cut it in the Met?

Six cadets from across the UK arrived in London,

ready for the challenge of a lifetime.

Last time at Cop School, the cadets took control of the most fearless

members of the Met. The police dogs.

Together, they recovered stolen cash and caught their criminal.

Job done.

Today, the Cop School cadets will be joining a branch of the Met police

trained in high speed pursuits and tackling danger on London's roads.

They'd better be ready for the traffic cops.

SIREN BLARES

-Morning, cadets.

-Morning.

-Good morning.

-Morning, Sergeant.

I'm Sergeant Merrett from the Metropolitan Police Traffic Unit.

Whilst you're training here with us, I'm your mentor.

The Met's Traffic Unit police all 15,000 kilometres of London's roads.

Last year, there were over 3,000 injuries and 180 deaths on the

capital's roads, and the traffic cops dealt with every one of them.

All the officers in the Traffic Unit have been

through intensive training.

Sergeant Robin Merrett has been in the force for 25 years, and has been

driving Met motor bikes for 20.

He's arrested hundreds of criminals

whilst on undercover surveillance teams,

and as a collision investigator.

Sergeant Merrett knows his stuff,

but can he teach the Cop School cadets enough in two days

for them to succeed in their final challenge?

-Did you not see us?

-You're blaming me for this, are you?

-If you want to be traffic cops, I presume you can all drive.

-Yeah.

Really? We'll see about that!

Well, this morning, you're all going to be taught how to drive,

and Sergeant Julie Finnegan is going to teach you how.

-How do you feel about that?

-Excited!

You're going to learn some of the skills

that the police Traffic Unit learn themselves.

-Can we take it home?

-No, Sam.

To understand how to police traffic, the cadets must be

able to drive a car themselves.

-OK. Excited?

-Yes!

-OK.

So, listen to everything I tell you.

No. Wait. Brake for me.

That's it. Keep your foot on the foot brake.

-Don't like driving!

-Rebecca does look a little bit nervous.

In the UK, you must be 17 years old to drive on public roads,

so our cadets are being taught at the training school.

Show us what you've got, Junior. Creeping up.

-Here we go, Jade.

-Careful not to run Rav over there.

-That's important.

-THEY CHEER

Don't be distracted. Steer round to the left.

I don't know how you can keep your cool.

Don't kill the cone.

-Really good.

-Thank you.

-You're getting the hang of this, aren't you?

I really want to be Top Cop. I'm working so hard.

In a real driving test, you have do a turn in the road,

so let's see how Sam copes with our motorbike road block.

-He's confidently gone straight into that.

-He has!

-Just steer. That's perfect.

-Look at that.

Very good. Three point turn.

-Got to be impressed with that.

-Are you enjoying this?

-Yeah, this is amazing.

-Good. We need to watch the speed with Megan.

She's a little bit quick!

Just come off the gas pedal a little bit. That's it.

-Just move a little bit smooth.

-Positioning is good. Very steady.

-Come on, Megan!

-Nice, lots of support off her team-mates.

Thank you. I felt so in control of a car.

That's cool!

-Two hands on the wheel, Nathan!

-Wow, you're a natural, aren't you?

-Steer to the left.

-He's a bit quicker.

Looking a lot more confident, isn't he?

They've mastered the basics, but this isn't just about driving.

Police officers are on the look out at all times, so our cadets

should do the same. We've planted celebrity couple Posh and Becks

and a yellow ladder on their route.

Will they spot them? Let's see.

What can you see now, where are you looking?

-I'm looking right at them cones.

-OK.

How could you miss Posh and Becks, Junior?

Notice anything to your right, Nathan?

-Looking all around us, to see what's happening.

-See anything, Jade?

-Oh, look at these people!

-Well done, Sam.

You're the only one to spot our celebs.

Obviously, I observed your driving.

Some a little bit quicker that the traffic school maybe

would have liked on lesson one - no names mentioned, Megan.

LAUGHTER

If I said to you, did you notice

-David Beckham and Posh Spice carrying a yellow ladder?

-No.

LAUGHTER

I thought that was Rav!

Police driving sorted, time to hit the streets for their

first shift as traffic cops.

The boys get into position with Sergeant Styles

to scan for speeding motorists,

while the girls get to grips with the in-car technology with PC Viner.

They'd better pay attention, because they're going to

need this later in the final challenge.

In just 24 hours, the cadets

will need to figure out who is responsible for this collision.

The cadets who perform best will win a high speed spin

on the police skid pan.

Met Police traffic cars

are state-of-the-art crime solving machines.

With technology like this in every car, getting away with

-a crime is more difficult than ever.

-If we see anything suspicious

to the left or the right, we can move the camera.

So is that how traffic cops

-can see the crash, like, head-on?

-Yes. Absolutely.

Number plate recognition systems and onboard computers mean Megan

and the cadets will be able

to identify criminals and offenders at the touch of a button.

Obviously if we stop one and it's not on there,

then we need to start asking a few more questions.

Excessive speed contributes to the majority of road deaths, so Junior

and the boys use a laser gun to catch motorists breaking the law.

-Get to work, boys.

-Keep it low on the bumper,

and then gradually move it up until it locks on.

-31.

-31mph. Just over the limit.

They've already seen the police and they'll calm down.

35. Naughty boy!

If they're doing between 35 and 49 -

-have you ever heard of a Fixed Penalty Notice?

-Yeah.

At the side of the road, you give them a ticket.

That's for £60 and three penalty points on their driving licence.

If they're above that, we report them and they go to court.

-So we could put someone in court today?

-Yes.

-Oh, yeah!

We could, if anyone comes up here going too fast.

It feels great to be out on the beat

after the driving lesson. I think I've learned a lot

about the speed limit and how much you should stick to it.

Now, it's time for some real hands-on training.

We've planted a Cop School car and a driver to come along this road.

Now, Sergeant Styles is in on it.

But what will the cadets do when she points out there's a problem?

What else can we find to look at? I tell you what,

that car didn't have any tax in the window. Somebody mark it down.

-Somebody got their pen? You got it?

-Yeah.

DN09 UKK. Uniform kilo kilo.

The other car is somewhere nearby. Shall we give them a call

-and see if they want to stop it and just check it out?

-Yeah.

Oscar Sierra 27 receiving.

The girls are a mile down the road,

so let's see how the two teams work together.

Oscar Sierra 27.

Sierra 26 receiving from Sierra 27.

Grey Vauxhall Corsa,

registration is Delta November 09, Uniform Kilo Kilo.

Didn't look like they had tax.

Received.

The boys have done their part, so it's down to the girls.

Sergeant Merrett and I arrive to see how they're getting on.

The Cop School car's just pulling in.

Let's see how the girls deal with it now it's been pulled over.

Do you have your driver licence with you?

Yeah, it's in the car.

Do you have your insurance?

I don't have any insurance documents.

-What's your name?

-My name's Isabel Brooks.

I would definitely like to be a traffic cop.

You get to work with all the machines in the car, and then

you get to go at really fast speeds and chase people and pull them over,

and ask them loads of questions and be quite nosey.

So they've got a driving licence.

Nice to see that Jade's gone back with her. If it is someone

that shouldn't be driving that car,

-you want to keep an eye on her.

-Absolutely.

While the girls deal with the Cop School driver,

a real life situation is unfolding around the corner.

Junior has caught a driver

speeding at 43mph in a 30mph zone, and Sergeant Styles pulls her over.

Me and Junior and Sam were ecstatic, like, "Yeah, we've caught our first

"criminal", and all that, cos, like, she was speeding in a 30mph zone.

-So I was quite happy.

-Hello, can you just come out

and stand outside your car so I can have a quick word?

The reason I stopped you is because you were exceeding the speed limit.

There's a 30mph limit on this road,

OK, and we just recorded you doing 43.

I'm just going to give you a verbal warning

because the device was being used by one of the cadets

who's not trained. Have you got anything with

you with your name and address on, just so I can check that.

Just quite happy that we caught her.

I'd quite like to take her to court,

because there would be a bit more action.

What would be interesting is if she had no insurance

on the vehicle, that would be...

-Yeah, that would be really good as well.

-Insurance details are current.

Lovely, thank you very much. There you go. That's fine.

Her details check out. She's off the hook.

Back with the girls, have they remembered

why the Cop School driver was pulled over in the first place?

That car didn't have any tax in the window.

My colleagues up the road seem to think

there's a problem with your tax disc.

They seem to think it wasn't taxed.

Oh, I'm really sorry, I just didn't notice that it was hanging off.

-It has got its full tax disk.

-Every car in the UK must display

-a valid tax disc with the car's registration number.

-OK,

so if you read that out, and Jade, if you have a look at your details.

Delta November 09, Uniform Kilo Kilo.

-Yes, that's correct.

-Well done. Good team work, cadets.

Last check? Her insurance.

I've got a lady at the side of the road here and

her name is Isobel Brooks, and did she hire a car from Hertz Company?

It's a metro blue Corsa.

OK. She is insured to drive that vehicle.

-So we can give her the driving licence back.

-The lady's free to go.

Job done, but the cadets are feeling the pressure.

That task was really interesting, but it was like probably the most

difficult task we had to do.

I think overall, they've done very well.

They've had to face some difficult things that they've not faced before.

They all show a lot of promise.

I'm cautious about the ones that show too much confidence.

The public expects their police force to act professionally,

behave professionally and part of that is looking the part as well.

I always insist that my officers wear their hats when they're outside.

I'll be mentioning that to them. I'll expect a raise in that standard.

Back at base, mentor Sergeant Merrett is true to his word.

You need to up your game a little bit.

When you wear uniform out in the public domain,

you will wear your hats

at all times. You will look smart,

and I think Megan's just got the point.

-Is that understood?

-Yes.

-Once more, is that understood?

-Yes, sir.

Road traffic accidents are a large part of the traffic cop's work.

Our cadets are about to get some important training

and they better pay attention.

OK, we're going to divide you up into two teams.

Team A, you're with me, and Team B, off you go.

At every major road collision, two separate police teams investigate

what might have happened.

Team A are being trained as crime scene managers.

Their objective is to check casualties and keep the scene safe.

By putting that sign with the arrow pointing this side, any cars

are going to straight away see they can't come down here

and you're keeping your scene, as crime scene manager, preserved.

Meanwhile, Team B are training to become collision investigators.

They'll use science to work out the speed

the car was travelling at when the driver hit the brakes.

Nice skid!

Let's see that again.

My gosh, there's loads of smoke.

-Because what's burned?

-The road. That's why...

That's where the mark's left.

By working out the length of the tyre marks,

the cadets can calculate the speed the car was travelling at.

Let's see if we can work out where they begin.

The skid mark doesn't start from where you can

see it visibly, so you have to kneel down to see it properly.

I think you should be able to see it about here.

Back with Team A, Megan's up to her old tricks.

What did Sergeant Merrett say earlier on about standards of dress?

Put it on, please.

-Get it on your head.

-Right, I'm going to put you on the spot.

You've just turned up at the scene of an accident, and your driver is Rav.

So what questions do you think you need to ask Rav?

-What's your name?

-Rav.

Do you have a licence or any insurance?

Yeah, I've got a full licence.

-Your date of birth.

-16-10-1957.

-Becca, are you not going to question that?

-I was wondering.

That would make me over 50!

A good officer always cross checks their facts.

I do think my interview's come on. I know what to say to people more now.

Team A get taught how to breathalyse drivers - an essential check.

Come on then, Megan.

It was fun to breathalyse Rav. I was hoping it would come up

that he was drunk. But it didn't. It came up zero.

Well, what did you expect?

Both teams of cadets now have the tools they need

to succeed in the final challenge.

But will they be able to use them under pressure?

Every week, I choose a cadet to lead the team in the final challenge.

If this cadet promises to keep her hat on at all times,

then she will be today's team leader.

So, Megan, it's going to be you.

14-year-old Megan from Dundee loves shopping

and has sung in front of 12,000 people.

I like to take control and be bossy.

But will she be able to boss her team of cadets?

OK, Megan. Well done. You've got no excuse with this one because you've

got the Leader Cam on you. So now we can see what you're looking at.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

While our cadets chill out, their final challenge

is unfolding on a London road.

Mother of five, Pamela Davis, and her daughter, Samantha,

are rushing home to prepare for her husband's 50th birthday party.

What else do we need? Chicken.

We forgot the chicken.

Damo Jones, a local DJ, is on his way to work in London's West End.

They are about to meet on Denmark Hill Drive,

-north London.

-It was so sweet and I just couldn't leave them. Hence...

INAUDIBLE

PHONE RINGS

My phone is ringing, hang on. I can't... My bag's...

It's fallen on the floor.

It's fallen. Agh!

SHE SCREAMS

-Oh, my neck!

-Sam!

-I can't move.

Stupid man!

-Stupid man! Stupid man!

-What do you think you're doing?!

-You've gone straight into the side of my car.

-Did you not see us?

-It's so typical, these young people.

-What do you mean, typical?

There's been an accident. What's the name of this road?

A report has come in

of a two-car collision in Denmark Hill Road.

OK, cadets. Listen up. Two cars have collided at a junction nearby.

The drivers are out of the car but they are conscious. However,

there may be a passenger who may need medical attention to an injury.

You need to establish who, if anyone, is at fault.

A bit of urgency now, please, team. It's an emergency call.

Me, Nathan and Rebecca, Team A, will get in the first car.

And the other three will get in the back car. OK?

Come on.

SIRENS BLARE

The Cop School cadets need to gather evidence to find out

who caused the crash.

Was it Pamela, Damo or even Samantha?

And what did the witness see?

I've got my daughter in the car. You came from nowhere!

You're blaming me for this, are you?

Whatever!

-How dare you!

-The crime scene managers are first to arrive

and start to make the area safe.

-You take these and I'll get the cones.

-OK.

Nathan. No. You're not doing this.

Team B arrive, but they shouldn't be at the scene until Megan calls them.

Sam, what are you doing? Wait here.

Nathan, you're making sure that everyone is OK, OK?

Nathan, make sure the witness stays on the scene.

Can you just go and stand there, please, and stop arguing?

Megan is laying down her authority as leader.

Me and Rebecca will cone off the area.

You three aren't meant to be here just now.

OK, I've told Nathan to do the first aid on his own.

But he has asked Sam to do it. I didn't tell him to do that.

Sam? Can you come over here, please?

I didn't tell you to do anything so you shouldn't have done that, OK?

What do you want me to do at this moment in time?

-Nathan, you're doing first aid, OK?

-He asked for my help.

I know, but he shouldn't have asked you that.

-I'm the leader and I'll tell you what to do.

-Nathan is tending

to the casualty and has left her safe in the vehicle. Good job.

Make sure the cones are out and that it's safe, OK?

And then you two can come in and do the tyre marks.

Excuse me, it's my husband's 50th birthday today.

I'm on my way home from shopping, we're running late.

How long is all this going to take?

It's very simple, the man is guilty.

And now Megan is trying to assert her authority on the drivers.

-Can you step over there, please?

-It's where I live!

-Excuse me.

Megan, are you all right? You're the sergeant, you're doing my job, OK?

You don't have to speak to the drivers or do a scene survey.

Anyone in your team or both of the teams who is

standing around not doing anything,

you tell them what to do and then you're doing your job.

Right, onto the witness.

There was a big bang and I turned round and there was,

like, debris flying everywhere.

OK, so were you here?

I was here, yeah. I was just here.

Can you just stay here just for two seconds?

-We are going to sort these two people out.

-OK.

Now, Jade, you can go and start doing impact.

Jade and Nathan start to piece together what might have happened.

She came down this road here

and as he came down, this one has been coming along.

So this is the lady's car?

This is the lady's car.

Right, OK.

Can you see any tyre marks?

Yes, there's loads of marks all up this way.

The point of impact, I'm deducting, was on this point here.

His right headlight and her left headlight have collided.

That is where the point of impact is.

Sam, Junior, I need you to help me do the tyre marks.

By calculating her speed,

they could find out if she was breaking the law.

-You go and check which wheel is which.

-OK.

Meanwhile, Rebecca is questioning Damo.

I've been driving two years, I've got nothing to hide.

She comes out, giving it all that. I'm a hooligan and all this.

She must have been going stupid mile an hour or something.

How many miles were you driving?

-Sorry?

-How many miles were you driving?

I was just turning out. So...five, ten? Not even that.

She was the one who needs to watch her speed.

These two are the woman's.

There are no tyre marks coming out from where he was.

So she was obviously going at some speed.

-We'll measure from the left tyre mark, here.

-No, I'm fine.

-Excuse me, can you please put your phone away?

-OK.

Can you turn it off, please?

It's not an offence to have my phone on, though.

But using a handheld mobile phone when driving is illegal.

Bu any chance, were you on the phone to anyone when...

On the phone? No.

Can I have your phone, please? It's part of procedure.

-Now she can check.

-Have you got that written down?

I've got 30 metres 15.

-Speed, mph?

-More than 50 but less than 60.

-Less than 60.

-Well done, boys.

You need to go and tell that to Jade and make sure she knows that.

Megan, whilst you were doing that, what else did you confirm on

-that phone?

-That he wasn't on the phone at the time of the crash.

Sam and Junior discuss their findings with the unhappy driver.

We've recorded your tyre tracks.

It's 30.15 metres long.

What does that mean in plain English? I was doing about 25 to 30.

Can we just take a look at your tax disc and any insurance details

or any details from the car?

You can do whatever you want, you really can.

Jade identifies a critical piece of evidence.

That's July.

-It's out of date.

-Good spot!

-Good spot. Tax disc out of date.

-Your tax disc is out of date.

Have you got any insurance details with you?

-My husband takes care of those things.

-Worth a check.

Both the traffic cars have got the computers in.

They've got the facility to do the insurance check.

And the licence check. That is one thing that they have missed.

Or it certainly seems they have.

-We are going to do a breathalyser on you.

-I haven't been drinking.

Just keep on blowing until I say stop.

The cadets follow procedure and breathalyse both drivers.

Keep going, keep going, keep going. Thank you.

-Thank you.

-I've never been so embarrassed in my life.

-Zero for both.

-Zero, OK. So you haven't been drinking.

Time is up. So which driver was at fault?

She is saying she was driving at 25 mph tops

and the other driver pulled out.

Her tax disc is out of date and she has no insurance details.

We measured the speed marks from where she braked

and altogether it was...

30.15 metres. It basically says she was driving between 50 and 60 mph.

I checked his phone and he wasn't on the phone and she made

allegations that he was on the phone.

And she lied about the speed she was going at.

We've come to a conclusion? Right.

OK, then, team. Who's going to tell me who, if anyone, is at fault?

We came to the conclusion that the lady was guilty because she told us

she was going 25 mph and she said that she

wasn't speeding, but it turns out she was going in between 50 and 60 mph.

-So as a group, you've decided the lady is at fault?

-Yeah.

So here's what actually happened.

Pamela was breaking the law

by driving a car without a valid tax disc.

She was also driving dangerously, at 20 mph over the speed limit.

Distracted by her ringing phone, she took her eyes off the road

and crashed straight into an innocent Damo.

That was tough. Sergeant Merrett and myself have got a lot to discuss.

What went right and what went wrong. And also, who deserves to be Top Cop

or Top Cops for your time here at the traffic school. OK?

OK, we've got to somehow pick out the Top Cops out of this lot.

I think they all did pretty well.

Very hard.

Megan took control, eventually. The situation was quite volatile.

-She did delegate those jobs to the rest of the troops, didn't she?

-Yes.

It was a stressful situation, but overall she performed very well.

Jade, very good. When she was speaking to the driver

of the green car, everyone could see how aggressive that driver was.

So she did really well.

-Rebecca.

-She marked out the cones initially, she got straight in.

She had her delegated task and she got on with it.

-What about Junior?

-Very enthusiastic.

He remembered his lesson of measuring the tyre marks

and he was the one that was coming up with the maths

to give us the evidence.

Yes, they got to the right conclusion. Missed a few things out

but in the end, they found out what we needed.

So, three of you will be rewarded with an amazing treat.

The three that we've chosen

are going to get to go on the Traffic Cops skid-pan...

-Told you!

-..which is covered in tonnes of oil and water.

So you three will be in for an amazing hair-raising

and slippery ride!

Unfortunately, the other three will be on cleaning duty

-and cleaning the traffic cars.

-Woo(!)

-Yeah(!)

-Yay(!)

THEY LAUGH

So, the three Sergeant Merrett and myself have decided

are worthy of Top Cops for today's challenge are...

-..Jade, Rebecca and Megan.

-Yay!

-Sorry, I didn't think it was going to be all female!

-Girl Power!

-High five!

-Yes!

Next time at Cop School, it's all about balance.

Don't let that case touch the floor.

The cadets are trained in crime scene investigation.

And they get suited and booted for their toughest challenge yet.

We've only got one minute left.

THEY SCREAM

Yes!

Whoo!

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