Episode 2 Britain's Bravest Cops

As an ex-copper, I'm well aware of the hidden dangers facing Britain's

police officers. What starts off as an ordinary day on the beat can

suddenly turn into a life- threatening situation. In the week

of the Police Federation Bravery Awards, we meet the ordinary

officers who risk their lives to protect us. We hear stories of

their extraordinary courage, and join them on the street as they

continue to crack down on crime. This week, the courage and

dedication of ordinary police officers up and down the country

will be honoured at the Police Federation Bravery Awards. Standing

up to violent criminals on the streets is one of the toughest jobs

anyone can do, but it's all in a day's work for Britain's police

officers. Today, we'll uncover the extraordinary lengths they go to to

keep us safe. Coming up, off-duty PC, Matt Hunt,

relives the horrific moment he tackled a knife-wielding maniac in

a busy town centre. Any knife really I suppose, no matter how big

or small, can inflict serious wounds and injuries. A knife of the

size that he had at the time could have killed somebody.

Officers from Strathclyde Police crack down on Glasgow's rising gang

culture after a violent street fight erupts in the middle of the

city. All it needed was a random blow from one of those knives and

you would have had somebody lying on a mortuary slab.

And we follow Manchester's specialist proactive unit as they

crack down on drug crime. Police! Stay where you are! Turn round!

first, the heroic story of four unarmed Met Police officers. They

were on patrol in North London when a stop and search went dangerously

wrong. It was a warm spring day in March 2008. A team from the Met

Police's Territorial Support Group were driving around the city

streets on the lookout for criminals. We were posted to

Hackney borough for two weeks. We were tasked specifically with

dealing with local villains in the area, to try and stop them

committing crime. We was on mobile patrol in the Woodbury Down area in

Hackney. We initially noticed two young males walking towards us.

was a very warm day. However, one of them had a hood up partially

covering his face. The other gentleman had a woollen hat on.

driver beckoned them to say, "Hello boys, can you stop there, please?"

And that's when it started to go wrong. As soon as the young men

clocked the police carrier, they began to back away. PCs Michael

Carroll and Richard Cousins immediately went after them. They

didn't know it at the time but the two young men were in fact local

drug dealer Colton Sam and an accomplice. I just saw Mr Sam

walking away. I thought, oh, he's going to get rid of something, he's

going to drop something. I saw him reach up, pull the balaclava down.

I saw him reach inside his waistband. I thought it was just

going to be drugs, he's going to throw some drugs, watch him. Then

next thing I know, he's pulled the gun. And I'm thinking, he's got a

gun! He's got a gun! He's got a gun! That's all that's going

through my brain. The armed suspect stood facing PC Michael Carroll.

sort of froze. It was total shock, what I was looking at. And it was

then that he lifted the firearm up, aimed it directly towards me and

fired. Colton Sam at the time was only between seven and ten metres

away when he fired the first shot at me. I straightaway realised that

this is a very dangerous situation, and I can't get out of it. All I

can remember is looking down the barrel of the gun and seeing the

smoke coming out of the other end. Luckily for Michael, Colton Sam was

a poor shot. He then turned the firearm towards my colleague, PC

Cousins and discharged the second shot. To actually then hear that

bang, for a split second you're almost paralysed. As soon as you

see it's pointing at you, you sort see it's pointing at you, you sort

of go into a state where you become fixated, just staring at the

firearm. Another stroke of luck. The gunman missed again. I was

thinking, maybe a little bit of cover might help. But obviously the

side of the carrier, there's nowhere to go. The only place to go

was the floor. But before you know it, it was that quick. The shot had

been fired and it was over. suspect then turned and fled. An

extremely dangerous man was now loose on the streets of London, but

the unarmed officers didn't hesitate to chase after him.

shot at us. My feeling was, I need to get him, I need to arrest him.

It was like, OK, let's get out. Let's get after him. At the time

you are not thinking, I'm going to be brave, I'm going to chase him.

You get the adrenaline rush and you become fixated. After the officers

went after Colton Sam his accomplice ran from the scene,

never to be found. Colton Sam was still firing at the police.

police then fired down another side road, another police van was doing

burglary patrols and the foot chasers continued along the road.

By this time more officers had joined the chase. Despite the

danger of getting shot, PC prig by grappled the drug dealer down. --

Rigby. If I had lost sight by a mere seconds, when I caught up with

PC Rigby and Colton Sam there was a struggle happening. I was unaware

that the firearm had been discarded and I thought my colleague was

having a struggle with a male still armed with a firearm. We finally

got him detained and it was then we realised that the gun was thrown

into a flower bed. The police got the result they wanted but the

shoot-out could have ended tragically for at least two of the

officers. We were working as a team from the start. It is that which

saved us, because we kept putting Mr Sam under pressure. We put him

under pressure and he reacted, but because we did it, he couldn't take

proper aim. I think that's what saved us. Colton Sam got 30 years

for the attempted murder of Richard and Michael. Four of the officers

received a Blairry award for bringing in a gun-toting criminal.

You never dream one day you will come across somebody with a loaded

firearm and his only decision that day was to fire his way out of it.

It was scary. It is not the sort of thing you would want every single

day. It is not the sort of thing you -- think you would ever want

again, but unfortunately the people we were dealing with on a daily

basis, a lot of them routinely carry weapons, whether that be a

knife, a bat or a firearm. Unfortunately firearms are becoming

more common. Last year there were over 7,500 firearms offences in

Britain. More often than not gangs are responsible. Police up and down

the country are dealing with an increasingly violent gang culture.

It is not just in the capital. This is Glasgow, a city with a

population of around 600,000. Known for its amazing architecture and

grand historic monuments, as well as its tree-lined streets and

beautiful scenery. But for Strathclyde Police the picture is

very different. They see a city carved up into dozens of gang

territories. They are only separated by 56 metres of tarmac.

They have been fighting for generations. It is such a dangerous

place. In the last two years, police have made over 11,000

arrests linked to gang crime Strathclyde the most common weapon

of choice for gang members knives. I have never come across anyone

with a disguised knife or through axe or none chucks who haven't been

involved in some we with violence and assault using these weapons.

Antisocial behaviour and violence are infesting the city as 150 gangs

ballot for control of the streets. They are fighting and they are

fuelled by drink. That gives them Dutch courage, if you want. Every

day, officers like Detective Sergeant Steve put their lives on

the line as they try to keep a lead on Glasgow's growing gang warfare.

Back in 2009, Glasgow's gang problem reached crisis point.

Fighting spilled out on to the streets and violent schemes were

captured on CCTV. Detective Sergeant Stevie Cassenhorn explains.

This area is basically the territory of the Govan Young Team.

You see the man in a hooded top here. It is not until he gets on

the Shore Street that you become aware that he is dragging something.

Here he produce as baseball bat. That is used in the attack. He was

heading for another gang of youths who had just got out of a cab at

the other end of the street. individual who came from the taxi

and the other individuals who came from the top end of the street are

related to a team called the Wine Alyeah? Govan, which is not a

million miles from here but it is far enough away to be regarded as

another distinct area. The male from the taxi, who comes out of the

back and walks down the street, you see him Jess tick lating with his

hands. It was clear from the CCTV that they were armed with a machete.

If you look up you will see the CCTV camera. That was the principal

method of recording the events. He comes up to the top of the street.

As he comes up to the top of the street the other faction, if you

want to call them that, are coming down towards themselves. This is

where the fight itself occurs in this area here. You see them

running about the street and you will see more groups coming down

from this end to back up the faction that came from the taxi.

Thereafter you see the whole scenario unfolding on tape. What is

amazing about it, it is 9 o'clock at nine in Govan and there's a

full-scale battle running in the street. When I saw this I was

absolutely horrified. At the end of the footening, if you look at it

closely you will see a woman coming out pushing a buggy while this was

ongoing. There was no regard for the injuries they could have caused

each other. All it needed was a random blow from one of those

knives and would have had somebody lying on a mortuary slab. Police

could see all the gang members were armed with vicious weapons and

knives. Violent street fights like there are the reason why

Strathclyde Police sets up gangs task force to combat the rising

gang culture. And now Stevie is part of a team of 33 officers in

this specialist unit. They've found that children as young as 12 are

joining gangs, largely because it runs in the family. Alarmingly, the

majority of fights are over territory, as fellow task force

officer PC Blair Pettigrew explains. That area is Chapel, part of

Glasgow, and this is a council area, part of Clydebank. There's been

fighting between these two sides of the road. They are only separate

bid 56 metres of tarmac. They've been fighting for generations. It

is such a dangerous place. The added danger is they have got to

cross two dual carriageways to get to fight each other. Sometimes

simply crossing a road into another gang's patch is enough to spark a

fight. This kind of gang rivalry often leads to other crimes, like

drug taking, antisocial behaviour, and theft. PC Blair Pettigrew is

part of the gangs task force team, cracking down on gang crime. Most

gang fights lap at the weekend. It's a common problem and tonight

he is patrolling the streets, monitoring activity among Glasgow's

youth. It is a dangerous job but he's trained to deal with any

aggressive behaviour. You've got to go with your gut I think distinct.

If somebody came at me with a knife I would have to rely on the CS gas,

or I have my baton I can use to try a pre-emptive strike or block any

attack on me, and then use my handcuffs to arrest them. There is

always the chance that something might happen. Blair knows from

experience that the later it gets the more likely it is a fight will

It's only 6.30pm. You could imagine, in four or five hours' time, with

the alcohol they've been drinking. They come back, and there's

rivalries in the area. And they're only a short distance from each

other. There's always potential for violence when you see groups like

that. So it's important we are in the area, and it's important we

have a presence. There's uniformed cops out tonight as well to deter

them. It's now 8pm, and already groups of

young men are gathering at hot spots known for trouble. Blair and

his team will stop and search anyone suspected of carrying

weapons, drugs and alcohol. They spot a group of youths hanging

about outside a shop. The young men are co-operative, and allow Blair

to give them a once over. But They chase him. But he's nowhere to

Over in that area. There are some trees over my left shoulder. So

we've asked for the assistance of a dog unit which was nearby. The

police officers are going out there with a police dog, and are trying

to find a male. If he is hiding in the trees, I'm pretty sure the dog

It has been a troublesome night for Blair. A lot of anti-social

behaviour from young men and angry, drunk and disorderly gang members

keen to confront the police. Officers are open to all sorts of

risk in their work. But tonight, nobody is hurt. And being out and

about on streets is helping them keep tabs on gang activity, and

identify the ringleaders. All in all, six people have been seen in

some form by the task force. The stop and searches. And

intelligence regarding who is hanging about, and where. So we are

building into that bigger picture to ensure the next time we go out,

we know who we are looking for, and where we are looking for them.

But now, picture this. It is one thing tackling gangs with knives

when you've got back-up from your fellow officers. It's another when

you're on a night out with your mates.

July 2009. Off-duty policeman Matt was heading home through Redditch

town centre after an evening of drinking and clubbing with friends.

It was 1am. We decided we were going to make our way home. A few

people said they wanted to get some food. At which point, I saw a group

of males I recognised from my work in the area. I didn't pay too much

attention to them at first. I then saw another male with a knife. It

was tucked up his sleeve. I could clearly see the edge of the knife,

the tip. Two of the lads were having a go at the other two, as if

spoiling for a fight. He was very aggressive, there was a lot of

verbal abuse coming from him. Not aimed at us, but aimed at this

other group. It was quite clear that he was out to hurt someone

Matt was off duty. But a copper's instincts never switch off, and he

began to keep a close eye on the knife. He could see the young man

meant serious business. You don't know whether he's drunk, or on

drugs. You don't know what he's thinking. You don't know what's

happened prior to that, to make him come out with this kitchen knife.

But I knew I had to do something. Suddenly, two of the youths ran off.

The knifeman and his mate quickly chased after them. Sensing trouble,

Matt followed too. Obviously, I pursued, accompanied by one of the

lads I was out with. It was only then when I saw the knife brought

out, that I realised that he had a fair-sized knife on him. Any knife

really, it doesn't matter how big or small, can inflict some serious

wounds and injuries. A knife of the size he had could kill somebody

quite easily. Matt had no doubt that the knifeman was about to

attack the other two youths, or indeed anyone else that was in his

way. One of the group shouted out, "Hawaii Five-O!" which is a code

name for the police. At this point, the male turned, he recognised me

I'm pretty sure as a police officer. And he knew I was pursuing him. He

was brandishing a big knife, he was running at me and staring at me. So,

I kind of wondered where it was going to go. I just thought, I need

to stop this now. As the man came straight at him

with the knife, he had just seconds to react. But he stood his ground,

putting himself in grave danger. You've always got your training to

back you up. I used the old I hit him. The knife catapulted

into the air. I heard the knife swooshing. So I knew it was either

going to land on me, or not far from me. My concern was I didn't

want him to have that knife whilst I was so close to him. As the knife

landed, one of Matt's friends quickly snatched it away for

safekeeping. Using all his strength, Matt managed to pin the knifeman

down and keep him there for several minutes until back-up arrived.

There's nothing nicer than seeing officers coming to your aid. It's a

nice sight when you see the blue lights flickering around off the

buildings, and that pat on the shoulder. You know that you're OK.

Looking back on it, probably not the right thing to do. But

something just takes over, I think. You just feel you've got to do

something. But the consequences could have been a lot worse. I

might not be sitting here today. Matt took a huge gamble. But,

thanks to his brave actions, no one was hurt. The suspect got two years

for affray. While Matt deservedly got one of this year's Police

In 2008, there were over five fatal stabbings a week in England and

Wales alone. It is vital that the police get weapons off the streets.

Many of them are in the hands of gang members who are three times

more likely to carry a knife and other criminals. Earlier, we saw PC

Blair Pettigrew carrying out a stop and search patrol on the streets of

Glasgow as part of an operation to crack down on anti-social behaviour

As part of his job, PC Pettigrew has to deal with incidents of knife

crime all over the city. Over the past few years, his team have

seized hundreds of lethal weapons from Glasgow's gangs. This is just

a small selection of some of the weapons the task force have seized

since their creation a couple of years ago. You can see yourself it

is a horrific display of weapons that have, at some point, been on

the street and in the public domain. They go from home-made nunchucks

that have been made from two pieces of wood and a dog chain. To knives

out of something that looks like from a horror movie, a Rambo movie.

Home-made knives with a section cut off from a saw. And wrapped round

with plastic and Sellotape. That, at some point, has been a table leg,

a piece of furniture that has been taped up for the purposes of using

it. And you can see that they have scored their name on it, and the

initials of the gang they are attached to. This butterfly knife

is another article which we come across all too often. They are

prohibited weapons. You can see it folds up to prevent injury to the

person carried it. -- carrying it. You can see it is very thin. It can

be fitted inside a sock or into the waistband of trousers. And then it

can be accessed very easily by flicking it open and locking it in

place. Again, another deadly weapon. Officers like Blair are often on

the receiving end of these weapons. I was actually on my own. And an

individual came out from a homeless accommodation carrying a large

kitchen steel knife, and coming towards me. He tried to fight with

me when I was on duty. Luckily, I threw him off, using the safety

training and equipment I had. And my colleagues were not too far away.

Then he was arrested, subdued. He served a custodial sentence for his

actions. I can't begin to imagine the psyche of somebody who'd want

to arm themselves with a knife going on a night out. I understand

individuals come from different areas, there are territorial

battles, gangs and fighting. I'm not condoning it in the slightest.

But I can't understand why somebody would then go to the next level and

carry a knife. It's amazing the number of times you've been to an

incident where a knife has been used. Somebody's been assaulted,

and it's actually their own knife they've taken out with them. It's

been taken off them, and been used in a serious assault on them.

Blair and the gangs taskforce often come across youths fighting for the

sake of it. For them, it's just something to do. But sometimes,

turf wars break out over more serious issues. Like drugs.

For Detective Sergeant Stevie Cassenhorn, stamping out drug

dealing is a crucial part of the team's work.

Good morning everybody, thanks very much for turning up. Obviously,

we've an operation, a drugs operation, and we are releasing

Operation Fleet this morning. the last few months, he's been

gathering covert evidence on drug crime, and is now preparing to raid

a house in the local area. Today, the police are hoping to

arrest someone they suspect is selling heroin. The intel suggests

she's receiving an order of drugs approximately 8:30am every morning.

She's dealing from the house, and she's going down to the hotel and

dealing from there. The rest of us will take up a position in Berkeley

Street, just around the corner. Surveillance suggests there might

be a dog in the flat. So, just in case, the specialist dog handler is

drafted on to the team. The most important piece of kit we use is

this, to take control of the dog. The other piece of kit we use is

this electric shield. The shield itself has a battery which is

equipped to give out 50,000 volts, the equivalent of a police taser.

There have been occasions where a dog has managed to get around the

shield, and start biting your feet and legs. So you have to be

relatively quick to get the dog under control. Any delay in that

could cause you or one of the officers serious injury. Stevie and

the officers have been given specific information on the

suspected drug dealer. It's powder drugs we're dealing with, according

to intelligence. So, as soon as we start making any noise outside the

door, that could alert people inside, and they may attempt to

dispose of it. The powder could be flushed down the toilet or thrown

from the window. So we cover the front and the back of the building

as best we can. And put a team to the door. Get the door in as quick

as we can. And just control the occupants. The police hope that the

intelligence is correct. But they don't always get it right. They can

never fully predict what the situation will be on the other side

of the door. You always get a bit of adrenalin. You really don't know

what will be behind that door. And you're concentrating on working as

a team, to control it first off. And once you have got that control,

it goes into slow motion a wee bit. Because you can deal with the

situation then. Everything is under your control. That's the single

biggest thing you've got to It is 9am, and Stevie and the team

of officers arrive at the flat. One of the officers has an enforcer to

break down the door. And the dog handler is right behind him just in

case they have to deal with the dog inside. What you can hear there,

you can see the door is forced. You can hear the dog barking. The

shouts of, "Clear!" the officers are checking the rooms to ensure

that there are no other occupants. You can hear that dog just now. I'm

concerned that the door is open, so if it comes out and bites people,

we will be out of here. But it seems to be all right. All I can

hear is one female voice in there, and no other raised male voices. So

it tends to suggest that the intelligence is probably spot on,

and it's just her inside the house. There is a woman in the flat, but

the expected heroin isn't there. This time, the intelligence is

wrong. You can see the marks where the enforcer was used this morning.

There is no evidence of dealing in the flat. So Detective Sergeant

Cassenhorn leaves the scene. There's been no controlled drugs

found. Although there was a fair bit of paraphernalia, indicating

that they are involved in the use of controlled drugs. But

effectively no offences have been detected under the Misuse of Drugs

Act 1971. So, the team have now moved away from that location.

Thankfullly for Detective Sergeant Cassenhorn, this time the operation

passed off without injury. Last year, there were nearly 4,000

assaults on police officers in Strathclyde. That's twice as many

as in London. There are now more and more police specifically

trained to combat serious crime, as It is 7am, and a team of specialist

officers are preparing for a drug raid on a house in the Manchester

area. The intention today is to execute a

search warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The intelligence to

support the warrant indicates that there is a cannabis farm at the

address. The intention today is to attend the address, and to make a

rapid and dynamic entry into the premises. Intelligence also

indicates that there may be dealing from the address. So we may have

loose cannabis. So, before they can dispose of it, we want to gain

entry and detain all occupants inside. So, in five, ten minutes,

ready to rock and roll, and we'll get kitted up. This proactive unit

was set up in 2009 to tackle increasing violent crime across

north Manchester. These guys have had expert training

to deal with any situation they come across. There's been incidents

before in the past, where officers have been confronted with a booby-

trapped house and rooms. These can range from windows and doors being

electrified. You have serrated blades being secreted in door

handles, they are behind light switches which again can cause

injury. We have also had a large number of weapons found in cannabis

farms where offenders to try to Each day these officers are

entering unknown territory, so they are fully kitted up with protective

clothing just in case they find themselves on dangerous ground.

are putting on a Kevlar kit, which is covering your major arteries.

We've got a top and a bottom covering your major arteries, to

ensure that if there are issues with glass we are not seriously

injured. Over the past few years, Manchester's police have noticed

the steady increase of cannabis farms emerging across the city. Now

many of their raids are targeting this serious problem. Cannabis

farms are becoming more prominent, because of the revenue they can

create for criminals. A good grow with reap thousands of pounds worth.

They can be set up relatively cheaply in something as small as a

two up, two down terraced house. fact a small-time dealer with make

anything up to �50,000 or more in just a year. Over the past few

months, Manchester police have been gathering evidence against

suspected drug dealers. Now the proactive unit have a good idea of

what to expect and are fully prepared. Potentially we may come

across a few problems in the address, trying to detain the

occupants of the address. Each raid is strategically planned and each

officer has an important role to play. Two officers hold the

battering ram, known as a double ram-it, while the four remaining

officers follow closely behind. Police! Stay where you are! Turn

round! Two occupants have been located inside the address, one the

subject of a warrant. He was in bed. A cursory search of the premises

incates there's a cannabis farm in the loft, where one of the suspects

were located. The team of officers start searching the house for

hidden drugs. Nothing is left unturned. What we've got up here in

the loft conversion appears to be cannabis, which is under

cultivation. A small set-up. 10 or 12 mature cannabis plants.

officers unearth detailed notes on how the plants are grown. What

appears to be his diary. He's prosecution his cannabis. It takes

roughly three months to get the harvest. It looks like he has taken

measurements. 4ml to bloom, 1ml to boost, 1 to force bud. Raiding and

searching a property occupied by suspecting criminals carries all

sorts of potential dangers, as an officer explains. I remember one

time we got called to a domestic. We had colleagues at the scene. We

had to get him on the floor. During the struggle myself and a colleague

were bit. It transpired the gentleman was HIV-positive. Due to

that I will to receive four weeks of antiviral medication, which made

me extremely ill and had to take five weeks off work. At the time

you get on with it. It is not until I got home and started explaining

the situation to family members it kind of sink in, that, potentially,

even though it is a low risk, die have contracted a disease I've got

to spend the rest of my life living with, and the effects of that on

myself and my family. Elsewhere the officers continue to make a

thorough search of the house for any further evidence of drug

cultivation. This is a really simple set-up really. Bin liner

material, white-side in to keep the heat in, and reflect the light. The

fan to circulate the air and the fan to take away the aroma.

Sleeping in the room as well, so he doesn't want that too much. There

is quite a basic one, but it does the job, as you can see. We are

going to destroy it now and stop him from using it. It turns out

that the the loft has been converted into a small cannabis

farm. It is an awkward space, which goes to show the lengths people

will go to cultivate drugs. It's been a successful raid, but that

doesn't necessarily mean that the person growing the plants will get

prosecute. The male is in custody now. We don't know what he is going

to say on interview. From past experiences you tend to find a lot

of people argue the toss that they are growing it for their own

personal use rather than supplying it, because it carries a lesser

sentence when it gets to court. Obviously, it is for us to seize

other items, other bits of drug paraphernalia, snap bags and scales.

Things like that contribute to the fact that he may be distributing it

to other people. But finally the officers believe they've got enough

evidence to make an arrest. If found guilty offenders are looking

at up to 14 years in prison. It's often said that police work is

99% routine and 1% pure terror. You never know when a routine call-out

will turn into a life or death situation. When it does, that's

when your instincts and training really kick in. For West Midlands

PCs Rak and Curt their regular patrol through the streets of

Coventry started like any other. had our routine. I was partnered

with my colleague, PC Ray. We saw smoke and flames in an upstairs

window. Normally when we come across a house fire we would call

the Fire Brigade and wait for them to arrive. But we were concerned

that somebody may be trapped. By the time the Fire Brigade got there

the person inside may not have survived. The Fire Brigade were

coming but were minutes away. Instinctively and without thought

for their safety the PCs dashed towards the burning building

Rpblgts Anybody there? Police;; Anybody there! Police! At that time

we didn't even think about any burns, or suffering smoke

inhalation or anything that was going to happen to us. Maybe it was

just an adrenaline rush. We needed to do what we had to do. Hello?

Police! And we heard a noise from the left-hand side, from the stair

way. I can't breathe! When we got closer I could see a bloke

stumbling down the stairs, disarrangementsated. He couldn't

see where he was going or what he was doing. I thought, what are we

going to do if there is somebody else up stairs?, because the smoke

is very thick. There was no time to lose. Toxic smoke kills more people

in house fires than the fire itself. Every second of exposure put Ray

and curt at risks of losing consciousness, and even being

killed. The courageous cops needed to get the man out fast. Ray took

one arm, I took the other arm. We didn't know the layout of the

building, so we took him out of the front of the house, and a safe

distance from the house, across the road. Ray and curt got the man out

in the nick of time. It was evident he was suffering from smoke

inhalation. We had to check whether anybody else was in the address.

The dog. He told us there were two dogs but we weren't convinced there

was knowing else in there. He was quite clearly disorientated. Then

in an extraordinary act of courage the PCs decided to go in again and

check for more people, even though the blaze was getting fiercer.

smoke was clearly getting thicker. It was very hot inside. We went in

slowly together, and ushered the dogs out. To be fair, I think they

were quite keen to get out of the property that. Assisted us greatly.

We came back out and asked if anybody else was back in the

address. That the point he told us his pet bird was inside. By this

point the fire was raging out of control. The house might collapse

at any moment. Take a deep breath. But going beyond the call of duty

Ray and Curt made a split second decision to go back into good house

one more time. Windows were smashing. The room in which the

bird was in was directly where we had seen the flames, so I was

conscious of the ceiling of that room and the flooring of the room

above where the fire started, collapsing. Smoments later, the

Fire Brigade arrived -- moments later, the Fire Brigade arrived.

The whole rescue had only taken 7 minutes. If the structure had

become more unstable perhaps we wouldn't have got out. I don't

think myself, Ray, my colleague, or the gentleman and his pets would

have got out, so I think somebody was looking down on us that day.

Looking back at things now, it could have ended bad for us. We

could have died. We may not have maid it out of that house, but at

the time I didn't think like that. I'm sure if the situation happens

again we would go and do it again. There is no doubt their courageous

actions that day saved a man's life. I think if we hadn't been passion

at the time we did and saw the fire when we did, I think it is

questionable whether the man would have got out. According to the

ambulance, a few more minutes and he wouldn't have made it.

Astonishingly when the drama was over, Curt and Rahan carried on

with the rest of their shift. For their part in saving a man's life

they've both been nominated for a Chief Constable's Commendation.

Next time on Britain's Bravest Cops, we retell the story of a lone

police officer who con fronts a violent burglar in a dark alley.

All I could see as I looked up was the hammer above my head. I really

thought he was good going to hit me with it. He could have caved my

head in. PC Nick Peters launches a series of dawn raids against

suspected drug dealers in Northamptonshire. Police!

Strong intelligence shows that drug dealing has been taking place at