Can We Trust the Police?

Recent times have seen Britain's police

facing criticism like never before...

..kettling the protesters, continuing use of stop and search

and the handling of last year's riots.

They're accused of being heavy-handed, not heavy enough,

prejudiced, slow-moving, too quick to rush in.

Move away, move away!

And when everyone's got a camera phone,

we see more footage than ever that makes us question the police.

Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you.

'I'm Adam Deacon. I grew up in Hackney,

'an area where people have often had

'a difficult relationship with the police.'

When I see police driving through Hackney,

I think most of them are looking back at me, thinking,

"Oh, he must be up to something, he's a criminal. He's got to be."

They hear my accent, they see what I'm wearing.

Right, some of the time I got a hoodie on

and I think they think, "Criminal."

'I'm not the only one that feels this way.'

In a recent survey, one in three people

thought the police are corrupt

and one in every five thought they're dishonest.

But I want to know if the problem goes even deeper than that.

I'm going to spend time

with the police, see the world through their eyes.

Ow!

We're going to spend a night in the cells.

POLICE SIREN

I've had shifts before where it's push, push, push.

To be perfectly honest, we're all human and sometimes we will snap.

I want to meet the people whose belief in the police

has been undermined.

I looked at him and he said,

"You giving me the eyeball, son?" The copper,

and I just thought to myself, "Oh, my God, here we go."

Give me a reason why you want to search me.

If you wanted to search me, then arrest me.

Then once you search me and find I have nothing on me,

then I'm going to speak to my solicitor.

You have no reason TO trust them.

I know I shouldn't, but I hate all of them.

It was police incompetence and negligence why Tania died.

There's no doubt we need the police.

What I want to know is can we trust them?

The shooting in Stockwell

and the handling of the death of Mark Duggan in Tottenham

shocked Britain.

When armed police make mistakes, people can die

and that's why I want to find out what kind of people

choose to do this job.

We are going to interview a few gun police about their job,

what they do, how they feel.

-Yeah? Excited?

-Mm. Yeah. It should be good.

It's a bit weird, if I'm being honest. There's lots of guns about,

and police officers.

Right, hold that for me.

-All right.

-Cool.

-Pair of safety glasses.

-Cheers, man.

-And some hearing protection.

-Cheers.

We've got to protect your eyes and your hearing.

'Firearms trainer Chris Stratford runs training sessions

'for armed officers.'

Are they kind of aiming to stop someone

in their tracks, kind of thing?

-So the arm or the leg?

-No, you shoot...

-They're shooting to kill?

You shoot at the largest part of the body mass.

-Right.

-You shoot to stop.

-Right.

-And that stops the threat.

-OK.

-Eyes and ears in the range, please, people.

Get yourselves settled down now, folks.

Load and make ready. GUNS COCKING

Remember the basic principles of shooting.

SLP draw, two-handed load ready, try your aim if you need to.

Gentleman, five rounds. Carry on.

GUNSHOTS

Out!

The job and the role that they play is quite significant.

At the end of the day, they may have to take a life.

-It's not an easy call.

-Mm.

-When the shit hits the fan, it's a big ask.

They must think about public perception.

-Yeah.

-Their perception, over-penetration.

Do I shout at people, tell them to get down?

They've all got to do that...

CLICKS ..as quick as that.

I got talking to Andrew Stevenson about why he chose a job

with so much pressure.

This is something you guys volunteered to do, right?

It's not... Yeah, it's a career path I chose to do.

But there's no extra money as well?

No. Not at the minute.

Why did you want to do it?

I've been a police officer for eight years,

been to a lot of public order, been to a lot of situations

and things seem to be getting worse, the use of force on people.

I just felt, you know, it was becoming more of a threat.

I personally wanted to go through the training

to carry the weapon and for protection, basically.

-The ultimate protection.

-Do you feel safer with it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's...

-It feels very weird now for us to go out unarmed on patrol.

-Right.

You definitely feel you're missing something when you go out.

WHISTLE BLOWS

GUNSHOTS

You know, you're training to kill someone.

How does that sit with you? Is it just,

kind of, you see it as the job or...

I don't see it as training to kill somebody.

It's one of these things where, if a situation arises

where I feel that my life's in danger

or the life of somebody else is,

ultimately it's a decision

I'm going to have to make whether or not to pull the trigger.

So do you worry about making that mistake, of just...?

I wonder about whether or not I can do it.

This time, two shots to the body, one shot to the head.

Keep your eye on the threat of the target.

The fact you've got these people training to use these guns all day,

right, that's what you do.

Knowing there might never be a time where you'll get to use it.

You might never get that call.

I'd be quite happy to never, ever pull my weapon.

Even though you've been training?

Yeah, but as long as I know it's there,

if necessary it's there to deal with the situation.

But I'd be quite happy to go through, and I hope I go through,

my firearms career without having to draw my weapon.

'For all their professionalism, and obvious commitment to the job,

'I still felt uncomfortable

'about being around so many police with guns.

'A lot of that is connected

'to what happened to one of my oldest schoolmates, David.

'And it's what happened to him that really made me

'want to make this film in the first place.

'I've known David, like, since I was 12.

'We met in secondary school and all that. He's a close friend.'

He's someone that you can rely on, you know?

I wasn't the biggest guy at school so if I ever had problems,

David would be someone I used to go to and he used to have my back.

'He was liked by the teachers, always on the music.

'And he's just never been your typical kid.'

I say that because, like, I'm sure he'll kill me for saying it,

but...you know, he used to play the cello at school,

his grades were very good.

And if I'm being honest, like, it all started to change

after the situation with the police.

# Robocop cos that's what's criminal

# What happened to me was criminal

# I'm no angel but I'm blessed

# I coulda been left for dead by feds... #

'Seven years ago

'when he was 21, David was arrested by armed police officers

'in a case of mistaken identity.'

# Think they're Robocop... #

From what I remember of that night was a madness.

I was in Belfast and I was doing a filming job

-in Ireland at the time.

-I remember.

And I got a text message from Jonah saying

"David's been beat up and shot by feds,"

that's what the text message said.

-You know, my heart sunk. I didn't know if he was dead or alive.

-Yeah.

Start with what happened that evening.

What do you remember that night?

Literally, I was there, putting some bags in the back of the car, bruv.

Then all of a sudden, like, someone just comes up behind me,

shouts at me, says something like,

"So you like to kidnap people, do you?"

Felt like loads of people were rushing onto me.

I didn't know what the fuck was going on.

I was just like, you know what I mean, panic mode,

know what I'm saying? Before I knew it,

I was just swung to the ground, literally,

and I felt bare kicks and punches coming from everywhere.

I was thinking, "What the hell's going on?"

To the head, to the face. I was on the floor.

Tried to break away.

Nearly got away, and then someone just grabbed me.

I started seeing guns, everything. It was mad.

I didn't know what was going on. I just start to think

"Right, am I being attacked like some racial thing?"

-Did you try and fight back?

-Of course. Of course, bruv.

I tried to get away.

Was there not a point where they said, "This is police"?

-Where did that come in?

-Nothing, bruv. Nothing.

These guys, they're in plain clothes.

They just come and start beating me, beating the shit out of me,

-trying to just beat me up.

-The first time I saw it, bruv...

-I remember the first time you showed me. In Napa, innit?

-Yeah, in Napa.

-Killed that holiday.

-Yeah, in that moment.

-Here we go.

-So who filmed this?

-That was them.

-This is police footage?

-Mm-hm.

-This is me in the boot, bruv.

-Yeah.

I'm just in the boot there. They've just pulled up there.

-See?

-Wow.

I mean, you can tell, right, there was no talking there.

Look. I'm still trying to fight.

I don't know who these people are, but he's stamping on my head.

-He's tasing me.

-It's mad to watch this.

I'm assuming that you're asking them,

"Look what the hell has happened here?"

Yeah. I've asked 'em.

There was a suspected kidnapping, yeah, in those block of flats.

And they, because I was seen going into them block of flats,

made an assumption.

So you were in the wrong place

at the wrong time, and that's what they've done.

When was the moment when they realised

"We've just made a big mistake here. We've just got the wrong person"?

When did that happen?

12 hours later.

-And you were still in the cell at this point?

-I'm locked up.

Am I right in saying they came round to your mum's house

-to raid the house as well?

-Yeah.

It's almost as if they wanted to find something, like.

At the end of the day, you can't trust the police, bruv.

So how does this whole thing make you feel?

I don't know who these people are, but if you look at the footage,

that's the worst thing about it,

even to the point where it's made me paranoid.

-In what way?

-Well, bruv, I'll be out having a drink.

And if I see someone looking at me in the wrong way,

things go through my head, bruv.

I start thinking, right, "Could that be them?"

-Look.

-What would you say to these people if you met them again?

I'd ask them why, bruv.

Was there any need to do this, like?

"Couldn't you have just told me who you were,

"instead of just coming out of nowhere and springing onto me?"

You know what I'm saying?

"You would have found out

"I've got nothing to do with anything like that."

David received a letter stating that the Metropolitan Police regret

what happened to him.

He also received an out-of-court settlement.

But the police claim that the officers did warn him

who they were, and used only reasonable force.

To this day, they have not apologised

or accepted any wrongdoing.

When the police make a mistake,

it can be detrimental to someone, you know?

One mistake, and it can affect their whole life.

It can make them not trust people any more.

It can make them, you know, it can make them change.

Everyone makes mistakes.

I just think that it's the way you handle yourself

after that mistake has happened, it's what you do after it.

Responsibility.

It's not only young men from the cities

that have lost their faith in the police.

Stella Moore lives in rural Derbyshire.

She has more reason than most to mistrust law enforcement.

Stella's daughter Tania was stalked by her ex-boyfriend

for 18 months.

He recruited people to beat her up.

Again and again, the family begged for help,

but the police took no action.

-So she was serious about her horses?

-Very serious, yes.

Most of those there are from ten to 16.

And then the ones on the left are from when she was 18 upwards.

So what age was she when she jumped on a horse for the first time?

-I would say five.

-Five years old?

We got Tania a little Shetland, which wasn't really any good,

because it used to bite her.

-And then she had a small pony.

-And that was it? She loved it?

Yeah. She was a natural.

When Tania was beaten up,

she told the officer who came to take her statement

that she was afraid that when she walked out of the door

that she would be shot,

because he had high-powered guns.

It didn't matter where she went. He always seemed to be there.

And then he started to do various things,

like, she'd gone into this pub, and he poured beer over her head.

She decided that she would leave,

because he was becoming very aggressive,

and she went out to her car, and her car had been damaged,

so she couldn't drive it home.

They could have pulled him in, but they didn't.

-And if I'm right in saying, Stella, this guy had previous...?

-Oh, yes.

-The police knew about this guy? He had this element to him?

-Yeah.

Well, he'd beaten up his ex-wife,

and he'd done almost exactly the same to his ex-wife

as he was doing to Tania.

Tell me about that night, Stella, the night she died.

Could you explain what you remember?

I came downstairs, and I said to Justin, "I'm going to look for Tania.

"I'm taking the car". Anyway, I came across the police roadblock.

-Literally, that's how you found about it?

-Yeah.

I said, "Can you tell me if you've seen a little white car?"

And an officer said what had happened, that...

the person was deceased.

And...I just can remember

hitting my fists on the car roof.

I said to him, "She's been shot."

Because so many times prior to that...

You was telling the police. Knowing that you told them this,

that first initial feeling, was it anger?

Oh, it was anger. It was anger.

The officer said, "Would you like me to drive?", and I said no.

-He accompanied us back to the house, and I picked up this folder.

-Mmm.

And I gave it to him,

and I said, "That's all the information in there that you need."

Everything had been logged.

We'd logged everything, from every single incident that had happened.

I mean, that had been given to the police. So...no, it was...

police incompetence and negligence, why Tania died.

-Does it get any easier at all, Stella?

-No. No.

In fact, I think as time goes on,

I think it gets tougher,

because you realise what you've lost.

You see, I see my daughter's friends getting married

and having children, and that's something that you'll never see,

I'll never see.

And I think that's why it gets very tough.

And that's why I suppose...

I mean, some people might forgive, but I can't forgive.

And you can't forget either.

Derbyshire police said that the incidents leading to Tania's death

had not been properly examined, due to systemic failures and overwork.

One officer was sacked, one demoted and four reprimanded.

An IPCC investigation stated

that Tania's death could have been prevented

if the police had just followed basic lines of inquiry.

When I first started this, I was thinking police brutality,

that was the thing on my mind.

I didn't really think of police incompetence

and how deep that can go. You know, one mistake, and...

..a young girl lost her life.

I've come to Worthing, on the South Coast,

to see what policing is like in a regular town outside the big city.

Last year, Worthing had less than half the number

of reported crimes as we did in Hackney.

It's early evening,

and officers Karen and Livvy

are on patrol as part of Operation Respect.

The idea is to tackle anti-social behaviour

and build a relationship between police and local kids.

Not long after I join them,

a call comes in reporting a group of under-age drinkers on the seafront.

You're grabbing me!

Rape! Rape!

They're raping me, they're raping me!

How much have you had to drink?

Some 15-year-olds, 16-year-old girls.

I think they drank a bit too much.

And the police are just working out what to do with them.

Be interesting to find out what their parents think.

Calm yourselves down.

Tell you what, you either calm down,

or I'm going to take you back.

You're going to take me back anyway.

If you carry on behaving like this, I'm going to.

You're not going to let me go.

If you calm down and I'm satisfied about where you live

and your parents are OK with it and you're not going to be vulnerable,

then, yes, I will, but if you carry on with this behaviour,

we're not going to get anywhere, are we? Yeah?

No!

I don't want to go home! Stop grabbing me!

No, I don't want to go home!

They don't know what they're doing. Anything could happen to them.

They should be safe and warm at home,

not out here with a bottle of vodka.

One of the girls runs away from the police

and is refusing to co-operate.

Right, stop struggling. Calm down, and I'll let go.

Get off! Ow!

Please get off me!

Get off me! Please!

You wouldn't be in this position if you'd done what you were asked.

I'm going to talk to Mum and Dad. Trust me. Please. Come on.

You're going to go in the van, and your friend is there,

-and you'll calm down.

-No.

-We're going to sort this out.

After three, I'm going to jump up, and it'll be all right.

One, two, three.

Up you get. Fabulous. Come on.

That's a good girl. Into the van.

And we're going to talk. That's all we're going to do.

That's all we're going to do. Good girl. We're going in.

GIRL SOBS

I don't know what happened. She was quite hysterical.

She's obviously been drinking a bit. She's young, though, man.

She's a young girl.

Whether it's rightly or wrongly, at the end of the day,

I've got a duty of care.

It would be wrong of me to leave her in that state, wandering off.

Some people might think that was a bit heavy-handed,

but the fact is that she's continued that behaviour all the way back,

so it's a case of, "All we want to do is sit you in the van

"and calm you down, establish who you are

"and where you've come from and take you to a place of safety."

With the girls driven home to their parents,

Operation Respect is winding down,

so I meet up with officers NJ and Matt,

who are patrolling the streets.

I've been doing this job almost 11 years,

and I think probably over the last year and a half, two years,

I'm more aware of my own safety now than I ever have been.

There are occasions when you have to call for assistance,

and you've got to wait five or ten minutes,

and you're struggling

with somebody on the floor, or having a fight with somebody.

You know, it is scary.

Oh, no. The lights are on.

POLICE SIREN WAILS

This feels so weird.

'A call comes through, directing us

'to a possible violent domestic incident nearby.'

POLICE SIREN WAILS

All I'm trying to do is leave!

-I'm just trying to go!

-Hold on a sec.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down.

I just want to leave, he hasn't let me leave!

All right. I just want to talk to you for a sec.

-I'm not pressing charges, don't press charges...!

-No, listen.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

-We had an argument, that's it.

Whatever I say, don't start dictating about what she's doing.

All right? We'll speak to her and we'll establish what's happened.

-All right.

-Is that understood?

Let me get things straight. You've had a verbal row...

-He wouldn't let me leave!

-But you're physically all right, you're...

-you're not hurt or anything?

-No, I'm fine.

-I haven't done anything wrong!

-Well, nothing to worry about then!

HE TALKS INCOMPREHENSIBLY

Because I've spoken to you, I just need to take your details.

Then once we've established everybody's all right,

then you can go, all right? Is that fair?

Listen, have a bit of respect for your neighbours, all right?

Have a bit of respect for me as well! I'm a law-abiding citizen!

What are you talking about? They WILL have a bit of respect for you!

Excuse me, can I just say something?

It probably won't help at this time, maybe in the morning.

Tonight, it's just a verbal altercation, like most nights.

But there's always that one night where it might not be.

Shut the door, put the lock on...

I know! He keeps pushing me away,

and I don't do that, you know I don't.

It's around midnight, and as soon as we leave, NJ and Matt

receive an urgent call to head to custody,

as a woman is threatening to self-harm.

NJ, are you, er...?

-I'm here for the female, sarge.

-Can you come through, please?

Yep. OK, I'm going to just have to shut the door.

As I wait for NJ to deal with the woman,

officers are struggling

to get a drunk man with an injured leg into his cell.

There is a chance that that leg could end up getting broken, OK?

-Yeah!

-We want you to work with us, OK?

-That's what I'm trying to do.

-I'm going to take you in there.

I want you to sit down first of all.

Nah, I'll sit down if I want to go for a piss.

The officers are going to search you, all right?

Can we have some replacement trousers, please?

-Done.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-It was a 16-year-old female.

-Yeah...

-Yeah.

-Was she...? Was it kicking off in there?

-Yeah.

She was originally. But she's a known self-harmer as well.

-Right.

-So we had to remove everything, possible ligatures,

that she could... But she's a lot calmer now.

-A bit calmer now, yeah? >

-Yeah, I'm sweet.

Excellent! That's just what we want! >

How does it make you feel, you know,

when you do pick up a paper, or...

and there is something in there about a police officer

giving racial abuse or being a bit too heavy-handed -

how does that make you feel?

To be perfectly honest, we're all human, and sometimes,

we will snap. I'm not saying it's right by any means,

and I'm not condoning it. Erm...

And we are paid a wage to do a job, and to be professional.

But there are some times... I've had shifts before,

where it's push, push, push. You're being pushed from the organisation,

to hurry and do your job, and then get to the next job and the next.

Then you could go through a whole few shifts

where all you're getting is abuse from people.

And occasionally, you know... So I can see how these things happen.

But as I say, I'm not condoning what happened. It is unfortunate.

Could be worse...

Spending time with NJ and the others, even on a quiet night,

you could see the level of patience needed, and how easy it might be

for an officer to overstep the mark.

There's so many people out there that...

have had problems with the police.

But then you realise at the same time

that there is some police out there that are just kind of, you know,

they came into it for the right reasons,

they're trying to do the best they can.

It's the officers that go out there

and do...do the shit, basically,

that ruins it for everyone.

And it makes people feel like

every single officer's like that - and I'm sure they're not.

There's no doubt that my views of the police

have been shaped by growing up and living in Hackney.

# Express yourself...! #

Here, right now,

we're on, erm, Upper Clapton.

Also known as Murder Mile.

It's kind of calmed down a lot, the last couple of years,

but this used to be real bad round here,

especially for gun crime and all that.

# Express yourself...! #

Right, over here is Pembury Estate - massive estate.

This is where the riots kind of kicked off as well.

You can be driving around Hackney sometimes,

and you'll just see police everywhere, stop checks everywhere.

Police to the right!

Maybe a few years ago, I would have said,

youngsters in Hackney and all that,

they probably feel a certain way towards the police. But nowadays,

I feel like it's kind of everywhere.

I feel like that feeling

has spread.

# Express yourself...! #

I'm off to my barber's, to hear what they've got to say

about law and order.

How do you feel about police, Ladder?

You know what? I'm not as negative about them

as a lot of - shall I say? - urban people are.

-What do you mean, urban people?

-Well, to be honest,

I guess a lot of young people, especially that usually come here,

-they feel victimised by the police.

-This is what I find funny.

-Kids are like, "I'm not having it."

-Yeah.

What do you mean? You're getting arrested. You've HAD it!

You ARE having it! You're on the floor,

with a knee in your back,

and you're still shouting, "I'm not having it!" You're having it now!

You're on the floor handcuffed! You're going to the police station,

and I will see you in seven hours. You've had it.

LAUGHTER

I believe you still need them, because if

your house got burgled, it would be the police you called.

If your car gets stolen, it's the police you will call.

At the end of the day, people are people.

And the police are there to serve and protect.

-CHUCKLING

-Now, they're there

to serve and protect,

it's my job to cut your hair. If I've had an argument

with my missus, I might not cut your hair the same as I did

when I was super-happy.

It's just life. You're an actor.

-Yeah.

-If you wake up in the morning, you've just had a mad day,

or mad morning, getting to work, your vibe's going to be off.

No, what's happened, I always learn my lines.

I always have that level of professionalism.

-The youngsters aren't helping themselves.

-What do you mean?

I've seen how youngsters behave in front of the police.

And I've seen them do things. And... Because, like,

let's say there's ten of us.

I am the one that's had the problem with the police,

but the other nine are like, "Yeah, my pal!"

So now I'm all moving aggressive.

Wouldn't you say they're sticking up for their boys?

-You could say that, they're sticking up for their people.

-Yeah, but, see,

as an adult, I understand there's ways of conducting yourself now.

I've got a friend that's going to become a police officer.

Do you think people will stop talking to him as much?

-No!

-I'm not saying yourself, but people around him?

No, because everyone... When we heard it,

first, we was a bit iffy, like,

"No, we don't really like the police and that."

But then he explained it, it was, yeah, cool. It's a career choice.

-< You know what I think?

-It's like a footballer or a rapper.

The police stops you eight times a year, eight times a month,

and say, "Sorry, how can you afford this car?"

"The same way you can - I work for it."

They might turn round and tell you they can't afford it,

but they should get a better job. Simple maths.

The 15th time, you're not going to be, "You all right, Mr Officer?

You're going to be, "Why are you at the window again?"

Right, I need to get you some money.

I've seen police being racist, yeah.

I've been stopped many times, a lot of my friends are black

and I have heard the banter that police like to call it.

Right? It's not banter.

It's upset a lot of my friends before.

I think what's needed is common sense.

I'm in Fife in Scotland to see if there's any more trust

between the police and the public in the countryside

and to see if the police behave any differently.

PC Ian Laing is the only police officer in his station.

Because it's so remote, most of the crimes Ian has to deal with

are connected to wildlife.

It's a long way from Hackney.

You have to put your seatbelt on. Superb.

Let me ask you, if you saw me with my hoodie on, with three black boys

just down this little country lane, what would be your impression?

Would you have to pull over and say,

"Look, you're standing out. I don't know who you are."

Or would you let us be?

I would probably stop and speak, but for all the right reasons.

I would imagine that perhaps your car had broken down.

You would naturally stop and say, "Have you run out of petrol?"

-Not, "Have you got anything you shouldn't have on you?"

-No, no, no.

That would set up the wrong tone.

I might think it's rather strange when I drove away

that there's people in their twenties,

four of them, walking around in the middle of nowhere.

-Is it a case where you check in on the locals?

-Yes.

A lot of it's, er...reassurance,

the fact that the police come out and see them.

They are in a rural area and perhaps wouldn't

see police from one week's end to the next.

This is where we are going.

Much experience with cattle?

Not really, Ian, I'll be honest.

-Hello, how are you?

-Fine, thank you, how are you?

-Not bad, are you helping your dad?

-How are you doing, mate?

-You all right?

-Yes, I'm fine thank you. How are you?

-I'm good.

-Patrick, how are you?

-Not the best place...

-They didn't warn me, you see.

This is Adam who has come up from London to see us.

How are you doing, man?

-We just came up to see how things are.

-Fine, fine, ticking along.

-How do you find the policing around here?

-Good.

-Do you get looked after?

-Yes. We get looked after fine.

-Do you get a lot of crime around here?

-No.

That fish that was dumped at the side of the road. It's bizarre things.

-Half a tonne of haddock dumped.

-What was that about?

-No idea.

-They just left loads of fish?

That's the sort of thing...

-Half a tonne of haddock.

-You want to find them.

I think they need to be inside.

Leaving fish outside people's houses. That's not good.

I think some people see the police as a threat,

and I think the police are positive.

The police are there to basically help you, within reason.

They're not there to, I was going to say be a nuisance,

-but that isn't the right word.

-We do try!

But, no, why...

If your conscience is clear, what's the problem?

They're part of the community.

I don't see Ian as a policeman, I see him as a friend and a back-up.

If I'm in a muddle, you ring him up and you get back-up.

I guess you wouldn't be up to climbing bales?

I think the trainers, they've already been through too much today.

Cheers, man. Nice meeting you.

-You've made my day with those white trainers.

-Take care, boys.

-A lot of the open road around here, isn't there?

-Yes.

Do you ever get that little feeling just to put your sirens on

and put your foot down and have a bit of fun with it?

Nah?

Tempting sometimes?

Just open space, man, everywhere, it's lovely.

Cheers, man.

Ian, why did you want to be a police officer?

I'm probably one of the lucky ones,

I decided since about aged 14 that that's what I wanted to do.

And fortunately managed to get that job,

I don't know if that happens as often.

That you can have a lifelong dream

and eventually end up in the job you want.

-That's how it happened for me.

-You got the dream job you wanted.

I'll ask you, right, like, you read all this stuff in the press

about people being wrongfully arrested,

people being beaten-up in custody -

as an officer, how does it make you feel?

If those things are going on, I would be incredibly disappointed.

You work very hard to raise the profile

and reputation of the police. It's a daily activity.

If somebody lets the side down, that's disappointing.

Being a policeman myself for 28 years,

I think I'd be able to persuade them most of what I have seen

and what I have done has been good and positive

and a very small minority of things have been negative.

-This is paradise for me, I think.

-Yeah? It is nice.

'It's strange to see a police officer

'with such a close relationship with the public.

'Whether Ian's approach would work in Hackney, I don't know.

'It certainly seems to work in Fife.'

The chaos of '80s football violence is long gone.

The patrolling of football matches

has become one of the police's biggest success stories.

I'm with the Metropolitan Police

in the build-up to the FA Cup semi-final

between Chelsea and Tottenham -

one of the biggest and most volatile matches of the season.

The intention today as per normal, gold strategy,

prevent crime and disorder,

working in partnership, efficient use of resources.

Legal, accountable and necessary. Everything you do should be that.

That should go to plan. Everybody know what they're doing?

The majority are decent law-abiding football fans...

'Sergeant Pete Dearden is a police spotter -

'one of 24 on duty for the game.

'It's their job to identify risk supporters,

'that's anyone who plans to cause trouble.

'They try and find these guys before the fights break out.'

On this bus we have a spotter from Tottenham,

a spotter from Chelsea

and Ken's been doing football for 20 odd years,

so he's well used to dealing with risk supporters.

You think that football thugs had died out since the '80s,

but I guess it hasn't, right?

Well, having dealt with football

for the last 12 years of my career,

I personally don't think it's ever gone away,

I think it's just been well managed

and the police have been on top of it.

If you look now, they're chucking celery in the air.

If we get closer, we will probably be recipients.

At the minute, there's a minimal police presence,

and sometimes by putting a lot of police there, it creates a problem.

It's a low-key police presence.

Watching from the centre island.

Just stopping them encroach onto the road.

Just showing them that we're here and if it does get out of hand

then we're ready to deal with it.

Oi-oi! Chelsea!

It's kicking off around here with the celery today, man.

I've never seen that before.

'I followed Pete to the tube

'to go to Wembley to look for known troublemakers.'

On a day-to-day basis, every police officer on the front line

is faced with difficult situations and challenges.

We police by consent

and I reckon the public generally are in support of us.

JEERING AND CHANTING

The supporters are coming out of the tube station

and you can see the line of police.

This is where the supporters divide,

Tottenham one side, Chelsea the other.

All the way down here, that's where the potential problems are.

There's a lot of banter, which, on occasion,

especially if we're not monitoring it, does descend into disorder.

This is an identified hot spot.

So far, as you can see, it's all very quiet,

it's chilled out, the mood's good.

Any minute now, if we haven't detected two groups

walking amongst the decent fans, suddenly they could be fighting,

it could change just like that.

You don't need to get excitable, just enjoy the game.

-I apologise.

-Let's go to the game, come on.

-ALL:

-You're all wankers!

You go to the game, yeah? Come on, mate.

'With things heating up, seven dogs and handlers arrive.'

Off you go. Let's go, lads.

Come on, fellas, let's go.

No-one's going to mess with one of those dogs.

Oi! Calm down. I am talking to you. I'm talking to you, now.

-It was a joke!

-You speak to me.

Tell her to calm down.

Walk around there. Do me a favour, mate.

Walk around there to Chelsea. Go over there.

If that is as serious as the incidents get today,

that has been a successful operation. A successful day.

No-one has been arrested from that,

no-one has been hurt from that,

the dogs haven't had to bite anybody, we nip it in the bud.

No police here, that would just get silly

and someone would get hurt.

Probably an innocent person

who did not want to be caught up. We can't have that.

Enjoy the game, boys. Have a good one.

See you later, Bye.

'There were a lot of dogs and horses and you could

'start to imagine how situation might have got out of hand.

'But, on the day, only seven arrests were made

'and from what I saw, the hands-off approach of Pete and the others

'stopped any trouble before it started.'

Although the police have taken a lot of credit

for reducing violence at football matches,

some fans believe police themselves

are responsible for acts of brutality.

In 2008, Chelsea fans Cliff and James Augur

had an encounter with the police

that had a huge impact on their lives.

If I could start with you, Cliff. How did that day pan out?

What happened that day?

We were on our way home after the game,

one of the kids that was with us, one of James's friends

had just nipped into the nearest pub

to use the toilet before we got in the car.

Further up the road from us there was a little incident.

We heard some smashing of bottles, police arrived,

they sectioned off the pub, they wouldn't let anybody in or out.

So the child that was with us couldn't come out to us to get home.

I said to the policeman,

"Is it all right if I go in the pub and get my mate."

It was all done politely, the policeman was polite as well.

He said, "No. You just have to wait here."

That's when the police dogs come over.

We thought, we won't hang about.

The police dog handler, I remember what he said.

I looked at him, and I was a bit frightened, I'm not going to lie.

I looked at him, and he said,

"Are you giving me the eyeball, son?"

He said that to me in a threatening manner.

I just thought to myself, "Oh, my God, here we go."

At that point, I turned around to leave.

I didn't want nothing to do with it.

He looked like he wanted trouble.

As I turned to leave, I'm facing away from the copper,

and he's let the dog on my leg, on the back of my calf.

The dog's locked his jaws on the back of my calf.

He screamed out in pain,

I automatically kicked out at the police dog to get him off my son,

I think, as any parent would do.

With that, the dog turned its attention on to me.

I got pushed to the ground, the dog was in my face,

I had to grab the dog by the scruff of the neck

to keep it from latching on to my face, basically.

Batons, fists, boots. I was on the floor.

At that time, I was a scrawny little kid.

These coppers were like 15 stone on top of me.

I'm not going to struggle,

and I didn't want to struggle either cos they were...

They're beating the shit out of me.

I'm not going to struggle because I want it to end.

I felt blows to the back with the baton.

Then I felt a huge kick in the side of my ribs

and it just knocked the wind out of me and I couldn't breathe.

I was gasping for breath.

I looked up and the copper ran up to him

and just booted him in the chest.

My dad winced out in pain, screamed out in pain,

and I put my head down and was so ashamed.

I was literally scared for my life, at that time.

I thought I was going to die.

'John, Cliff's younger son was 13 at the time.

'In the CCTV footage,

'you can see him pleading with one of the officers

'as Cliff and James are pinned down.

'Up until that moment, he had always wanted to be a police officer.'

Looking back on it now in slow motion, it really brings it home.

There's no-one there other than the police. All it is, is police.

Police there, police there, it's just police.

Even in slow-motion, look how fast he pulls my head up.

-He grabbed me by the ear.

-I can see it.

So he could take a picture.

-That's how they took the picture of him.

-That hurt as well.

It's not nice looking at it,

and it does bring back bad memories, bad memories.

-How do you feel about the police now?

-Me?

Um, I hate them, I hate all of them.

I know I shouldn't, but I hate all of them.

-And you wanted to be a police officer?

-Yes.

Dad says don't tar them all with the same brush. But I do.

-Has it changed you as a person?

-Um, yes.

-Yes.

It's a bit of a silly question.

It has changed all of us. It's inside there.

-It's stuck in there for ever.

-The fist injuries have all healed.

But the mental stuff is still there.

There is still no justice as in one of the blokes has gone to prison

or lost his job for beating the shit out of us, basically.

If I had done that on the street, I would be doing time for that.

Inside, yeah.

Personally, from my perspective the beating that I took

and the fact I was in fear of my life that day was bad,

but one of my worst memories was of when I was in the hospital,

lying in the hospital.

I think it would have been that evening.

There were tubes coming out of me and John and his mum came down to see me.

John came in the room and...

Sorry.

I need a minute as well.

'Cliff suffered four broken ribs

'and a punctured lung during the incident.

'The IPCC began an investigation but decided the police

'had legitimately used dogs to reduce the risk of disorder.

'They also did not press charges over the injuries Cliff sustained

'as there wasn't enough evidence to identify the officer.

'Cliff was found guilty of assaulting a police dog.

'The magistrate told him he should have walked away.'

See you later. Speak to you in the week.

'James is currently pursuing a civil case against the police.'

Thank you for that, yeah.

Seriously, man. Thank you.

Thanks for that. All the best for you.

What might have started as just a class thing,

or a racial thing has actually become a problem

that affects everyone.

Most people want a police service they can trust,

call up when they're in trouble

and just know that they'll be there for them.

I think people want to feel protected.

GOSPEL SINGING

Alison and Clive Richardson live in Croydon, South London.

Four years ago, bailiffs mistakenly came

to their house demanding to enter.

Confused, Clive called the police for assistance.

They soon arrived, but ignoring Clive's objections

forced their way into the family home.

An officer, he was saying that

he had more rights in this home than we did right now.

We should just shut our mouths and keep quiet

and cooperate with the bailiffs.

He said, "Lie on the floor." I said, "You what?"

-I've seen these things in movies, you know what I mean?

-Of course.

"Lie on the floor!" I said, "No, I'm not lying on the floor."

The next minute, I was pushed to the ground

and my arms were forced behind me.

I thought, this is crazy. Instantly I started crying.

I just couldn't believe it.

At one stage, I wanted to call the police.

Then it came to me that... It dawned on me that this is the police.

I was told I had been arrested for assaulting a female officer.

I thought, "Oh, my gosh! Assaulting a female officer."

I just sat in the back of the police van in the dark and thought,

"This is a nightmare. I need to wake up out of this nightmare."

Clive said, "We're going to fight this. Fight it to the end."

I said to him, "How? This is the law, how can we fight it?"

I just burst into tears. I thought, "How can this be a fight?

"It's going to be impossible."

I just felt very, very helpless.

I felt as though I had lost my wife for that period of time,

to be honest with you.

Alison was charged with assaulting the officer

and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.

You go to church regularly and do a lot of work there.

How did you find it was when you went back to church?

Um...

I felt embarrassed, even though I knew I did not do anything wrong.

-I'm sure some of them thought, "Maybe she did".

-Do you think that?

-Do you think people were looking at you a bit differently?

-Yes.

I couldn't let her know how painful it was for me.

I couldn't touch her.

At one stage, I couldn't hold her hand

because she said every time I hold her hand, it felt as though...

It reminded her of the handcuffs.

It took some time.

Alison, determined to clear her name, appealed.

It was a two-day trial.

On the first day, most of the police officers were cross-examined.

You could see in their faces that they were embarrassed,

they were bashful, they were ashamed by what they were saying.

The judge said, "I've heard enough." She said, "This is absolute rubbish."

She said, "Mrs Richardson, you're free to go. This is nonsense."

I think she was embarrassed by the police officers.

She just couldn't believe that that actually happened within the home.

After Alison had been cleared of any crime,

the Metropolitan Police took a very unusual step.

We decided to come to the church today,

and in front of the congregation and their friends and colleagues

make a formal apology on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service

for any harm and upset and distress this has caused Alison and Clive.

APPLAUSE

'We spoke afterwards and I could see was a genuine guy.'

It really, really helped. I feel that the apology, it was genuine.

# I will magnify the Lord... #

I would like to think there are young people out there

that are trying to become police officers that are going in

for the right reasons, that are trying to break down perceptions,

break that stereotype that maybe young people have of police.

We're more open-minded.

I don't think we watch race as much as the older generation.

We see things different.

I'm in Northampton to see if youngsters

who want to be police really are different.

Here they run a cadet scheme for young people aged between 16-19.

As cadets, they're not allowed to take part in front-line policing

so I'm with them on a car crime prevention programme.

Their job is to look out for potential crime risks,

but also be a reassuring presence for the public.

I want to find out why they feel more positive about the police

than many other young people out there.

What makes them tick

and what the future of British policing might look like.

A lot of sat-navs left in cars.

Was there ever a moment where you're like,

you signed up for all the action, fighting criminals,

and then you end up in a car park?

Is there a moment when you're like, this ain't what I signed up for?

How did your family feel when you told them

you wanted to be a police officer?

They felt good about it.

They're officers, so they think, "Well done, carry on doing it."

Do you enjoy doing it?

Yes. It's good fun and it's helping other people.

-You feel like you're helping as well?

-Yes.

Very polite young people, man.

Like, yeah, I was taken aback by how good they are, in a sense.

I find it so strange.

In Hackney, it's one of them things where it's not cool.

Not only is it not cool, you're looked down upon

if you're a young person who says, "I want to be a police officer."

Whether they go on to be officers or not,

they probably will end up doing something quite constructive

because you can see, from a young age, they're very focused.

HE SHOUTS ORDERS

How old was you when you decided you wanted to be a police officer?

-Probably about 13, 14.

-That young?

It was kind of like, "Should I be in the armed forces?

"Wait, I might get shot.

"What's like that, but not as dangerous? A police officer."

How was it on the street with the community out there?

Are people happy to see you or do you find that whole,

"Why are you a police officer?" and that?

Sometimes the younger generations are like, "Why are you looking at me?

"Why are you staring at me? What are you doing? Why are you here?

"Have you got a problem with me?"

It's like, I don't have a problem with you,

I'm just in the area and you're a member of the public

and I'm trying to interact with you.

Stay back! Stay back!

Do you think there's a big difference between the way

you cadets see things, and the way the older police,

is there a big difference?

Years ago, you used to get coppers that said, "Don't do that,"

and you wouldn't do it again.

These days, you don't do that and you get a load of abuse at you,

verbal and physical.

A copper would give you slap on the back of the head

and that's it, you wouldn't do it again.

Into your groups, spread yourselves out.

I don't see police officers as superior.

They are just human beings, just like everybody else.

You can't abuse your authority.

I've seen some of the older police doing things the wrong way.

How does it make you feel, someone who has just

started their career, when you see that kind of stuff?

I did come across one who wasn't particularly diverse.

They were quite homophobic.

-Right.

-I must admit, as soon as I pointed it out,

it was instantly addressed and it was dealt with

and it was fine afterwards.

What I've seen of the police service, it's just not tolerated.

It's unacceptable.

Get back! Get back!

Do you think you guys, as young cadets,

are having input in the way things are?

Yes. That's what I like about it, our feedback.

And I think when they listen,

they get a better understanding of things

and that's how, I think, things progress.

Come on, Adam!

WHISTLE IS BLOWN

CHEERING

I think the kids we met in there, they are very open-minded.

I don't think any of them are racist or will go out and beat people up,

but they haven't been out on the street yet.

If they are talking how they talked today,

in five years' time, then, yeah, I would have hope.

I would like to feel there is a new generation of policing

that will listen to young people a lot more.

Chatting to the cadets did give me some hope.

But not long after that, several allegations against the police

surfaced that made me think again.

I've met police officers through this that are cool,

that have come into the job for the right reasons,

and then you see this stuff.

I think there's a myth with people out there

that think after the Stephen Lawrence case

that there was all these changes made.

I think, yes, there were changes and we have come further,

but there has got to be so much more.

One of the officers who was recorded allegedly racially abusing

a suspect in the back of a police van is facing trial.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Making this film really showed me how much power the police have,

both for good and bad.

I did meet officers who were hard-working and honest -

officers that wanted to make a difference,

but I also met people whose lives have been

destroyed by the actions of the police...

..people who will never be able to trust them again.

There is always going to be good and bad police.

As hard as I'm sure many officers work,

all it takes is the action of a few bad ones

to destroy our confidence in them.

RAPS: I walk the walk when I'm walking about

Still talking out loud Talking about what ever it is

I feel like talking about...

-As to whether

-I

-trust the police, I'm not sure.

What David and some of the others went through

will no doubt stay with me.

Personally, I think I will always be asking if we can trust the police.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd