Catch Me If You Can Traffic Cops

This programme contains strong language.

13 million motoring offences every year. It's gone through a wall,

it's taken out a power cable and somersaulted onto its roof.

More than 200,000 crashes and accidents.

The nation's traffic police patrol across 250,000 miles of road.

Tonight:

Go, go, go.

Yorkshire's traffic police - chasing fugitives and runaways.

Dead end, isn't it? Tight, tight, tight.

Romeo, Charlie, four-one, we've got a runner.

Detecting. Massive big spanners and some like bolt croppers and gloves.

And putting the brake on some of Britain's prolific criminals.

Stand still, cos you won't get away and you're on camera!

And a new way the police are collecting official evidence,

on head-cams.

Get that camera off my face!

Recording the action as the traffic cops see it happen.

From a police officer's point of view, really, what you

see on the head-cam is exactly what we're seeing in real life.

Chases caught on camera.

And arrests.

Someone's always watching.

It is a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Bradford, one of Britain's fastest growing cities,

and home to half a million people.

SIREN WAILS

It's 9.30pm.

Traffic cops Mark Claxton and Andy Cox are on night patrol.

Pinch some baddies tonight, eh?

Rather than just goodies who are being a bit naughty.

We'd not long set out on patrol and, on doing so,

we'd seen a vehicle that had come across the front of us.

He almost braked to a stop when he saw us. Where's he going? Don't know.

And, literally, as we set off,

he's decided to do an immediate u-turn, which was quite weird.

Maybe he missed his turning.

'It appeared that he didn't want us behind him.'

So we decided to stop him.

Hiya. What were that about, then?

When I've got to the vehicle and spoken to him,

he's sat in the driver's seat with a female passenger.

And he's appeared nervous.

And what about the light, what about the traffic lights, then? What does red mean?

Didn't you?

So, when ours were on green, then, and you came through looking

at us and then did a u-turn, yours were on green as well as ours, then?

At that point, he's put his hand on the keys as

if he was going to turn the engine off.

But I've then in fact seen him select first gear.

Shall we have a look on the video?

All right, then, we'll have a look on video and see,

because ours were on green.

Do I actually try and grab the keys?

Turn your engine off.

You're a bit helpless as to what to do

because nobody wants to be an injured or dead hero.

Stand by, I think we've got a vehicle making off from us. Go, go, go.

What's he doing? Shitting it, I think.

He has now decided that he is going to make off from us

and he doesn't want to speak to us any more.

'Doesn't seem to want to join our party.'

Did you get reg at all. T4... Romeo Tango... 65.

'He's continued through some little back streets down to the main road again.

'And he's gone straight across it,'

regardless of anything that

could have been coming from either direction.

And they will take risks like that. They're running on adrenaline. They don't want to get caught.

Tango four X-ray alpha Mike.

Failing to stop. Now onto an unnamed back road. It's a dead end.

Tight, tight, tight.

'The weather at the time was really cold,'

I remember it being very slippy underfoot.

And wondering who was going to be the first to fall,

whether it would be me or him.

'And hoping it would be him.'

Tango 65, chasing on foot, Oak Lane. Asian male from a decamp.

Woolly jumper, blue jeans, about 5'7", 5'8".

I'm on the local radio, now,

and telling the communications room that I'm chasing someone on foot.

Stand still, because you won't get away, and you're on camera!

You've always got going through you mind,

why is this man running in the first place? What has he done?

Has he got a gun down his waistband, has he got a knife?

You never know when you're chasing anybody what it is that

they're doing.

As you can see, the neighbouring policing unit was at the junction.

I think he's then seen their blue lights and decided that

he's going to take a chance,

to some extent film-style, through the front of the restaurant,

and hopefully through the back, past the chefs,

and out of the back door to the bins.

But it didn't quite work like that.

Turn round now!

Hello. Turn around.

You are under arrest for dangerous driving, failing to stop for police.

And going through a red traffic light. Do you understand?

Do you understand? I'm cautioning you. You don't have to say anything.

It may harm your defence if you don't mention

when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

Anything that you do say may be given in evidence.

And after the nice little run in the cold weather we're both

a little tired.

Yes, yes, one detained, 112.

Where's my girlfriend? What? Where's my girlfriend? I don't know.

Been chasing you, haven't I, how am I going to know that?

Got anything on you that you shouldn't have? No. Anything at all.

Anything sharp, any weapons? I'm not dangerous.

I'm just a bit fucked in my head right now.

It tends to be the case that,

a lot of the time, the people that you're dealing with have

always got dramatic life issues

and it's always somebody else's fault but theirs for their actions.

I shouldn't have done that, I'm a dickhead.

He's now extremely remorseful and sorry for what he's done.

Thank you very much for you help. Cheers, love, thank you.

Ah, I need a wee! That's not like you, is it all the excitement?

Cold weather.

With the runner caught, the cops now turn to why.

If he'd made off straightaway, I could have understood that.

But to stop and then make off, what's all that about? I know.

It were as soon as I said, "Turn your engine off, then, and we'll

"go and have a look at our video, because our light was on green,"

that he went first gear, and I knew it were coming.

But his window wasn't all the way down. I was about to grab the keys.

But he'd already lifted his clutch up and I thought, "If I do,

I'm going to go with car." Did you not think,

"I'm prepared to sacrifice myself, for the sake of justice"?

No, cos I'd look an arse being dragged up Oak Lane

with my arm the window.

It's all about priorities, this job.

The cops still need a motive for the runner.

A trip to custody may give them the answer.

Whilst tackling dangerous drivers is a priority for the traffic cops,

West Yorkshire's Road Crime Team is a specialist unit working to

reduce overnight burglaries.

We're not interested in people that might be speeding.

That's not our core role.

Our core role is to get into the criminals and deal with them.

West Yorkshire has the highest burglary rate in the UK.

I've been a victim of crime a few times.

That's my property, I've worked for it, you keep our hands off it.

It's not just a police problem, it's everybody's problem.

It's the early hours of the morning.

West Yorkshire Road Crime Team officers Paul Feather

and Lee Welborne are responding to reports of a robbery.

Probably about five mile away from the actual incident itself.

We've got one of the fastest cars in the whole

of West Yorkshire Police to get there, so we're going to go.

Got the address, got a description of the male.

Looks like he's got the house keys and the car keys

but he's been disturbed. He's got the car at the moment.

The incident could be a two-in-one burglary,

robbing a house to get the car keys.

A lot of the new vehicles nowadays are more sophisticated

regarding security.

So the only way they can get your car is to break into your house

and take your keys.

Car key burglaries are on the rise

and now account for a third of Britain's car theft.

RADIO: 'We're looking for a white male, tall, wearing jeans

'and a light-coloured jacket.'

As we get nearby, we kill the blue lights for a bit of

a silent approach, and see if we can catch the offender.

They spot someone in the lane.

See? Want to have a look?

Criminals can hear your car coming from miles away,

so, if they duck down in a garden, you might not see them.

The person in the lane is the homeowner,

trying to find his stolen keys.

Just laid in bed, just heard the back door go,

and the chain stopped the back door.

At which point, my wife had looked down, she actually saw

the gentleman concerned heading back up the snicket.

Came down and just found the door ajar.

Fortunately, the chain had stopped him actually gaining access.

You know you're looking for someone so you're trying to be on your guard.

But it's happened several times with myself now where people don't

keep running, they lay low, they try and keep out of sight

and can hide for quite a long period of time. So you've got to be aware.

Lee spots something in the grass.

It's the stolen keys.

Can't believe we actually found them, because they were chucked to one side in the grass.

I think me torchlight's just caught the silver bit of them.

I would imagine he's long gone now.

Reason he's discarded keys, obviously,

if he gets stopped anywhere and he's got them keys on him,

ties him straight to the job, doesn't it?

The keys may be recovered but the thief is still at large.

Can you just do us a favour and ring caller back and let him

know we've got his keys? Lee and Paul call in the police dogs.

I don't know if you've got a chance, really.

Basically, I found the keys just in the grass at side of path,

just the other side of that snicket. So, he's obviously come out here.

'The dogs are just really useful.

'I've even seen it before where they've tracked to'

somebody's home address, they can be that good.

So, in the night, particularly, they're a really useful asset.

Definitely come down here, well, somebody's come down here.

The problems you've got are the weather and the time.

Time lapse sometimes, but I can see here that the dog's taken us

a fair way down a few number of streets.

If I'd shouted you in first place there might have been a chance.

With no trace on the burglar, the search is called off.

I take it they're your keys. They are, yes. So, what's happened?

He's obviously run off, he's gone round the bend there.

He's just thrown them in the hedge.

Well, not the hedge, just the rough grass at the side.

He's done that because if he gets stopped with keys on him

he's straight up suspect, whereas he's got a bit of a chance.

This was perhaps not what you might class as a professional burglary,

it were more opportunistic, just because of the whole circumstances.

The burglar must have been walking past the house when the keys have

been left in the door accidentally by the lady that lives in the house.

And he's grabbed the keys.

I was really impressed by the service.

It's good to know that, for a change! We do appreciate it.

Really nice, because they were a lovely family, but it's

nice that they were so grateful, so pleased with what we'd done.

OK, well, listen, thank you. No worries.

No worries, nice to be able to help.

I mean, it's not the result we wanted, we'd like to catch him,

but it's a bit of a result, save you some expense.

All right, thank you.

That's what it's all about.

Had they not retrieved the keys, he'd probably have had a sleepless

night, he probably wouldn't have gone to bed. He's got two young children.

I don't know how old the children were

but it can have a bit of a psychological effect on them,

as well. It's one of probably the most devastating things you can

have happen to you.

After a foot chase through the back streets of Bradford,

Mark and Andy catch up with their runaway driver down at the station.

It's blowing clear air through it to get out all of your breath.

And then it will test itself again...

A breath test might explain why he ran.

BEEPING There you go.

The legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100...

Listen to me. When my lips are moving it means I'm talking.

When I finish what I'm saying, then you can query something. All right?

The legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml

of breath.

You have provided two samples.

The lowest is 48 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml

of breath. It means you're over the drink drive limit.

He's 13 points over the limit.

He needs to sober up, which could take all night.

Right.

So, tomorrow morning... So, we've got a slight problem there.

It was the "poor me" circumstances of,

"my life's a bit of a mess at the moment,

"and unfortunately I've just made it worse, haven't I?"

I can't make any promises that you're going to be there.

I would suggest at this time the possibility is that probably not.

May I speak to my solicitor before I go in the cell?

We'll try and arrange that, yeah.

We can't make that decision, but we'll ask.

We've basically looked this male up, who we've arrested,

and he's very well known, he's got a big record for a lot of offending.

He has about five, six, seven incidents involving him this year.

You can find quite often that the serial person is

the one that is always remorseful,

and he's never going to do it again and can you give him a chance?

And then you do check him out and they have a list as long as your arm.

It's 7am. Start of the morning rush hour.

West Yorkshire Roads Policing Unit PCs Lee Moody

and Craig Warner are called to attend a crash at

Dawsons Corner, a traffic blackspot midway between Bradford and Leeds.

All we've got at the moment is a report of a two-vehicle collision.

Saying that there's one person possibly trapped in a vehicle.

He's not sure if they're trapped or if it's just concern for them.

Outside London, West Yorkshire has the highest number of traffic

collisions in the UK.

En route, we got an update saying a person was trapped.

It can be quite a horrific sight,

especially depending how much damage is caused.

So that's all going through your head.

Road conditions this morning are bad.

It's minus three and foggy. Really foggy.

We've got to be careful what we do, and then you've got people that...

Stop in the middle lane of a roundabout, rather than moving over.

HORN BLARES

And rush hour traffic is proving a challenge.

Use your mirrors! Do you want me to hang out of the window and shout?!

There's noise, there's lights,

there's everything telling people that we want to go by.

HORN BLARES

Move!

People just aren't paying attention!

It could be one of their family members, it could be their house,

it could be something of theirs that we're going to.

They'd want everybody out of the way then.

Fire service are already there, ambulance are already there.

So I would imagine that total chaos is ensuing at the moment.

Until we actually get there, or get further updates regarding any

injuries, we're still not 100% what we're actually going to.

How do.

Is he all right? Yeah, yeah. Only just arrived.

This fellow's still trapped in the vehicle.

We don't have any real concerns.

He's complaining of a bit of head pain but the paramedic says it's unusual.

But he's all right. He's about 50 years old.

The, er, lady over there, she's been the driver of this vehicle.

I haven't asked what's happened yet. I haven't spoken to...

No problem, so she's this one, he's that one? Yep, yep.

It appears that the driver of the car, er, the male party,

is trapped, basically, because of his door more than anything, because

he doesn't want to risk getting out of his car for fear of injury.

Nobody else involved, I don't believe.

There's been quite a few people, other witnesses.

They've not been able to get anything out of him.

That lady would be able to tell you exactly what's happened.

'The main thing is the safety of everybody that's there.'

Once you've got that in place, then you start speaking to people,

start building a picture of what's actually gone on.

I think I tried to move in the other lane to avoid him,

because I thought that he might stop.

Yeah? Erm...

..but he didn't, he carried on.

It's a big deal when you're involved in any collision for most people.

There's a lot of mess, there's a lot of blue lights around you,

there's people milling around. It is a shock.

The thing is, accidents happen. The main thing is that you're OK.

Erm, everything else is kind of secondary, innit?

It's nice when you help people, to be honest.

Whether it's just somebody who's had a collision

and it's one of the biggest deals that they've had,

and just helping them to get their head around what's gone on.

Crucially for the cops,

the crash was witnessed by a driver following behind.

She were coming up and he did a U-turn out, so she tried to...

Swerve. ..get out of the way. And he just went like that.

The lady in this black Seat's been coming up the road,

and the taxi's done a U-turn in the road.

She's tried avoiding it but hasn't been able to, and she's

impacted the rear of the car, causing extensive damage to hers.

The taxi driver is complaining of neck pain.

He's taken to the ambulance.

The priority now for the traffic cops

is to get all of the lanes open and moving again.

1-4, thank you. Can we get recovery for both of these vehicles please?

The IP's been taken out of the car

and he's now on the back of the ambulance.

The other vehicle has extensive front-end damage.

We are blocking two lanes of the ring road,

so if we could jack up our recovery please.

It's going to be at our request.

What we've also got to be mindful of is there are potentially thousands

of motorists needing to use that road within the next couple of hours.

They've got places they need to be, meetings they need to be at,

stores they need to open.

We need to get that road open and flowing as quickly as we can.

While Lee gets things moving again...

..Craig continues to interview the female driver.

Did you phone the police?

As soon as it's come to rest he's been on his phone,

and I think that's...

It's angered one or two of the witnesses that's been at the scene.

Hello. Y'all right?

Extent of injuries? Nothing life-threatening? Nothing worrying.

Right, we're just going to try and get the car shifted

so we can reopen the road.

All right, cheers.

The taxi driver's injuries aren't serious,

but he will need to be taken to hospital for further assessment.

Have you seen the fella?

No, I've spoken to the paramedics, they've got no grave concerns.

I think he's just trying it on.

Apparently, when they've stopped, first thing he's done,

straight on t'phone. Right.

For now, getting the taxi driver's account has to wait.

Here we go.

Something else has happened.

Are you two all right?

We tend to find, when we're at the scene of an accident,

people pay more attention to us than they do to everybody else.

Too busy looking at that?

The other car behind has been looking at us, not looking at what's

happening in front, and has gone straight into the back of him.

After the unexpected interruption,

Lee and Craig press on with the clear-up.

They're just bits of metal. Skin and bones, that's what matters.

As long as there's nobody seriously injured or owt like that.

Cars can be fixed or written off, replaced or whatever,

but, er, people are more important than vehicles.

With the roads moving again,

the cops finally manage to interview the taxi driver in hospital.

He's basically confirmed that he's done a U-turn, he's had a look,

he couldn't see anything coming, he's done the U-turn

and then the collision happened.

It's clearly, he just hasn't seen it coming up.

He hasn't looked properly and he's pulled out

and that's what's resulted in the collision.

At the end of the day, I've got a lot of sympathy for the other lady,

who was being confronted with a vehicle turning across her path,

and she couldn't do anything about it.

The start of a new day for the cops on Britain's roads.

Officers from Yorkshire's Regional Roads Crime Team are wearing

specially fitted head-cams that will film their every move.

Exactly what you see on the head-cam

is exactly what we're seeing in real life.

It gives you the point of view of the cops.

Forces across the country could soon be filming

every incident they encounter.

Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Regional Roads Crime Team Officers Jim Duffy

and Tim Wilson are working the afternoon shift.

A blue Golf turning into the road ahead catches their attention.

'This car came off Barnsley Road quite quickly, really.

'And that just sort of gains your interest in it.

'Who owns it? Has it been stopped before?'

Who's in it? Who's using it?

And obviously the next step is to start running that vehicle through

and see what we know about it.

Yankee Romeo 5-6, Lima Romeo Juliet, it's a blue Golf.

It has got connections to drugs.

However, it's back in July 2012, so it's a bit old now.

There's nothing really very current on it.

Jim attaches the head-cam before approaching the driver.

'It's unusual to start with, wearing a head-cam.'

However, there's a lot of bonuses to it.

'A lot of evidence can be gathered that way.

'First thing we notice is that the brake lights are held on.'

If you're stopped by the police, most people stop the car,

put their handbrake on,

because they know they're going to be speaking to someone.

They're not going anywhere any time soon.

He's bending down, mate.

'So when he's holding it on the lights,

'you're starting to think, "Is he going to go?"'

The screech of tyres set off.

We've got a fail-to-stop, fail-to-stop,

going Sugar Lane at Wakefield.

Your adrenaline starts rushing.

In those sort of, those first 30 seconds,

there's a lot rushing through your mind.

SIREN

X-ray tango 1-7, urgent.

X-ray tango 1-7, we have got a vehicle failing to stop.

'There's quite a long list of things we have to do.'

We have to identify who we are, what level of training we've got,

what vehicle are we in? Where are we?

The driver might have something on him that he

doesn't want the police to find.

He's flung summat out there.

He's thrown something out on Belisle Avenue.

Vehicle is failing to stop at Wakefield.

We're in an advanced car, it is fitted with lights and sirens.

Driver is initial phase pursuit trained.

'You can see he's got a complete disregard as he goes up here.

'It's a busy time of the day, you've got pedestrians on the footpaths,

'parked vehicles, and he's overtaking two cars there on a bend.'

If you've got a child that runs out into the road there or anybody,

you're looking at a fatality.

Speed at this time is 50, stand by,

and it's a left-left into Welbeck Street.

Could we have authority for initial phase pursuit please?

Got a runner, we've got a runner.

He's running onto Woodcock Street, Woodcock Street.

'They always run. Quite often they've got the edge on us.'

They're wearing trainers, t-shirts.

We're wearing a lot of gear, we've got multiple radios,

we've got stab vests, so it's difficult to keep up with them,

'no matter how fast you are.'

He's gone Woodcock Street, back towards the main road.

He could have weapons, he could have anything.

I don't have a full understanding of his need to get away.

He crosses over and almost gets hit by a vehicle.

Get on the floor! Hands behind your back!

Other arm behind your back.

You are under arrest, mate, at this time. Suspicion of dangerous driving.

When they are in front of you,

there is pride in getting hold of them.

Have you got anything on you at all? No, I haven't, mate.

You could have killed someone.

Why did you stop me in the first place?

I'm not sure that's the issue, is it? Pardon?

I'm not sure that's the issue, is it? But why, though?

There is a bit of mind games with him,

he's testing what we know about him,

why have we stopped? You do not know what these people are thinking.

They don't have much trust in anybody,

it's a very risky game they're in.

Why?

Check you're insured, check you're legal. I'm guessing by this you're not.

And the fact you threw something out of the car.

Threw something out the car?

Yeah, it is all on camera.

Let's just chill out a minute,

just have a sit back

and let's wait for one of the cars to get to us.

Got nothing that can harm anyone? Mate, do you mind taking that out my face, please? No.

If you had pulled over, you wouldn't have attracted this attention.

Jim carries out a body search...

..and records evidence that may help a prosecution.

I know I fucked up. This cash here...

I'm just going to bag it in here.

That's the only place I had to put it. I'd just come out of the gym.

It's not a problem it's in there.

Jim believes the driver may have thrown drugs

out of the car during the pursuit.

In this case he has a quantity of cash stuffed down his sock

and it may be that forms part of the investigation

if we were to find some drugs.

I'll sit you in here.

This has been searched prior to you getting in. That's fine.

If anything's found in there when we get back there,

that's contributed to yourself. I am being right with you guys.

He's disclosed that he's a disqualified driver.

So he's been arrested for dangerous driving and disqualified driving.

The driving offences are just really a subsidiary

to what I believe he's probably doing,

which is dealing drugs.

Ultimately that is what we want him for.

Now it's a matter of retracing the route

and trying to find what he has dumped, so we'll do that now.

They search the street

but have no luck.

It's frustrating, really frustrating.

We've walked the route

and we're confident he has had something.

As we walked up, he was trying to grab

hold of whatever it was, presumably so he could throw it out.

It's a needle in a haystack, though.

Despite no drugs being found,

the head-cam footage will be used as evidence against the driver.

It's probably the first job we've had with the head-cams

where it has shown us just a useful it can be.

That's got a good evidential trail

from him coming from that vehicle,

losing him for a couple seconds,

but you can see he has continued on the same path he was

right through to arrest.

For me, on a personal level, it covers me.

We do have to use force

to detain these people.

I can demonstrate that the force I have used is reasonable.

Checks reveal the reason why the driver failed to stop.

He's on bail for a previous offence.

They've bailed him with conditions

not to be in any motor vehicle except a taxi or a bus.

And his family have stumped up 30 grand as a surety.

So the court saw fit to remand him

and then give him 20 weeks

within 24 hours of us arresting him.

It's a cracking result, really good result.

Day and night,

West Yorkshire traffic cops

patrol more than 7,000 miles of road -

some of the busiest in Europe.

With the latest technology and high-performance cars,

they target organised criminals who travel across county borders.

Officers Jim Duffy and Paul Smith

are responding to a call for backup at Goole,

an hour east of Bradford.

Some of our colleagues have stopped a vehicle

with four males in it.

We're making our way up to Goole now to go and join them.

The team are on the lookout to disrupt criminal activity.

Take your hands out your pockets.

...Till the whole car's been searched.

They had four people stopped in a vehicle

and they were having some problems identifying who was who.

One of them was visiting a friend but the rest of them didn't seem to have

any idea of what they were doing there except they'd come

out for a drive.

At that time of night, why would you drive all the way to Goole

with not a clue what you're doing there?

The suspects are searched thoroughly.

Quite often people put things in their underwear.

One guy in a car, I remember,

who had about ?10,000 down his pants.

Wearing the evidence-catching head-cam,

Paul searches the vehicle.

Quite a good hiding place in the boot

is underneath the spare wheel.

I was checking underneath to make sure there was nothing underneath.

There's nothing suspicious in the boot.

But another officer finds something under the passenger seat.

One thing that criminals do is strap tools

to the side of the engine area of the vehicle.

That makes it hard to see them when you're initially looking.

We have a camera on, we've filmed it

where we've found it. No-one can argue that has not been found there.

With potential evidence caught on camera,

the cops believe the tools could be used for breaking into property.

All four will be arrested for going equipped.

We're on an industrial estate. They're not local lads to the area

and as you can see on the roof,

they have a selection of tools, gloves, torches.

Going equipped is basically having items in your possession

that the police believe could be used to commit offences, basically.

In this case, they've got numerous tools -

screwdrivers, wrenches, gloves, torches.

We believe they could be used to commit a burglary

or other theft offences, really.

It's notoriously difficult to catch a burglary in progress.

It happens, but ultimately, you're either going to catch them

just before or perhaps further down the line,

where they're scouting an area.

Right, your next finger...

Armed with another piece of hi tech kit,

a mobile fingerprint device,

Jim hopes to confirm the suspects' identities.

It's a brilliant little device.

It'll tell us who they are, full date of birth

and it'll give us a reference number

to link into the Police National Computer.

It shows that the men in the car are known to the police.

It catches people out a lot of the time, stops any of their games.

Jump in.

In my book, we're doing it properly.

A lot of the time, they will kick up a fuss,

because they don't agree with it and as far as they're concerned,

we've not got enough to lock them up.

They can argue it back at the nick.

The vast majority of motorists are law-abiding.

But there are some who use the roads to help commit crime.

Effectively, it is like a large game of chess at times.

Um...

They are using tactics, techniques, to try and get ahead of the police.

Road Crime Team officers

are part of a bigger operation to target thieves.

Briefing for this evening on Operation Overton.

The intent is to reduce the number of overnight burglaries

recorded through West Yorkshire

and increase the opportunities for disruption and detecting

of organised crime groups.

'Someone's always watching.'

Um...the activity, they think they can carry on and defend it.

Well, they can't. And they won't.

West Yorkshire burglary rates are some of the highest in the UK.

People decide that they will take what's not theirs

and somebody else has worked extremely hard for and got.

The things that took us years, you know, working hard,

not having holidays, working seven days a week, and then it's gone.

When you see the victim's side, it can be quite harrowing for them.

I can't believe that...

..people can be so cruel.

I think the effort that's put in on a night

is worthwhile on a personal level.

It's knowing that, potentially, the next phone call that comes

to West Yorkshire Police reporting a burglary

could be a member of my family.

It's 10:30pm, South Bradford.

Officers Paul Feather and Lee Welbourne

are looking out for burglars.

Tonight, we're on an operation in the Bradford area,

gathering intelligence and also,

we're paying particular attention

to the four-wheel drives around the Bradford area.

It's not long before the car's numberplate recognition system

clocks a suspect.

This four-wheel drive's been, used in crime.

Receiving, Dave.

The numberplate recognition system is the main technology we use.

It's just brilliant we've got these cameras in the cars that just

read the numberplates of the cars

but then they relate to an intelligence system,

and feed back pretty much instantly to us

any intelligence on that vehicle.

Get some sirens on.

SIRENS BLARE AND HORN BEEPS

It was a bit weird approaching that car because it had tinted windows, so I couldn't see in.

You don't know what you're going to expect.

Hiya. Hi, mate. Is it your car? It's my car, mate. Oh, is it?

Just want to have a word with us?

I've opened the driver's door and I could see there were three occupants.

And I recognised the front passenger in the car.

I've dealt with him previously.

But they were clearly on edge, so as I've asked the driver to get

out the car, I've taken the keys out of the ignition.

Romeo, Charlie, 4-1, we've got a runner. Gelderd Road.

My colleague is chasing on foot, and obviously, I am in a nice,

big, high-powered car.

There's two in the car. Do I leave them or do I go?

Yeah, Gelderd Road. He's running into a building called Forsyth's.

He's going over a fence.

I thought I were quite quick, the first 100m.

Yeah, he were a little bit in front of me,

and I just couldn't quite get near enough to grab him.

But Paul has come flying up the road.

Got an officer chasing on foot.

It's Gelderd Point, Gelderd Point. It's a mixed-race male.

I've got in front of him with the police vehicle.

He's turned back on himself, gone across Gelderd Road

and then jumped over a perimeter fence.

He's gone into the compound there.

Within minutes, a dog unit arrives at the scene. Got a dog here.

Yeah, he's done one from a vehicle.

Erm, I think my colleague's with the vehicle now.

It's the driver himself. He's run in here.

He's gone in this yard, so he must be in here somewhere. Right.

Which vehicle is it? It's just behind you, there. The four-wheel-drive.

Gone over the compound, gone over some fencing, which,

with all my kit on, would have been difficult to get over.

'But I could see that Paul had gone with the car to head him off at the other side.'

He's not come out down the bottom end of the actual industrial estate,

so I think he'll be struggling to get out this way.

So he must be possibly still in the grounds somewhere.

There's still two passengers left in the car.

Leaving the dogs to take up the hunt for the AWOL driver,

Paul and Lee return to the car.

Putting you in the car. What for?

Speak to my colleague and I'm going to go and look where I last saw him.

What's he run off for?

Got the dog out? Yeah, it's up there.

Is there someone else in t'car? Yeah, there's a passenger in t'back.

He's saying it's his car. All right.

Lee goes to look for the driver

while Paul speaks with the passenger who says he owns the car.

Is it your car, then? It is, mate, yeah. Have you got documents for it?

I have. Here, look.

Are you smoking in here? I am, cos he's just put me in with the fag.

Get that out of my car.

Blow it out. Don't blow smoke in me car!

DOG BARKS

The search is now closing in on the missing driver.

They'll need to catch him soon or they risk losing him altogether.

Eight miles north in Leeds,

Craig and Lee are two hours into their night shift.

Headingley is an interesting place on a night.

It's the town that never sleeps, really. Probably won't be that busy tonight.

But because it has got so many students,

there are a lot of burglaries around here, especially when it comes

to the new term, because every night is just fancy dress night.

You can have a foot chase with a seven-foot banana. Yeah.

On nights, we are out looking for burglars, attending old jobs.

At this point here, we've just seen a car travelling

in the opposite direction to us, heading up in Otley.

As we have come round, he's disappeared,

and usually the fact that they have disappeared

as soon as you've turned round shows they are trying to avoid you.

If they're trying to avoid you, then there's usually a reason.

Lee spots two police community support officers walking past and radios through.

3-4, the PCSOs there up at Guiseley, there's a green Toyota,

and I think it's just gone past them.

They didn't see which direction it went off in, did they?

There was tail lights just disappearing around that corner.

The officers on foot have stated they have seen the vehicle and seen it

pull in to a car park behind a restaurant just off the main street.

Where's the driver gone, then? Were you driving this? No.

When we first arrived, the chap who was with the car tells us

that he hasn't been the driver, that they have just come into that

alleyway and that the driver has gone off towards one of the curry houses.

There's just the entrance down into the kitchen down there. In here?

You can't get in up there. I'll just go and see if it's round the front.

Is it one of your...? Do you do deliveries? We do.

Yeah. Is it one of your vehicles? No, not as far as I am aware.

Well, somebody has just dumped it in the back and apparently come into this building.

Not as far as I'm aware.

We've carried out checks around the restaurant.

Nobody has gone through any of the kitchens,

nobody has come down the passageway.

With no sign of the alleged driver,

it falls on the passenger to explain who was driving.

The chap was sat there, quite casually, quite smugly,

just sat smoking a cigarette, clearly thinking there was no way

we could prove that he was driving the vehicle.

It then becomes a game.

Right, I've just been down there and nobody has been in this way.

These officers been at the front and they haven't seen anybody coming out the front, have you? No.

He's my driver.

Are you disqualified?

'We were able to run him through the systems,

'which confirmed he was a disqualified driver.'

Disqualified drivers shouldn't be on the road.

They're disqualified from driving, they're banned,

they are not allowed to be there.

Which is why it's important that when we come across them,

we deal with them for that offence.

Craig needs a description of the missing driver.

Has he got a pink T-shirt on as well, then? No.

Does he look like you? Similar, yeah. Does he?

But he hasn't got a pink T-shirt on? No. No, OK.

So where's his coat? Sorry? Where's his coat?

He's left it in the car. That's his, is it? Yeah.

Craig pulls a jacket out of the car which is the right

size for the male in the vehicle.

Have you had a look through this?

'He's just trying to catch him out, really.' You're cold.

'It were freezing cold that night.'

Put the jacket on if you want. I'm all right, thanks. Probably fit you, won't it? Same size, you said.

He stood at the side of the car, he were shivering,

and it were quite obviously his coat.

Do you know what obstructing a constable is, lying to the police?

Yeah. 3-4, go ahead.

We have cameras on this road out here. Right. OK?

If we have to go back and review those and find one male

in this vehicle with a pink top, OK, not only will you be done

for disqualified driving, driving without insurance, etc, etc, etc,

you will also be done for obstructing a police constable.

I've told you I'm not lying, so I'm not going to...

Excuse me if I don't believe you.

You're arguing with me for no reason.

You know, you're just being funny for no reason.

I'm not being funny with you, mate. I am trying to get to the bottom of what has happened. Bottom of what?

I think he's just lying through his teeth. I think he was driving.

I've had a look on our hard drive for the video of it,

but the angle he's come round at, the camera angle on the car

as it's come round, isn't good enough.

Lee gives the passenger every chance to admit that he was driving.

Do me a favour, put your cigarette out, come and have a seat in our car.

I'm not going to let go of you. Because at this moment in time,

you may be in a position where you will get arrested. Put that out.

Their only hope now is a confession.

Just want to have a word with us?

There's another driver missing in action 15 miles south in Morley.

Officers Lee Welbourne and Paul Feather are hunting the driver

of a black Nissan who has escaped into a nearby industrial estate.

A police dog has joined the hunt.

DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE

Sudden barking suggests they're closing in on the driver. Oi!

That's him. Yeah.

DOG BARKS

The runner is finally cuffed.

What's that camera on me for?

Stay still!

Yeah, basically,

I was just trying to contact the security firm on the telephone

to let me into the compound, and he's just come out of a bush, hands

in the air, "It's a fair cop, guv," and given himself up, basically.

DOG BARKS Why did you run off? I've given myself up cos I haven't done owt.

Right, why did you run off, then? Because they fucking scared me, man.

Scared you? Yeah. That made you run off? Yeah.

I'm not wanted or anything.

DOG BARKS

Are you giving us the right details? Yeah.

Because we'll find out exactly who you are. Yeah, I am.

The driver's story isn't convincing Paul.

Is it your vehicle?

I've just told you, yeah. And who's he? What?

You've let him use your vehicle. I've given him a test-drive.

No, you haven't, you've let him use it. I've given him a test-drive!

He came up with some cock and bull tale about him doing a test-drive,

but at that time of night, I don't recall anybody

wanting to do a test-drive at that ungodly hour of the evening.

So he won't be insured, then, I take it?

DOG BARKS I take it he's not insured to drive your vehicle?

Best ask him, hadn't you, mate? You're the owner of it.

I've got to ask you, haven't I? We'll sit in the police car. Am I under arrest?

Yeah. They're all critics, aren't they?

Sort... Sort him out, sort him out.

Can you just run us a person through, please?

He's saying it's his car, now it's not his car.

Can't phone the insurance, so, at the minute,

we could suspect that it has been stolen.

So we'll just do some checks now

and we'll decide what we're going to play it as.

Well, lock him up, then. He's locked up. Right.

Why has he run away? Why are they being so obstructive?

Is there something in that vehicle that they don't want us to see?

Received, thank you.

He's given us false details. Looks like he is possibly disqualified,

that's probably why he's run from t'vehicle.

They're both well known to us.

It's been confirmed the runner is a disqualified driver.

Now the cops need to establish if there's any intent to commit crime.

This is where we can start to take control now.

We've got the rest of our team here.

It's not long before the cops make some discoveries.

There's some massive, big spanners in t'car,

and some bolt croppers and gloves.

Obviously, it flagged up on our machine.

That's why we went after that.

They've gone through the car with a fine-tooth comb. Found tools.

And that's enabled us to arrest them all.

The vehicle's been searched.

As a result of what's in it, I'm arresting you on suspicion of being equipped for theft.

Why are you holding them? I'm not going nowhere. Why are you being like that?

Why are you being funny like that, eh? How the fuck do you expect me to get out there

and you're holding the handcuffs? They're fine where they are.

I'm not going to do owt to him, I assure you,

because that's a fucking assault, ain't it? Right, yeah.

And I don't want an assault, do I?

Calm down. I'm not going to pull them, I'll just hold them there.

I tell you what, listen. Listen to me, now, very carefully.

If you start kicking off in my car...

I'm not going to start kicking off, I just told you, haven't I?

Don't come here with your attitude to me! I just fucking told you!

Listen, you will go in a van, do you understand me?

Do you want to go in a van? The car. I'm going normal, I don't want to do anything now.

If you start kicking off, you go in a van.

I'm not... Fucking hell, how many times?! Right.

There's nowt worse than having somebody in your car kicking off.

So, calm yourself down, cos I'm going to be driving this car.

So you behave yourself.

The consequences can be serious.

It's happened a few years ago where a prisoner came through

the seat and yanked the handbrake on a police car

and the officer got killed as a result of that.

Paul and Lee now have to take the suspect to the station.

Back in Guiseley, North Leeds, Craig and Lee still have no evidence

to prove that this man was driving whilst disqualified.

If he doesn't confess, they'll have to release him.

Right, I don't like having my time wasted

and you are majorly wasting my time at the moment.

Officer, what do you want me to say? I want you to be honest with me

and the fact that you were driving that vehicle.

You know you were, I know you were. Your only defence is saying that chap was driving.

You're a disqualified driver who shouldn't be driving that vehicle,

so you have got every reason to be sat here lying to me.

Let's not waste any more time.

OK, I'm going to caution you. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you fail

to mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.

I think he realises it is getting a little bit more serious now.

Let's stop playing games. Yeah. Were you driving that car?

Were you driving that car?

Pay attention to me. Yeah.

Stop looking like a naughty schoolboy looking around.

We got him in the back of the vehicle, we spoke to him.

It's trying to give him every opportunity.

We've told him, you're not going to be arrested, we can deal with it at the side of the road.

It's a lot warmer in here than it was out there. You'll warm up.

Were you driving that vehicle? Yeah. Right.

And there's the confession that we've spent about 20 minutes waiting for.

I don't want to waste your time and I don't want to waste my time.

Well, how much of my time have you wasted by lying so far?

I know, you've got bigger criminals to catch.

We can deal with it on the roadside, can't we? That's fine.

Why have you lied to us? I'm scared. Because you're disqualified?

Yeah. Right.

It's a hard lesson for the man. He now faces an appearance in court.

So what have you learned from tonight?

Not to be so stupid. It's a mug's game.

'There is always something to learn from things like this.'

We don't just walk away from things.

If it requires a little bit of work, then we'll do a bit of work.

It would've been resolved ages ago had he just turned round

and said, "Yeah, I were driving."

The world is full of liars. Yeah.

We always get to the bottom of it in the end.

THEY LAUGH

But it's nice when they don't get away with it.

Further south, in Leeds city centre,

Lee Welbourne is bringing in the driver of the black Nissan.

DOG BARKS Stay still!

He's a disqualified driver,

but he and the others arrested may have a legitimate reason

for having tools in their car.

I'm not going to have to tell you again about that car, am I?

Stick it up your arse.

We've stopped a car with known criminals in that we believe are up to no good.

With the man's behaviour still a cause of concern to the cops,

he'll remain handcuffed even though he's inside the police station.

I'm just got to sit down.

Why are you holding the handcuffs on me here? Eh?

Like I'm going to do summat. Eh?

Eh? Why are you holding them here? Eh?

Why are you still holding them?

What are you doing, you fat, horrible little bastard?! Calm down.

What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing, eh?

Calm down. Calm down. Sit down. Calm down. But what...?

So he's been with us about half an hour, 45 minutes, at least.

He's still unpredictable, still carrying on.

Are you arresting me? You'll be booked in.

If the sergeant says he won't accept you, he won't accept you,

will he? I want to see my solicitor. That's up to him, isn't it?

That is your entitlement, in't it?

Well, good luck to you, if you get a pay-out.

MAN RESPONDS INAUDIBLY

That's all right. Crack on. That's not a problem.

All three suspects will be questioned further.

For now, the driver who tried to escape the police will be given a cell for the night.

Based on that information, I'm going to authorise his detention here.

That is to secure and preserve evidence and obtain further evidence by way of questioning. OK?

Sometimes, they do get away with it, but, you know,

all we need is enough to fetch them in and we've done our job there.

If we've prevented crime, it's just as good as locking them up.

Prevention is as good as protection.

There you go. What, are you going to get me a mattress?

Turn that on, want to see where I'm walking, don't I?

We'll get somebody to come and sort it.

'When we do these operations, we get some fantastic results.'

You know, it was a good stop and a good result at the end.

The driver of the black Nissan

was convicted of driving whilst disqualified and obstructing police.

He was banned from driving for 12 months

and sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment.

No charges were brought against him

or his passengers for going equipped to steal.

The disqualified traveller of the blue Toyota admitted to

driving the vehicle.

He failed to turn up to be sentenced

and is currently wanted by the police.

The fail-to-stop driver pleaded guilty to drink-driving,

was disqualified for 36 months and fined ?470.

There was no further action taken against the men

suspected of going equipped to steal.

The taxi driver who made an illegal U-turn

received three points on his licence and a ?35 fine.

And the man who ran whilst on bail was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison.