:00:09. > :00:13.As an ex-copper, I'm well aware of the hidden dangers facing Britain's
:00:13. > :00:18.police officers. What starts off as an ordinary day on the beat can
:00:18. > :00:21.suddenly turn into a life- threatening situation. In the week
:00:21. > :00:24.of the Police Federation Bravery Awards, we meet the ordinary
:00:24. > :00:27.officers who risk their lives to protect us. We hear stories of
:00:27. > :00:37.their extraordinary courage, and join them on the street as they
:00:37. > :00:47.
:00:48. > :00:50.continue to crack down on crime. This week, the courage and
:00:50. > :00:55.dedication of ordinary police officers up and down the country
:00:55. > :00:58.will be honoured at the Police Federation Bravery Awards. Standing
:00:58. > :01:01.up to violent criminals on the streets is one of the toughest jobs
:01:01. > :01:04.anyone can do, but it's all in a day's work for Britain's police
:01:04. > :01:10.officers. Today, we'll uncover the extraordinary lengths they go to to
:01:10. > :01:12.keep us safe. Coming up, off-duty PC, Matt Hunt,
:01:12. > :01:18.relives the horrific moment he tackled a knife-wielding maniac in
:01:18. > :01:21.a busy town centre. Any knife really I suppose, no matter how big
:01:21. > :01:27.or small, can inflict serious wounds and injuries. A knife of the
:01:27. > :01:29.size that he had at the time could have killed somebody.
:01:29. > :01:32.Officers from Strathclyde Police crack down on Glasgow's rising gang
:01:32. > :01:36.culture after a violent street fight erupts in the middle of the
:01:36. > :01:41.city. All it needed was a random blow from one of those knives and
:01:41. > :01:44.you would have had somebody lying on a mortuary slab.
:01:44. > :01:54.And we follow Manchester's specialist proactive unit as they
:01:54. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :02:03.crack down on drug crime. Police! Stay where you are! Turn round!
:02:03. > :02:06.first, the heroic story of four unarmed Met Police officers. They
:02:06. > :02:15.were on patrol in North London when a stop and search went dangerously
:02:15. > :02:17.wrong. It was a warm spring day in March 2008. A team from the Met
:02:17. > :02:21.Police's Territorial Support Group were driving around the city
:02:21. > :02:23.streets on the lookout for criminals. We were posted to
:02:23. > :02:26.Hackney borough for two weeks. We were tasked specifically with
:02:26. > :02:32.dealing with local villains in the area, to try and stop them
:02:32. > :02:41.committing crime. We was on mobile patrol in the Woodbury Down area in
:02:41. > :02:45.Hackney. We initially noticed two young males walking towards us.
:02:45. > :02:52.was a very warm day. However, one of them had a hood up partially
:02:52. > :02:55.covering his face. The other gentleman had a woollen hat on.
:02:55. > :03:02.driver beckoned them to say, "Hello boys, can you stop there, please?"
:03:02. > :03:04.And that's when it started to go wrong. As soon as the young men
:03:04. > :03:07.clocked the police carrier, they began to back away. PCs Michael
:03:07. > :03:10.Carroll and Richard Cousins immediately went after them. They
:03:10. > :03:20.didn't know it at the time but the two young men were in fact local
:03:20. > :03:23.drug dealer Colton Sam and an accomplice. I just saw Mr Sam
:03:23. > :03:27.walking away. I thought, oh, he's going to get rid of something, he's
:03:27. > :03:31.going to drop something. I saw him reach up, pull the balaclava down.
:03:31. > :03:35.I saw him reach inside his waistband. I thought it was just
:03:35. > :03:38.going to be drugs, he's going to throw some drugs, watch him. Then
:03:38. > :03:41.next thing I know, he's pulled the gun. And I'm thinking, he's got a
:03:41. > :03:47.gun! He's got a gun! He's got a gun! That's all that's going
:03:48. > :03:51.through my brain. The armed suspect stood facing PC Michael Carroll.
:03:51. > :03:54.sort of froze. It was total shock, what I was looking at. And it was
:03:55. > :03:58.then that he lifted the firearm up, aimed it directly towards me and
:03:58. > :04:03.fired. Colton Sam at the time was only between seven and ten metres
:04:03. > :04:06.away when he fired the first shot at me. I straightaway realised that
:04:07. > :04:10.this is a very dangerous situation, and I can't get out of it. All I
:04:10. > :04:17.can remember is looking down the barrel of the gun and seeing the
:04:17. > :04:21.smoke coming out of the other end. Luckily for Michael, Colton Sam was
:04:21. > :04:30.a poor shot. He then turned the firearm towards my colleague, PC
:04:30. > :04:33.Cousins and discharged the second shot. To actually then hear that
:04:33. > :04:35.bang, for a split second you're almost paralysed. As soon as you
:04:35. > :04:38.see it's pointing at you, you sort see it's pointing at you, you sort
:04:38. > :04:45.of go into a state where you become fixated, just staring at the
:04:45. > :04:48.firearm. Another stroke of luck. The gunman missed again. I was
:04:48. > :04:52.thinking, maybe a little bit of cover might help. But obviously the
:04:52. > :04:55.side of the carrier, there's nowhere to go. The only place to go
:04:55. > :05:05.was the floor. But before you know it, it was that quick. The shot had
:05:05. > :05:08.
:05:08. > :05:12.been fired and it was over. suspect then turned and fled. An
:05:12. > :05:16.extremely dangerous man was now loose on the streets of London, but
:05:16. > :05:21.the unarmed officers didn't hesitate to chase after him.
:05:21. > :05:30.shot at us. My feeling was, I need to get him, I need to arrest him.
:05:30. > :05:35.It was like, OK, let's get out. Let's get after him. At the time
:05:35. > :05:41.you are not thinking, I'm going to be brave, I'm going to chase him.
:05:41. > :05:46.You get the adrenaline rush and you become fixated. After the officers
:05:46. > :05:50.went after Colton Sam his accomplice ran from the scene,
:05:50. > :05:58.never to be found. Colton Sam was still firing at the police.
:05:58. > :06:02.police then fired down another side road, another police van was doing
:06:02. > :06:07.burglary patrols and the foot chasers continued along the road.
:06:08. > :06:15.By this time more officers had joined the chase. Despite the
:06:15. > :06:20.danger of getting shot, PC prig by grappled the drug dealer down. --
:06:20. > :06:25.Rigby. If I had lost sight by a mere seconds, when I caught up with
:06:25. > :06:29.PC Rigby and Colton Sam there was a struggle happening. I was unaware
:06:29. > :06:33.that the firearm had been discarded and I thought my colleague was
:06:33. > :06:40.having a struggle with a male still armed with a firearm. We finally
:06:40. > :06:45.got him detained and it was then we realised that the gun was thrown
:06:45. > :06:48.into a flower bed. The police got the result they wanted but the
:06:49. > :06:53.shoot-out could have ended tragically for at least two of the
:06:53. > :06:59.officers. We were working as a team from the start. It is that which
:06:59. > :07:04.saved us, because we kept putting Mr Sam under pressure. We put him
:07:04. > :07:12.under pressure and he reacted, but because we did it, he couldn't take
:07:12. > :07:19.proper aim. I think that's what saved us. Colton Sam got 30 years
:07:19. > :07:23.for the attempted murder of Richard and Michael. Four of the officers
:07:23. > :07:28.received a Blairry award for bringing in a gun-toting criminal.
:07:28. > :07:35.You never dream one day you will come across somebody with a loaded
:07:35. > :07:38.firearm and his only decision that day was to fire his way out of it.
:07:38. > :07:43.It was scary. It is not the sort of thing you would want every single
:07:43. > :07:47.day. It is not the sort of thing you -- think you would ever want
:07:47. > :07:51.again, but unfortunately the people we were dealing with on a daily
:07:51. > :07:54.basis, a lot of them routinely carry weapons, whether that be a
:07:54. > :08:04.knife, a bat or a firearm. Unfortunately firearms are becoming
:08:04. > :08:05.
:08:05. > :08:09.more common. Last year there were over 7,500 firearms offences in
:08:10. > :08:14.Britain. More often than not gangs are responsible. Police up and down
:08:14. > :08:21.the country are dealing with an increasingly violent gang culture.
:08:21. > :08:26.It is not just in the capital. This is Glasgow, a city with a
:08:26. > :08:31.population of around 600,000. Known for its amazing architecture and
:08:31. > :08:35.grand historic monuments, as well as its tree-lined streets and
:08:35. > :08:41.beautiful scenery. But for Strathclyde Police the picture is
:08:41. > :08:44.very different. They see a city carved up into dozens of gang
:08:44. > :08:49.territories. They are only separated by 56 metres of tarmac.
:08:49. > :08:54.They have been fighting for generations. It is such a dangerous
:08:54. > :08:59.place. In the last two years, police have made over 11,000
:08:59. > :09:05.arrests linked to gang crime Strathclyde the most common weapon
:09:05. > :09:13.of choice for gang members knives. I have never come across anyone
:09:13. > :09:18.with a disguised knife or through axe or none chucks who haven't been
:09:18. > :09:24.involved in some we with violence and assault using these weapons.
:09:24. > :09:27.Antisocial behaviour and violence are infesting the city as 150 gangs
:09:27. > :09:31.ballot for control of the streets. They are fighting and they are
:09:31. > :09:36.fuelled by drink. That gives them Dutch courage, if you want. Every
:09:36. > :09:43.day, officers like Detective Sergeant Steve put their lives on
:09:43. > :09:49.the line as they try to keep a lead on Glasgow's growing gang warfare.
:09:49. > :09:55.Back in 2009, Glasgow's gang problem reached crisis point.
:09:55. > :10:04.Fighting spilled out on to the streets and violent schemes were
:10:04. > :10:10.captured on CCTV. Detective Sergeant Stevie Cassenhorn explains.
:10:10. > :10:16.This area is basically the territory of the Govan Young Team.
:10:16. > :10:21.You see the man in a hooded top here. It is not until he gets on
:10:21. > :10:31.the Shore Street that you become aware that he is dragging something.
:10:31. > :10:35.Here he produce as baseball bat. That is used in the attack. He was
:10:35. > :10:41.heading for another gang of youths who had just got out of a cab at
:10:41. > :10:46.the other end of the street. individual who came from the taxi
:10:46. > :10:53.and the other individuals who came from the top end of the street are
:10:53. > :10:57.related to a team called the Wine Alyeah? Govan, which is not a
:10:57. > :11:01.million miles from here but it is far enough away to be regarded as
:11:01. > :11:06.another distinct area. The male from the taxi, who comes out of the
:11:06. > :11:11.back and walks down the street, you see him Jess tick lating with his
:11:11. > :11:17.hands. It was clear from the CCTV that they were armed with a machete.
:11:17. > :11:23.If you look up you will see the CCTV camera. That was the principal
:11:23. > :11:27.method of recording the events. He comes up to the top of the street.
:11:27. > :11:33.As he comes up to the top of the street the other faction, if you
:11:33. > :11:38.want to call them that, are coming down towards themselves. This is
:11:38. > :11:42.where the fight itself occurs in this area here. You see them
:11:42. > :11:47.running about the street and you will see more groups coming down
:11:47. > :11:55.from this end to back up the faction that came from the taxi.
:11:55. > :11:59.Thereafter you see the whole scenario unfolding on tape. What is
:12:00. > :12:04.amazing about it, it is 9 o'clock at nine in Govan and there's a
:12:04. > :12:07.full-scale battle running in the street. When I saw this I was
:12:07. > :12:13.absolutely horrified. At the end of the footening, if you look at it
:12:13. > :12:17.closely you will see a woman coming out pushing a buggy while this was
:12:17. > :12:22.ongoing. There was no regard for the injuries they could have caused
:12:22. > :12:26.each other. All it needed was a random blow from one of those
:12:27. > :12:32.knives and would have had somebody lying on a mortuary slab. Police
:12:32. > :12:36.could see all the gang members were armed with vicious weapons and
:12:36. > :12:39.knives. Violent street fights like there are the reason why
:12:39. > :12:44.Strathclyde Police sets up gangs task force to combat the rising
:12:44. > :12:50.gang culture. And now Stevie is part of a team of 33 officers in
:12:50. > :12:54.this specialist unit. They've found that children as young as 12 are
:12:54. > :12:59.joining gangs, largely because it runs in the family. Alarmingly, the
:12:59. > :13:06.majority of fights are over territory, as fellow task force
:13:06. > :13:10.officer PC Blair Pettigrew explains. That area is Chapel, part of
:13:10. > :13:14.Glasgow, and this is a council area, part of Clydebank. There's been
:13:14. > :13:18.fighting between these two sides of the road. They are only separate
:13:18. > :13:25.bid 56 metres of tarmac. They've been fighting for generations. It
:13:25. > :13:30.is such a dangerous place. The added danger is they have got to
:13:30. > :13:34.cross two dual carriageways to get to fight each other. Sometimes
:13:34. > :13:39.simply crossing a road into another gang's patch is enough to spark a
:13:39. > :13:45.fight. This kind of gang rivalry often leads to other crimes, like
:13:45. > :13:49.drug taking, antisocial behaviour, and theft. PC Blair Pettigrew is
:13:50. > :13:54.part of the gangs task force team, cracking down on gang crime. Most
:13:54. > :14:01.gang fights lap at the weekend. It's a common problem and tonight
:14:01. > :14:05.he is patrolling the streets, monitoring activity among Glasgow's
:14:05. > :14:08.youth. It is a dangerous job but he's trained to deal with any
:14:08. > :14:14.aggressive behaviour. You've got to go with your gut I think distinct.
:14:14. > :14:20.If somebody came at me with a knife I would have to rely on the CS gas,
:14:20. > :14:25.or I have my baton I can use to try a pre-emptive strike or block any
:14:25. > :14:27.attack on me, and then use my handcuffs to arrest them. There is
:14:28. > :14:32.always the chance that something might happen. Blair knows from
:14:32. > :14:38.experience that the later it gets the more likely it is a fight will
:14:38. > :14:41.It's only 6.30pm. You could imagine, in four or five hours' time, with
:14:41. > :14:44.the alcohol they've been drinking. They come back, and there's
:14:44. > :14:47.rivalries in the area. And they're only a short distance from each
:14:47. > :14:51.other. There's always potential for violence when you see groups like
:14:51. > :14:54.that. So it's important we are in the area, and it's important we
:14:54. > :14:56.have a presence. There's uniformed cops out tonight as well to deter
:14:56. > :15:01.them. It's now 8pm, and already groups of
:15:01. > :15:04.young men are gathering at hot spots known for trouble. Blair and
:15:04. > :15:07.his team will stop and search anyone suspected of carrying
:15:07. > :15:12.weapons, drugs and alcohol. They spot a group of youths hanging
:15:12. > :15:22.about outside a shop. The young men are co-operative, and allow Blair
:15:22. > :15:24.
:15:25. > :15:34.to give them a once over. But They chase him. But he's nowhere to
:15:35. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:44.Over in that area. There are some trees over my left shoulder. So
:15:44. > :15:47.we've asked for the assistance of a dog unit which was nearby. The
:15:47. > :15:52.police officers are going out there with a police dog, and are trying
:15:52. > :16:02.to find a male. If he is hiding in the trees, I'm pretty sure the dog
:16:02. > :16:05.
:16:05. > :16:08.It has been a troublesome night for Blair. A lot of anti-social
:16:08. > :16:12.behaviour from young men and angry, drunk and disorderly gang members
:16:12. > :16:18.keen to confront the police. Officers are open to all sorts of
:16:18. > :16:21.risk in their work. But tonight, nobody is hurt. And being out and
:16:21. > :16:27.about on streets is helping them keep tabs on gang activity, and
:16:27. > :16:32.identify the ringleaders. All in all, six people have been seen in
:16:32. > :16:35.some form by the task force. The stop and searches. And
:16:35. > :16:38.intelligence regarding who is hanging about, and where. So we are
:16:38. > :16:42.building into that bigger picture to ensure the next time we go out,
:16:43. > :16:48.we know who we are looking for, and where we are looking for them.
:16:48. > :16:51.But now, picture this. It is one thing tackling gangs with knives
:16:51. > :16:53.when you've got back-up from your fellow officers. It's another when
:16:53. > :17:00.you're on a night out with your mates.
:17:00. > :17:06.July 2009. Off-duty policeman Matt was heading home through Redditch
:17:06. > :17:12.town centre after an evening of drinking and clubbing with friends.
:17:12. > :17:16.It was 1am. We decided we were going to make our way home. A few
:17:16. > :17:21.people said they wanted to get some food. At which point, I saw a group
:17:21. > :17:26.of males I recognised from my work in the area. I didn't pay too much
:17:26. > :17:33.attention to them at first. I then saw another male with a knife. It
:17:33. > :17:40.was tucked up his sleeve. I could clearly see the edge of the knife,
:17:40. > :17:44.the tip. Two of the lads were having a go at the other two, as if
:17:44. > :17:47.spoiling for a fight. He was very aggressive, there was a lot of
:17:47. > :17:52.verbal abuse coming from him. Not aimed at us, but aimed at this
:17:53. > :18:00.other group. It was quite clear that he was out to hurt someone
:18:00. > :18:05.Matt was off duty. But a copper's instincts never switch off, and he
:18:05. > :18:09.began to keep a close eye on the knife. He could see the young man
:18:09. > :18:14.meant serious business. You don't know whether he's drunk, or on
:18:14. > :18:18.drugs. You don't know what he's thinking. You don't know what's
:18:18. > :18:24.happened prior to that, to make him come out with this kitchen knife.
:18:24. > :18:27.But I knew I had to do something. Suddenly, two of the youths ran off.
:18:27. > :18:37.The knifeman and his mate quickly chased after them. Sensing trouble,
:18:37. > :18:41.Matt followed too. Obviously, I pursued, accompanied by one of the
:18:41. > :18:45.lads I was out with. It was only then when I saw the knife brought
:18:45. > :18:48.out, that I realised that he had a fair-sized knife on him. Any knife
:18:48. > :18:52.really, it doesn't matter how big or small, can inflict some serious
:18:52. > :18:59.wounds and injuries. A knife of the size he had could kill somebody
:18:59. > :19:02.quite easily. Matt had no doubt that the knifeman was about to
:19:02. > :19:08.attack the other two youths, or indeed anyone else that was in his
:19:08. > :19:14.way. One of the group shouted out, "Hawaii Five-O!" which is a code
:19:14. > :19:18.name for the police. At this point, the male turned, he recognised me
:19:18. > :19:22.I'm pretty sure as a police officer. And he knew I was pursuing him. He
:19:22. > :19:26.was brandishing a big knife, he was running at me and staring at me. So,
:19:26. > :19:33.I kind of wondered where it was going to go. I just thought, I need
:19:33. > :19:37.to stop this now. As the man came straight at him
:19:37. > :19:40.with the knife, he had just seconds to react. But he stood his ground,
:19:40. > :19:50.putting himself in grave danger. You've always got your training to
:19:50. > :19:52.
:19:52. > :19:59.back you up. I used the old I hit him. The knife catapulted
:19:59. > :20:03.into the air. I heard the knife swooshing. So I knew it was either
:20:03. > :20:10.going to land on me, or not far from me. My concern was I didn't
:20:10. > :20:13.want him to have that knife whilst I was so close to him. As the knife
:20:13. > :20:17.landed, one of Matt's friends quickly snatched it away for
:20:17. > :20:22.safekeeping. Using all his strength, Matt managed to pin the knifeman
:20:22. > :20:27.down and keep him there for several minutes until back-up arrived.
:20:27. > :20:30.There's nothing nicer than seeing officers coming to your aid. It's a
:20:30. > :20:38.nice sight when you see the blue lights flickering around off the
:20:38. > :20:41.buildings, and that pat on the shoulder. You know that you're OK.
:20:41. > :20:45.Looking back on it, probably not the right thing to do. But
:20:45. > :20:52.something just takes over, I think. You just feel you've got to do
:20:52. > :20:57.something. But the consequences could have been a lot worse. I
:20:57. > :21:01.might not be sitting here today. Matt took a huge gamble. But,
:21:01. > :21:04.thanks to his brave actions, no one was hurt. The suspect got two years
:21:04. > :21:14.for affray. While Matt deservedly got one of this year's Police
:21:14. > :21:16.
:21:16. > :21:23.In 2008, there were over five fatal stabbings a week in England and
:21:23. > :21:27.Wales alone. It is vital that the police get weapons off the streets.
:21:27. > :21:30.Many of them are in the hands of gang members who are three times
:21:30. > :21:34.more likely to carry a knife and other criminals. Earlier, we saw PC
:21:34. > :21:37.Blair Pettigrew carrying out a stop and search patrol on the streets of
:21:37. > :21:46.Glasgow as part of an operation to crack down on anti-social behaviour
:21:46. > :21:50.As part of his job, PC Pettigrew has to deal with incidents of knife
:21:50. > :21:57.crime all over the city. Over the past few years, his team have
:21:57. > :22:01.seized hundreds of lethal weapons from Glasgow's gangs. This is just
:22:01. > :22:04.a small selection of some of the weapons the task force have seized
:22:04. > :22:08.since their creation a couple of years ago. You can see yourself it
:22:08. > :22:14.is a horrific display of weapons that have, at some point, been on
:22:14. > :22:18.the street and in the public domain. They go from home-made nunchucks
:22:18. > :22:23.that have been made from two pieces of wood and a dog chain. To knives
:22:23. > :22:26.out of something that looks like from a horror movie, a Rambo movie.
:22:26. > :22:32.Home-made knives with a section cut off from a saw. And wrapped round
:22:32. > :22:36.with plastic and Sellotape. That, at some point, has been a table leg,
:22:36. > :22:41.a piece of furniture that has been taped up for the purposes of using
:22:41. > :22:44.it. And you can see that they have scored their name on it, and the
:22:44. > :22:47.initials of the gang they are attached to. This butterfly knife
:22:47. > :22:53.is another article which we come across all too often. They are
:22:53. > :23:01.prohibited weapons. You can see it folds up to prevent injury to the
:23:01. > :23:05.person carried it. -- carrying it. You can see it is very thin. It can
:23:05. > :23:08.be fitted inside a sock or into the waistband of trousers. And then it
:23:08. > :23:12.can be accessed very easily by flicking it open and locking it in
:23:12. > :23:20.place. Again, another deadly weapon. Officers like Blair are often on
:23:20. > :23:23.the receiving end of these weapons. I was actually on my own. And an
:23:23. > :23:26.individual came out from a homeless accommodation carrying a large
:23:26. > :23:30.kitchen steel knife, and coming towards me. He tried to fight with
:23:30. > :23:34.me when I was on duty. Luckily, I threw him off, using the safety
:23:34. > :23:37.training and equipment I had. And my colleagues were not too far away.
:23:37. > :23:41.Then he was arrested, subdued. He served a custodial sentence for his
:23:41. > :23:44.actions. I can't begin to imagine the psyche of somebody who'd want
:23:44. > :23:47.to arm themselves with a knife going on a night out. I understand
:23:47. > :23:50.individuals come from different areas, there are territorial
:23:50. > :23:54.battles, gangs and fighting. I'm not condoning it in the slightest.
:23:54. > :23:57.But I can't understand why somebody would then go to the next level and
:23:57. > :24:00.carry a knife. It's amazing the number of times you've been to an
:24:00. > :24:03.incident where a knife has been used. Somebody's been assaulted,
:24:03. > :24:07.and it's actually their own knife they've taken out with them. It's
:24:07. > :24:10.been taken off them, and been used in a serious assault on them.
:24:10. > :24:14.Blair and the gangs taskforce often come across youths fighting for the
:24:14. > :24:17.sake of it. For them, it's just something to do. But sometimes,
:24:17. > :24:19.turf wars break out over more serious issues. Like drugs.
:24:19. > :24:21.For Detective Sergeant Stevie Cassenhorn, stamping out drug
:24:21. > :24:24.dealing is a crucial part of the team's work.
:24:24. > :24:27.Good morning everybody, thanks very much for turning up. Obviously,
:24:27. > :24:32.we've an operation, a drugs operation, and we are releasing
:24:32. > :24:35.Operation Fleet this morning. the last few months, he's been
:24:35. > :24:39.gathering covert evidence on drug crime, and is now preparing to raid
:24:39. > :24:44.a house in the local area. Today, the police are hoping to
:24:44. > :24:51.arrest someone they suspect is selling heroin. The intel suggests
:24:51. > :24:55.she's receiving an order of drugs approximately 8:30am every morning.
:24:55. > :24:59.She's dealing from the house, and she's going down to the hotel and
:24:59. > :25:01.dealing from there. The rest of us will take up a position in Berkeley
:25:01. > :25:05.Street, just around the corner. Surveillance suggests there might
:25:05. > :25:10.be a dog in the flat. So, just in case, the specialist dog handler is
:25:10. > :25:14.drafted on to the team. The most important piece of kit we use is
:25:14. > :25:17.this, to take control of the dog. The other piece of kit we use is
:25:17. > :25:21.this electric shield. The shield itself has a battery which is
:25:21. > :25:24.equipped to give out 50,000 volts, the equivalent of a police taser.
:25:24. > :25:28.There have been occasions where a dog has managed to get around the
:25:28. > :25:32.shield, and start biting your feet and legs. So you have to be
:25:32. > :25:37.relatively quick to get the dog under control. Any delay in that
:25:37. > :25:40.could cause you or one of the officers serious injury. Stevie and
:25:40. > :25:46.the officers have been given specific information on the
:25:46. > :25:52.suspected drug dealer. It's powder drugs we're dealing with, according
:25:52. > :25:55.to intelligence. So, as soon as we start making any noise outside the
:25:55. > :26:00.door, that could alert people inside, and they may attempt to
:26:00. > :26:05.dispose of it. The powder could be flushed down the toilet or thrown
:26:05. > :26:10.from the window. So we cover the front and the back of the building
:26:10. > :26:14.as best we can. And put a team to the door. Get the door in as quick
:26:14. > :26:19.as we can. And just control the occupants. The police hope that the
:26:19. > :26:23.intelligence is correct. But they don't always get it right. They can
:26:23. > :26:27.never fully predict what the situation will be on the other side
:26:27. > :26:30.of the door. You always get a bit of adrenalin. You really don't know
:26:30. > :26:34.what will be behind that door. And you're concentrating on working as
:26:34. > :26:39.a team, to control it first off. And once you have got that control,
:26:39. > :26:43.it goes into slow motion a wee bit. Because you can deal with the
:26:43. > :26:51.situation then. Everything is under your control. That's the single
:26:51. > :27:00.biggest thing you've got to It is 9am, and Stevie and the team
:27:00. > :27:04.of officers arrive at the flat. One of the officers has an enforcer to
:27:04. > :27:08.break down the door. And the dog handler is right behind him just in
:27:08. > :27:12.case they have to deal with the dog inside. What you can hear there,
:27:12. > :27:15.you can see the door is forced. You can hear the dog barking. The
:27:15. > :27:21.shouts of, "Clear!" the officers are checking the rooms to ensure
:27:21. > :27:25.that there are no other occupants. You can hear that dog just now. I'm
:27:25. > :27:30.concerned that the door is open, so if it comes out and bites people,
:27:30. > :27:34.we will be out of here. But it seems to be all right. All I can
:27:34. > :27:37.hear is one female voice in there, and no other raised male voices. So
:27:37. > :27:45.it tends to suggest that the intelligence is probably spot on,
:27:45. > :27:48.and it's just her inside the house. There is a woman in the flat, but
:27:48. > :27:52.the expected heroin isn't there. This time, the intelligence is
:27:52. > :27:55.wrong. You can see the marks where the enforcer was used this morning.
:27:55. > :27:58.There is no evidence of dealing in the flat. So Detective Sergeant
:27:58. > :28:01.Cassenhorn leaves the scene. There's been no controlled drugs
:28:01. > :28:04.found. Although there was a fair bit of paraphernalia, indicating
:28:04. > :28:07.that they are involved in the use of controlled drugs. But
:28:07. > :28:12.effectively no offences have been detected under the Misuse of Drugs
:28:12. > :28:15.Act 1971. So, the team have now moved away from that location.
:28:15. > :28:18.Thankfullly for Detective Sergeant Cassenhorn, this time the operation
:28:18. > :28:22.passed off without injury. Last year, there were nearly 4,000
:28:22. > :28:28.assaults on police officers in Strathclyde. That's twice as many
:28:28. > :28:38.as in London. There are now more and more police specifically
:28:38. > :28:40.
:28:40. > :28:43.trained to combat serious crime, as It is 7am, and a team of specialist
:28:43. > :28:46.officers are preparing for a drug raid on a house in the Manchester
:28:46. > :28:49.area. The intention today is to execute a
:28:50. > :28:53.search warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The intelligence to
:28:53. > :29:01.support the warrant indicates that there is a cannabis farm at the
:29:01. > :29:03.address. The intention today is to attend the address, and to make a
:29:03. > :29:07.rapid and dynamic entry into the premises. Intelligence also
:29:07. > :29:12.indicates that there may be dealing from the address. So we may have
:29:12. > :29:15.loose cannabis. So, before they can dispose of it, we want to gain
:29:15. > :29:18.entry and detain all occupants inside. So, in five, ten minutes,
:29:18. > :29:21.ready to rock and roll, and we'll get kitted up. This proactive unit
:29:21. > :29:25.was set up in 2009 to tackle increasing violent crime across
:29:25. > :29:30.north Manchester. These guys have had expert training
:29:30. > :29:34.to deal with any situation they come across. There's been incidents
:29:34. > :29:41.before in the past, where officers have been confronted with a booby-
:29:41. > :29:46.trapped house and rooms. These can range from windows and doors being
:29:46. > :29:49.electrified. You have serrated blades being secreted in door
:29:49. > :29:55.handles, they are behind light switches which again can cause
:29:55. > :30:05.injury. We have also had a large number of weapons found in cannabis
:30:05. > :30:08.
:30:08. > :30:12.farms where offenders to try to Each day these officers are
:30:12. > :30:17.entering unknown territory, so they are fully kitted up with protective
:30:17. > :30:22.clothing just in case they find themselves on dangerous ground.
:30:22. > :30:27.are putting on a Kevlar kit, which is covering your major arteries.
:30:27. > :30:31.We've got a top and a bottom covering your major arteries, to
:30:31. > :30:35.ensure that if there are issues with glass we are not seriously
:30:35. > :30:39.injured. Over the past few years, Manchester's police have noticed
:30:40. > :30:44.the steady increase of cannabis farms emerging across the city. Now
:30:44. > :30:48.many of their raids are targeting this serious problem. Cannabis
:30:48. > :30:52.farms are becoming more prominent, because of the revenue they can
:30:52. > :30:58.create for criminals. A good grow with reap thousands of pounds worth.
:30:58. > :31:03.They can be set up relatively cheaply in something as small as a
:31:03. > :31:11.two up, two down terraced house. fact a small-time dealer with make
:31:11. > :31:14.anything up to �50,000 or more in just a year. Over the past few
:31:14. > :31:19.months, Manchester police have been gathering evidence against
:31:19. > :31:28.suspected drug dealers. Now the proactive unit have a good idea of
:31:28. > :31:33.what to expect and are fully prepared. Potentially we may come
:31:34. > :31:43.across a few problems in the address, trying to detain the
:31:43. > :31:48.occupants of the address. Each raid is strategically planned and each
:31:49. > :31:55.officer has an important role to play. Two officers hold the
:31:55. > :32:02.battering ram, known as a double ram-it, while the four remaining
:32:02. > :32:10.officers follow closely behind. Police! Stay where you are! Turn
:32:10. > :32:16.round! Two occupants have been located inside the address, one the
:32:16. > :32:20.subject of a warrant. He was in bed. A cursory search of the premises
:32:20. > :32:25.incates there's a cannabis farm in the loft, where one of the suspects
:32:25. > :32:31.were located. The team of officers start searching the house for
:32:31. > :32:35.hidden drugs. Nothing is left unturned. What we've got up here in
:32:35. > :32:45.the loft conversion appears to be cannabis, which is under
:32:45. > :32:50.cultivation. A small set-up. 10 or 12 mature cannabis plants.
:32:50. > :32:54.officers unearth detailed notes on how the plants are grown. What
:32:55. > :33:02.appears to be his diary. He's prosecution his cannabis. It takes
:33:02. > :33:12.roughly three months to get the harvest. It looks like he has taken
:33:12. > :33:15.measurements. 4ml to bloom, 1ml to boost, 1 to force bud. Raiding and
:33:15. > :33:20.searching a property occupied by suspecting criminals carries all
:33:20. > :33:24.sorts of potential dangers, as an officer explains. I remember one
:33:24. > :33:30.time we got called to a domestic. We had colleagues at the scene. We
:33:30. > :33:35.had to get him on the floor. During the struggle myself and a colleague
:33:35. > :33:41.were bit. It transpired the gentleman was HIV-positive. Due to
:33:41. > :33:45.that I will to receive four weeks of antiviral medication, which made
:33:45. > :33:50.me extremely ill and had to take five weeks off work. At the time
:33:51. > :33:55.you get on with it. It is not until I got home and started explaining
:33:55. > :33:59.the situation to family members it kind of sink in, that, potentially,
:33:59. > :34:04.even though it is a low risk, die have contracted a disease I've got
:34:04. > :34:13.to spend the rest of my life living with, and the effects of that on
:34:13. > :34:18.myself and my family. Elsewhere the officers continue to make a
:34:18. > :34:23.thorough search of the house for any further evidence of drug
:34:23. > :34:29.cultivation. This is a really simple set-up really. Bin liner
:34:29. > :34:33.material, white-side in to keep the heat in, and reflect the light. The
:34:33. > :34:37.fan to circulate the air and the fan to take away the aroma.
:34:37. > :34:42.Sleeping in the room as well, so he doesn't want that too much. There
:34:42. > :34:46.is quite a basic one, but it does the job, as you can see. We are
:34:46. > :34:49.going to destroy it now and stop him from using it. It turns out
:34:49. > :34:55.that the the loft has been converted into a small cannabis
:34:55. > :35:02.farm. It is an awkward space, which goes to show the lengths people
:35:02. > :35:06.will go to cultivate drugs. It's been a successful raid, but that
:35:06. > :35:10.doesn't necessarily mean that the person growing the plants will get
:35:10. > :35:14.prosecute. The male is in custody now. We don't know what he is going
:35:14. > :35:18.to say on interview. From past experiences you tend to find a lot
:35:18. > :35:21.of people argue the toss that they are growing it for their own
:35:21. > :35:26.personal use rather than supplying it, because it carries a lesser
:35:26. > :35:31.sentence when it gets to court. Obviously, it is for us to seize
:35:31. > :35:37.other items, other bits of drug paraphernalia, snap bags and scales.
:35:37. > :35:40.Things like that contribute to the fact that he may be distributing it
:35:40. > :35:45.to other people. But finally the officers believe they've got enough
:35:45. > :35:55.evidence to make an arrest. If found guilty offenders are looking
:35:55. > :35:59.
:35:59. > :36:04.at up to 14 years in prison. It's often said that police work is
:36:04. > :36:08.99% routine and 1% pure terror. You never know when a routine call-out
:36:08. > :36:17.will turn into a life or death situation. When it does, that's
:36:17. > :36:23.when your instincts and training really kick in. For West Midlands
:36:23. > :36:30.PCs Rak and Curt their regular patrol through the streets of
:36:30. > :36:35.Coventry started like any other. had our routine. I was partnered
:36:36. > :36:40.with my colleague, PC Ray. We saw smoke and flames in an upstairs
:36:40. > :36:43.window. Normally when we come across a house fire we would call
:36:43. > :36:51.the Fire Brigade and wait for them to arrive. But we were concerned
:36:51. > :36:55.that somebody may be trapped. By the time the Fire Brigade got there
:36:55. > :36:59.the person inside may not have survived. The Fire Brigade were
:36:59. > :37:04.coming but were minutes away. Instinctively and without thought
:37:04. > :37:14.for their safety the PCs dashed towards the burning building
:37:14. > :37:15.
:37:15. > :37:20.Rpblgts Anybody there? Police;; Anybody there! Police! At that time
:37:20. > :37:24.we didn't even think about any burns, or suffering smoke
:37:24. > :37:30.inhalation or anything that was going to happen to us. Maybe it was
:37:30. > :37:38.just an adrenaline rush. We needed to do what we had to do. Hello?
:37:38. > :37:44.Police! And we heard a noise from the left-hand side, from the stair
:37:44. > :37:47.way. I can't breathe! When we got closer I could see a bloke
:37:47. > :37:52.stumbling down the stairs, disarrangementsated. He couldn't
:37:52. > :37:56.see where he was going or what he was doing. I thought, what are we
:37:56. > :38:00.going to do if there is somebody else up stairs?, because the smoke
:38:01. > :38:06.is very thick. There was no time to lose. Toxic smoke kills more people
:38:06. > :38:11.in house fires than the fire itself. Every second of exposure put Ray
:38:11. > :38:16.and curt at risks of losing consciousness, and even being
:38:16. > :38:23.killed. The courageous cops needed to get the man out fast. Ray took
:38:23. > :38:26.one arm, I took the other arm. We didn't know the layout of the
:38:26. > :38:31.building, so we took him out of the front of the house, and a safe
:38:31. > :38:36.distance from the house, across the road. Ray and curt got the man out
:38:36. > :38:42.in the nick of time. It was evident he was suffering from smoke
:38:42. > :38:47.inhalation. We had to check whether anybody else was in the address.
:38:47. > :38:52.The dog. He told us there were two dogs but we weren't convinced there
:38:52. > :38:57.was knowing else in there. He was quite clearly disorientated. Then
:38:57. > :39:01.in an extraordinary act of courage the PCs decided to go in again and
:39:01. > :39:11.check for more people, even though the blaze was getting fiercer.
:39:11. > :39:13.
:39:13. > :39:17.smoke was clearly getting thicker. It was very hot inside. We went in
:39:17. > :39:20.slowly together, and ushered the dogs out. To be fair, I think they
:39:20. > :39:24.were quite keen to get out of the property that. Assisted us greatly.
:39:24. > :39:30.We came back out and asked if anybody else was back in the
:39:30. > :39:34.address. That the point he told us his pet bird was inside. By this
:39:34. > :39:43.point the fire was raging out of control. The house might collapse
:39:43. > :39:47.at any moment. Take a deep breath. But going beyond the call of duty
:39:47. > :39:51.Ray and Curt made a split second decision to go back into good house
:39:51. > :39:56.one more time. Windows were smashing. The room in which the
:39:56. > :40:00.bird was in was directly where we had seen the flames, so I was
:40:00. > :40:07.conscious of the ceiling of that room and the flooring of the room
:40:07. > :40:12.above where the fire started, collapsing. Smoments later, the
:40:12. > :40:16.Fire Brigade arrived -- moments later, the Fire Brigade arrived.
:40:16. > :40:20.The whole rescue had only taken 7 minutes. If the structure had
:40:20. > :40:25.become more unstable perhaps we wouldn't have got out. I don't
:40:25. > :40:30.think myself, Ray, my colleague, or the gentleman and his pets would
:40:30. > :40:33.have got out, so I think somebody was looking down on us that day.
:40:33. > :40:39.Looking back at things now, it could have ended bad for us. We
:40:39. > :40:43.could have died. We may not have maid it out of that house, but at
:40:43. > :40:49.the time I didn't think like that. I'm sure if the situation happens
:40:49. > :40:53.again we would go and do it again. There is no doubt their courageous
:40:53. > :40:58.actions that day saved a man's life. I think if we hadn't been passion
:40:58. > :41:02.at the time we did and saw the fire when we did, I think it is
:41:02. > :41:06.questionable whether the man would have got out. According to the
:41:06. > :41:12.ambulance, a few more minutes and he wouldn't have made it.
:41:13. > :41:17.Astonishingly when the drama was over, Curt and Rahan carried on
:41:17. > :41:26.with the rest of their shift. For their part in saving a man's life
:41:26. > :41:31.they've both been nominated for a Chief Constable's Commendation.
:41:31. > :41:35.Next time on Britain's Bravest Cops, we retell the story of a lone
:41:35. > :41:41.police officer who con fronts a violent burglar in a dark alley.
:41:41. > :41:45.All I could see as I looked up was the hammer above my head. I really
:41:45. > :41:50.thought he was good going to hit me with it. He could have caved my
:41:50. > :41:57.head in. PC Nick Peters launches a series of dawn raids against
:41:57. > :42:05.suspected drug dealers in Northamptonshire. Police!
:42:05. > :42:12.Strong intelligence shows that drug dealing has been taking place at