:00:11. > :00:17.Plaza next copper I am well aware of hidden dangers facing Britain's
:00:17. > :00:21.police officers. Suddenly a nice -- a knife is moved and the next
:00:21. > :00:24.movement can mean the difference between life and death. Each year
:00:24. > :00:29.the Police Federation Bravery Awards celebrate heroism and
:00:29. > :00:39.bravery. Week during those on the streets as they continue to crack
:00:39. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:51.down on crime. This is Britain's This week the most courageous
:00:51. > :00:54.policemen in country of being honoured at the annual Police
:00:54. > :00:59.Federation Bravery Awards. Most of them are ordinary officers fighting
:00:59. > :01:02.a daily battle to protect the public. It is a battle that often
:01:02. > :01:09.puts their own lives on the line as they go after the toughest
:01:09. > :01:13.criminals. Today we retell the story of a lone police officer who
:01:13. > :01:16.finds herself face-to-face with a violent burglar in a dark alley.
:01:16. > :01:21.All I could see was the hammer above my head and I thought he was
:01:21. > :01:26.going to hit me. It was the look in his eye. He had the capability of
:01:26. > :01:36.caving my head in. Pc Nick Peters launches a series of dawn raids
:01:36. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :01:43.against drug crime in Strong intelligence stating there
:01:43. > :01:48.is drug intelligence -- dealing taking place. And a tense stand-off
:01:48. > :01:53.for PC Natalie Webster and her canine partner Sadie. They were
:01:53. > :02:03.called in to help control anti- social behaviour before it get out
:02:03. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:11.of hand. It is protecting the Our brave cops come face-to-face
:02:11. > :02:15.with many dangerous situations on their quest to protect and serve
:02:15. > :02:22.the public but sometimes their actions go well beyond the call of
:02:22. > :02:26.duty. The heroism of one Wiltshire officer almost cost him his life.
:02:26. > :02:33.In January 2008 police dog handler PC Neil Sampson was out on routine
:02:33. > :02:39.patrol with his faithful partner Anya. It was an ordinary day. Day
:02:39. > :02:43.shift, nothing spectacular, very cold day, when I heard a report of
:02:43. > :02:48.a man in a block of flats with a knife and one of our firearms unit
:02:48. > :02:54.had been dispatched. They headed straight to the scene. I had been
:02:54. > :02:59.there for a short while and a man came at the block of flats. I
:02:59. > :03:03.called out to him. Spun and started walking towards me. He presented no
:03:03. > :03:07.threat but you walk -- but he was getting closer and there was blood
:03:07. > :03:12.on his trousers. As the man walked towards him he was momentarily
:03:12. > :03:18.distracted by the arrival of the firearms unit. I remember taking my
:03:18. > :03:23.eyes off him for a second, and the man that had been a preaching quite
:03:23. > :03:27.happily with no real threat was now advancing towards me with a knife
:03:27. > :03:34.in his hand. He was slashing backwards and forwards, left to
:03:34. > :03:41.right, across his body with the knife. He got to a point where I
:03:41. > :03:50.thought you are not going to stop, and you can have this. I sent at
:03:51. > :03:55.the dock. -- I sent the dog. She went straight at him and hit him
:03:55. > :04:02.head on and he turned and was slashing at her with a knife. My
:04:02. > :04:07.next memory is I don't know where I am but I can feel really hard
:04:07. > :04:11.banging on the back of my head. The man began a frenzied attack on Neil
:04:11. > :04:19.and by now firearms officers Mick Mansell and Ciarian Hickey had
:04:19. > :04:24.arrived and were closing in. He was lunging his knife into the back of
:04:24. > :04:30.his head, a downward slashing motion causing as much damage as
:04:30. > :04:34.possible. As they rushed towards Neil what happened next took them
:04:34. > :04:40.completely by surprise. He turned round to look at us and ran towards
:04:40. > :04:49.us. Not the sort of actions I expected. We discharged our taser
:04:49. > :04:54.is practically together -- tasers. They had no effect. You are meant
:04:54. > :04:59.to drop to the ground, you are not. Be delivered short, sharp -- sharp
:04:59. > :05:05.shocks they could have made him lose control of his muscles but he
:05:05. > :05:09.was oblivious. He jumped forward, took us by surprise. I took a pace
:05:09. > :05:13.back. Behind me was a concrete step and as I fell backwards to the
:05:13. > :05:19.ground he was over the top of May jabbing down and sloshing around
:05:19. > :05:26.with a knife. -- top of me. The attacker was targeting his second
:05:26. > :05:31.Kop. Neil was determined to rescue make and launched himself directly
:05:31. > :05:36.at the knifeman. Around wasn't thinking if I could kick his leg
:05:36. > :05:42.and hopefully disable him it would save M. Unfortunately I gave
:05:42. > :05:48.everything I had but I missed him. Neil collapse on the floor and the
:05:48. > :05:54.attacker started ferociously stabbing him again. From that point
:05:54. > :05:59.really I remember seeing a taster been deployed in very slow motion,
:05:59. > :06:04.watching the darts fly through the air was uncanny. His colleagues
:06:04. > :06:09.were doing everything they could to get a tackle of Neil but he seemed
:06:09. > :06:19.invincible. -- the attacker. tried with as much as force as they
:06:19. > :06:19.
:06:19. > :06:24.could, having no effect. At that point I picked my case up and
:06:24. > :06:31.stoned him without the card each. This time it would have delivered a
:06:31. > :06:35.painful shock. I tried five times to be no the region and the last
:06:35. > :06:41.one as a Pacitti and he shouted, the weirdest thing I have ever had
:06:41. > :06:46.-- as I pushed it in. He threw the knife, I grabbed hold of him and
:06:46. > :06:50.handcuffed him. He said, can I have a glass of water please?
:06:50. > :07:00.suspect had finally been subdued but at a terrible cost. Whilst
:07:00. > :07:05.trying to save Mick Mansell Neil had been stabbed several times.
:07:05. > :07:09.Anya the dog also sustained a knife wound but luckily both Anya and
:07:09. > :07:14.Neil made a full recovery and are both back at work. The fact I am
:07:14. > :07:19.sad here able to talk about this incident is amazing because you
:07:19. > :07:23.hear about kids getting stabbed and they die of one stab wound. I have
:07:23. > :07:29.had seven and still set it talking to you.
:07:29. > :07:33.After his brush with police dog Anya the offender spent three weeks
:07:33. > :07:38.in hospital and is in prison. Neil and his colleagues received a
:07:38. > :07:48.police bravery award and Anya received the highest honour in the
:07:48. > :07:52.
:07:52. > :07:56.land, a gold medal for the People's Unfortunately what Neil and his
:07:56. > :08:04.team went through it is not uncommon. Into doesn't donate one
:08:04. > :08:10.knife attack -- attack was recorded every 24 minutes -- in 2008. In
:08:10. > :08:17.Northamptonshire at the police are fighting back. They are dealing
:08:17. > :08:19.cannabis from the address. Groups coming and going at all times.
:08:19. > :08:29.Recently they launched Operation Guardian to track down on
:08:29. > :08:33.
:08:33. > :08:37.spiralling crime rates across the Today after months of preparation
:08:37. > :08:44.officers are about to swoop on properties and search for illegal
:08:44. > :08:50.drugs as they battle to read out crime. Pash read out. It is 7:30am
:08:50. > :08:54.and a highly trained team of officers are are preparing to raid
:08:54. > :09:00.three addresses. We will Pullen, make sure nobody pulls in. You
:09:00. > :09:05.drive past the dress and there are two officers at the rear. -- past
:09:05. > :09:10.the address. Nick is on his way to arrest a suspect for drugs offences
:09:10. > :09:16.and searched his house. It has attracted a lot of anti-social
:09:16. > :09:22.behaviour outside and men between 18 and 30 hanging around the area,
:09:22. > :09:28.being a nuisance to neighbours and causing a lot of concern, so much
:09:28. > :09:31.so There is a residents get to go near the dress. Some areas are
:09:31. > :09:36.beginning to have a reputation for anti-social behaviour and Nick and
:09:36. > :09:42.his team have to be prepared for the worst. He might be an empty
:09:42. > :09:51.dress. On the other hand he might be a group of people with firearms,
:09:51. > :09:54.knives. We do our best to research this so we were limited been a
:09:54. > :09:59.threat towards us as police officers. We have full protective
:09:59. > :10:03.equipment including stab vest. But we do have to be mindful of what
:10:03. > :10:07.dangers thereof. Sometimes properties have even been booby-
:10:07. > :10:14.trapped with fissures weapons designed to injure anyone who comes
:10:14. > :10:24.through the door. -- vicious. sure everyone is ready. Happy?
:10:24. > :10:24.
:10:24. > :10:34.Two officers in riot gear get ready to force the door before anyone
:10:34. > :10:45.
:10:45. > :10:50.inside is alerted to the presence Are you all right? Take his seat.
:10:50. > :10:55.We asked -- here as part of Operation Guardian. We believe
:10:55. > :11:01.there's drug-dealing taking place at this address. We have a warrant
:11:01. > :11:08.to search the premises. That is fine. The do you understand? Yes.
:11:08. > :11:14.Before I go through the details are there any drugs in his property.
:11:14. > :11:22.Yes. Court totally by surprise the suspect these the police to his --
:11:22. > :11:32.without a fight. Shockingly it is hidden in a box of children's
:11:32. > :11:36.
:11:36. > :11:44.sweets. Cannabis their own backs. A small plastic box. Some scales.
:11:44. > :11:48.understand we are here to do our job. Anything as we need to know?
:11:48. > :11:58.Straightaway the gentleman has stated he has got cannabis on an
:11:58. > :12:00.
:12:00. > :12:04.and we have placated his box in kids' playroom. With some scales.
:12:04. > :12:09.Potentially 40 or 50 individual wraps would would be about �10 each.
:12:09. > :12:14.We have to send us away to sea distributors and dependent on the
:12:14. > :12:18.strength it depends what happens. This year in just one day alone
:12:18. > :12:26.there were five arrests for drug- related crime in Northampton. With
:12:26. > :12:29.an estimated 3,600 drug-users in County it is an ongoing battle. But
:12:29. > :12:34.this is a good result for the Operation Guardian team. Keen to
:12:34. > :12:39.make people aware the police are watching the area news of the rest
:12:39. > :12:43.is quickly broadcast. I have spoken to the inspector and
:12:43. > :12:51.given him the details and within five minutes he has put on Facebook
:12:51. > :12:55.and twitter stating and Mail Under arrest from this address, what the
:12:55. > :13:01.her address is and the community know within five minutes which
:13:01. > :13:05.keeps everything happy and up-to- date. Northampton police have found
:13:05. > :13:09.it pays to have a high profile in areas of drug crime and one local
:13:09. > :13:16.people to witness the rates and see the police are waiting and winning
:13:16. > :13:20.an active walk on drug did -- a war on drug dealing. Supplying cannabis
:13:20. > :13:27.carries a stiff sentence of 14 years. It is by far the most common
:13:27. > :13:30.type of drug dealing. But across town surveillance has led
:13:30. > :13:40.Northampton's drugs what to a potentially more serious crime. --
:13:40. > :13:41.
:13:41. > :13:47.scored. We have intelligence a man is doodling in heroin and cocaine -
:13:47. > :13:52.- dealing. He has had several warrants in the past, he is aware
:13:52. > :13:56.of Operation Guardian and were off for police sentence we use. There
:13:56. > :14:01.was a lot at stake. If court and found guilty of dealing Class A
:14:01. > :14:04.drugs offenders face up to life in jail. Even being convicted of
:14:04. > :14:10.possession can lead to unlimited fines or a sentence of up to seven
:14:10. > :14:16.years. He was known to us for robbery. His associates and known
:14:16. > :14:21.for GBH. They could potentially have any domestic weapons such as
:14:21. > :14:28.kitchen knives, knuckle-dusters, anything they can get their hands
:14:28. > :14:29.Nick and his team never know when they are heading into a potentially
:14:30. > :14:37.risky situation. Unfortunately, violence against officers is all
:14:37. > :14:40.too common. Last year, over 100 police officers were assaulted in
:14:40. > :14:45.Northamptonshire, three of them seriously. Are we ready? Today,
:14:45. > :14:55.anything can happen. The enforcement team is primed and
:14:55. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:07.ready to go. Police! Inside, it's blatantly obvious what's going on
:15:07. > :15:08.
:15:08. > :15:11.We haven't done a complete search yet, however we have straightaway
:15:11. > :15:14.the pungent smell of cannabis. We went straight through and we found
:15:14. > :15:22.the remnants of a cannabis factory which is potentially a lot bigger
:15:22. > :15:27.than we first suspected. The male isn't in the premises, so we'll
:15:27. > :15:31.look to try and locate him. There are a few scrappings here of what
:15:31. > :15:36.he's done to try and sell. For now, we'll search the premises and see
:15:36. > :15:42.what else we can find. Even though the suspect is absent, Nick
:15:42. > :15:45.believes he has struck gold. It's obviously a sophisticated operation.
:15:45. > :15:53.This is a heavy-duty lamp that provides enough heat for cannabis
:15:53. > :15:58.so they can grow rapidly, 24 hours sunlight. So the plants are growing
:15:58. > :16:01.almost from a tiny bud on there to about there for about three months.
:16:01. > :16:05.Once it's got a bit bigger than that, you can dry it out and chop
:16:05. > :16:08.it down and it's ready to go. police are now finding that more
:16:08. > :16:16.and more cannabis is been grown here, rather than being imported
:16:16. > :16:20.from elsewhere. Over here, we have the main buds from the plants. He's
:16:20. > :16:26.drying this out now so he'll chop up the leaves and sell them on, or
:16:26. > :16:31.he'll take the bud from it and grow from there. In one year alone
:16:31. > :16:37.across the UK, nearly 7,000 illegal cannabis farms were uncovered.
:16:37. > :16:43.Feeding the habit of nearly 1 million regular cannabis users. In
:16:43. > :16:49.Northamptonshire last year, police shut down 150 cannabis factories.
:16:49. > :16:53.But of course, Nick wants to get the man behind this one. We've got
:16:54. > :16:58.an officer outside waiting just in case he comes back. He'll be wanted
:16:58. > :17:05.for conservation of cannabis. that's not all, during the search,
:17:05. > :17:07.officers have also found what they suspect are stolen goods. That
:17:07. > :17:11.PlayStation is linked to three crimes. There's a serial number
:17:11. > :17:18.which matches one given by the victim of a burglary, so we believe
:17:18. > :17:26.that's one from a burglary. Everything is carefully bagged and
:17:26. > :17:32.recorded. We'll call that bedroom one and two. We want all those
:17:32. > :17:42.plants over there. Put them in a bag, that's the bud. All the plants.
:17:42. > :17:43.
:17:43. > :17:53.Nick's team are closely followed by a sniffer dog to make sure nothing
:17:53. > :17:55.is missed. We're looking for Class- A heroin and cannabis. We're
:17:55. > :18:05.finishing off the bathroom and kitchen, finishing here and then
:18:05. > :18:07.
:18:07. > :18:10.into the attic. You tell us what you want. I'll just work my way
:18:10. > :18:13.round. But the strong smell of cannabis is hightening the dog's
:18:13. > :18:16.senses. Their noses are very sensitive, so it's not ideal to
:18:16. > :18:19.search in an address where there's a cannabis factory. That said,
:18:19. > :18:23.she's got a very powerful nose so hopefully if there is some Class A
:18:23. > :18:27.here, she'll find it. But the dog draws a blank. Nick and his team
:18:27. > :18:30.dismantle what's left of the cannabis factory. We've made sure
:18:30. > :18:32.that all our efforts are concentrated on seizing the
:18:32. > :18:36.evidence itself, taking down anything used to grow the cannabis,
:18:36. > :18:40.and then look to locate the male, which should be put on our wanted
:18:40. > :18:49.system, and we'll speak with him when he comes in. There's now a
:18:49. > :18:52.warrant out for the arrest of the suspect. Since launching Operation
:18:52. > :18:59.Guardian, Northamptonshire Police have seen a 20 per cent reduction
:18:59. > :19:02.in robberies, burglaries and vehicle crime across the county.
:19:02. > :19:12.And the high-profile campaign against drug offenders seems to be
:19:12. > :19:14.
:19:14. > :19:21.Thankfully, there were no nasty surprises for Northamptonshire
:19:21. > :19:23.Police today, but last year, their fellow officers were not so lucky.
:19:24. > :19:30.Three plain-clothed cops were watching a block of flats in an
:19:30. > :19:35.unmarked car one December afternoon. They had a warrant to arrest a
:19:35. > :19:43.highly dangerous man. Recently released from prison, 44 year-old
:19:43. > :19:47.Ian Scott had spent the past 24 days on a crime spree. There's not
:19:47. > :19:52.really much to do except wait to see if the off's been sighted. We
:19:52. > :19:55.were anticipating that we might be sitting in the car all day. But of
:19:55. > :20:00.course, that wasn't to be. After just a few minutes of surveillance,
:20:00. > :20:03.the officers spotted their suspect coming towards their car.
:20:03. > :20:11.noticed a male matching his description walk along in front of
:20:11. > :20:13.us approximately 20 metres away. From all the information we'd been
:20:13. > :20:20.getting and from the information of his description, I was confident
:20:20. > :20:23.that this was the person we were looking for. Three of us got out of
:20:23. > :20:26.our car at the same time, identified ourselves as police
:20:26. > :20:34.officers and told him to stop. He became very agitated them and I
:20:34. > :20:38.would think he was worried. He turned round and he started to run
:20:38. > :20:41.away from us back where he'd come from. At that point, we started to
:20:41. > :20:49.run after him. The unarmed officers were dealing with an unpredictable
:20:49. > :20:52.suspect and he was about to prove just how dangerous he could be.
:20:52. > :20:56.remember him reaching into his left pocket and he pulled out a plastic
:20:56. > :21:03.bag which he unravelled and dropped on the floor, and inside this bag
:21:03. > :21:10.was a black hand gun. I could see the look in his eye and he was
:21:10. > :21:12.definitely pointing it in my direction. The gunman fired
:21:12. > :21:16.directly at the officers. Instinctively, Jon and Richard
:21:16. > :21:20.dived for cover, but Raj stood still, frozen to the spot. I could
:21:20. > :21:23.just see the whole of the end tip of the firearm and when he shot it,
:21:23. > :21:27.I thought, what am I going to do from this point? Shall I continue,
:21:28. > :21:31.shall I fall to the ground, or shall I just remain where I am? I
:21:31. > :21:36.thought, it's too late, I'm going to get shot and I'm going to be
:21:36. > :21:42.dead. Raj heard the gun fire another three or four times, but
:21:42. > :21:47.astonishingly, all the shots missed. What the officers did next showed
:21:47. > :21:51.remarkable bravery. There's no way this guy's getting away from us now,
:21:51. > :21:54.considering what he's done and the time of day. Loads of people
:21:54. > :22:00.milling around, and if we'd left this guy run off with a firearm,
:22:00. > :22:03.who knows? Myself, Raj and Richard continued to pursue him. At great
:22:03. > :22:08.risk to themselves, the officers were now in hot pursuit of a
:22:08. > :22:14.dangerous criminal. Jon dashed round the back of the building to
:22:14. > :22:18.cut off any escape route. I was faced with the suspect with his
:22:18. > :22:25.back to me and he had the firearm held up pointing at Richard and Raj
:22:25. > :22:33.at very close range. The two brave officers found themselves staring
:22:33. > :22:36.down the barrel of a gun. You see scenes like this in movies and
:22:36. > :22:41.things like that and you don't really realise that it could happen
:22:41. > :22:49.to you. So when it did happen, time slows down and you do kind of,
:22:49. > :22:51.there was a momentary pause of, OK, so now what happens? While the
:22:51. > :23:01.plain-clothed officers were wearing stab vests, they had little
:23:01. > :23:05.
:23:05. > :23:08.protection against bullets. happened so quickly. We all gave
:23:08. > :23:13.him clear instructions, put the gun down, it's the police, put the gun
:23:13. > :23:18.down. It was touch and go. wrong move could mean the
:23:18. > :23:22.difference between life and death. Then Richard and Jon saw their
:23:22. > :23:25.chance to end this nightmare. think there was a sense of
:23:25. > :23:29.realisation that he'd been caught and he wasn't going to be going
:23:30. > :23:33.anywhere. When I saw him kind of relax his shoulders and lower his
:23:33. > :23:37.arm and drop the gun to the floor and I saw Richard and Raj inch
:23:37. > :23:40.towards him, I knew they were going to try and contain him, and I
:23:40. > :23:47.caught him from behind and he was taken to the ground. Finally, the
:23:47. > :23:49.violent robber had been caught. It turned out the gun was in fact an
:23:49. > :23:53.imitation, but the officers couldn't have known that at the
:23:53. > :23:59.time. For fearlessly tackling what they thought was an armed and
:23:59. > :24:02.highly dangerous man, they each received a police bravery award.
:24:02. > :24:04.Sometimes, I think we take it for granted that we'll be going home at
:24:04. > :24:07.night and, realistically, that incident brought home that there
:24:07. > :24:10.are some really horrible people out there that are intent on causing
:24:10. > :24:17.harm to individuals and police officers, and that maybe we
:24:17. > :24:20.shouldn't take it for granted that everything's going to be OK.
:24:20. > :24:23.offender is now serving more than eight years in prison for shooting
:24:23. > :24:33.at the police. Thanks to the courage of those three officers,
:24:33. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:37.another dangerous criminal is off Just like we saw with our brave
:24:37. > :24:42.cops in Northamptonshire, arresting violent criminals is one of the
:24:42. > :24:46.toughest jobs for Britain's police. There's always the danger that
:24:46. > :24:51.someone's going to get hurt. But in the most extreme cases, the police
:24:51. > :24:57.have one last trick up their sleeves - the dog unit. Police
:24:57. > :25:00.officer, stop! Stop, or we'll send in the dog! Police dogs are not
:25:00. > :25:05.pets, these highly-skilled animals are trained to attack everyone
:25:05. > :25:08.except the officer they're partnered with. At the end of the
:25:08. > :25:11.day, no matter what, Sadie will protect me. That's one thing she
:25:11. > :25:17.will do. And if someone comes to attack me, she'll protect me. And I
:25:17. > :25:20.will always look after her as well. But I feel that having the dog
:25:20. > :25:25.there is a great support. handler Natalie Webster works the
:25:25. > :25:28.beat in West Mercia Police with her German Shepherd, Sadie. They've
:25:28. > :25:31.been partners for more than four years. This highly efficient team
:25:31. > :25:37.provides back-up on the most dangerous call-outs, from firearms
:25:37. > :25:42.incidents to public disorder. feel 100 times safer having Sadie
:25:42. > :25:45.than I would do if I was on my own. Obviously, I've worked on my own as
:25:45. > :25:49.well and in some situations, I wouldn't get Sadie out, but I know
:25:49. > :25:55.she's there in the van if the situation arises that I need to get
:25:55. > :25:58.her. It's Friday night at Worcester Central Police Station. Natalie and
:25:58. > :26:04.her fellow officers are preparing to raid a house to arrest a man
:26:04. > :26:08.who's jumped bail. What we'll do first is go round the building,
:26:08. > :26:13.bang the door, and if we can't get any response, see if he's in there.
:26:13. > :26:18.If he's in there, we'll use our powers and go in. Do you want me to
:26:18. > :26:22.go round the back? Yes, if you would. We're going to an address to
:26:22. > :26:25.try and arrest somebody who's wanted on warrant. He's known to
:26:25. > :26:29.have mental health problems and he's not taken his medication, so
:26:29. > :26:32.they suspect he may be a problem, so they've asked for dog support.
:26:32. > :26:37.Sadie will protect the arresting officers and the public if things
:26:37. > :26:42.turn ugly. And with more than 100 assaults on West Mercia Police
:26:42. > :26:45.officers last year, the cops are always glad for some canine back-up.
:26:45. > :26:48.You can start walking while he's drinking.
:26:48. > :26:53.Any job can be dangerous and anything can turn into a dangerous
:26:53. > :27:00.job. Sadie can stop anybody running off. She's also there as a presence
:27:00. > :27:03.barking. Sometimes, that's enough to stop somebody from playing up.
:27:03. > :27:10.They'll see the dog and think, no, it's not worth it, and they'll
:27:10. > :27:13.comply. If not, the dog can be used if it's necessary. Once at the
:27:13. > :27:18.address, Natalie and Sadie quickly get into position, trying not to
:27:18. > :27:21.alert the suspect. Whilst two officers cover the front door,
:27:21. > :27:31.Natalie and Sadie head round the back in case the suspect makes a
:27:31. > :27:37.
:27:37. > :27:44.It's a tense few minutes, but Sadie's presence is enough to
:27:44. > :27:48.intimidate the man and he doesn't resist. I'm going to have to give
:27:48. > :27:50.you a pat down to make sure you haven't got anything sharp.
:27:50. > :27:56.Although the arrest has gone smoothly, Natalie and the team
:27:56. > :28:04.suddenly find themselves in the midst of a threatening situation.
:28:04. > :28:07.You BLEEP! BLEEP! You what? You want to watch your mouth, or you're
:28:07. > :28:12.going to get locked up! Without a second thought, Natalie confronts
:28:13. > :28:18.the man. I suggest you go home, you've had enough to drink, haven't
:28:18. > :28:23.you? The young man appears drunk and is becoming aggressive. Stop
:28:23. > :28:26.being an idiot and go home. I've seen you before. Natalie and the
:28:26. > :28:34.other officers are instantly on their guard. At moments like this,
:28:34. > :28:38.anything could happen. You're the drunk one, calm yourself down, get
:28:39. > :28:42.yourself home. The man seems to be spoiling for a
:28:42. > :28:47.fight. You've called us over by the way you're mouthing off, why don't
:28:47. > :28:50.you just go home? For the moment, Sadie stays in the van. She's
:28:50. > :28:55.trained to catch criminals and will bite, so Natalie has to choose
:28:55. > :28:58.carefully when to use her. If I had Sadie here, the rest of the group
:28:58. > :29:01.might move away more quickly. But you've got to justify it. It's
:29:01. > :29:05.somebody just being drunk and disorderly at the end of the day,
:29:05. > :29:11.it's not a serious offence, so this time it's not necessary to get her
:29:11. > :29:15.out, there's enough police to deal with it. The question is always,
:29:15. > :29:18.haven't you got anything better to do? Well, yeah, we have, but at the
:29:18. > :29:21.end of the day, you can't leave him shouting in the street and being
:29:21. > :29:29.drunk. For Natalie and her fellow officers, dealing with drunken
:29:29. > :29:32.troublemakers is all too common on a Friday night. But it's a problem
:29:32. > :29:42.across the country, with 70 per cent of stabbings and beatings done
:29:42. > :29:56.
:29:56. > :30:02.It is not too long before Natalie Just been called to a shout from a
:30:02. > :30:06.paramedic attending an end to cheat -- incident in the High Street.
:30:06. > :30:10.Things must be serious. All the emergency services have a special
:30:10. > :30:17.alarm button that lets them intercept police communications
:30:18. > :30:24.when they are in trouble. Natalie the lights to the scene. -- blue.
:30:24. > :30:31.The young woman has attracted a crowd and things are getting tense.
:30:31. > :30:38.Natalie heads in with Sadie to try and calm things down a see what
:30:39. > :30:41.she's doing, don't walk into the dock. You will get bitten. Groups
:30:41. > :30:47.of Duncan disorderly revellers are roaming the streets and getting out
:30:47. > :30:57.of hand. Dogs are an effective tool for the police. They can often
:30:57. > :30:58.
:30:58. > :31:03.With Natalie's help the late night troublemakers are soon under arrest.
:31:03. > :31:08.When you have got a dog you act in a different way. Whereas a shift
:31:08. > :31:11.officer might get hands-on, arrest people, if you have got your dog
:31:11. > :31:14.they will do the work. Unless you're going to use it to buy
:31:14. > :31:24.somebody you want to keep people away porky people away from
:31:24. > :31:27.officers. -- keep people away. is a busy night. Within minutes of
:31:28. > :31:35.sorting out one at drunken showdown there is another one kicking off
:31:35. > :31:41.seven miles away in Worcester city Pubs have called Last Orders and
:31:41. > :31:46.everybody is spilling out onto the streets. There has already been a
:31:46. > :31:51.fight and one youth arrested. Natalie steps straight in with
:31:51. > :31:55.Sadie to support her fellow officers. Despite having an
:31:55. > :32:02.aggressive police dog snapping at them the arrested youths mates are
:32:02. > :32:06.getting edgy. Natalie uses Sadie to do what she does best, keep back
:32:06. > :32:16.the rowdy crowd while her fellow officers moving to arrest his
:32:16. > :32:19.
:32:19. > :32:25.Get him. Friends of the young man are trying to get closer to the
:32:25. > :32:33.arresting officers but Sadie keeps them away. Don't go near, keep back.
:32:33. > :32:37.You want to go round, go that way. Definitely a useful resource
:32:37. > :32:44.protecting the offices dealing with the prisoner, so it is keeping
:32:44. > :32:48.people away from them. It has been a hectic time for Natalie and her
:32:48. > :32:52.fellow officers. With all these revellers out on a Friday and
:32:52. > :32:56.Saturday night they see five times more violent crime in the city
:32:56. > :33:06.centre and typically it all happens between midnight and the early
:33:06. > :33:09.
:33:09. > :33:13.While Natalie Spen is a lot of her shifts supporting fellow officers
:33:13. > :33:23.making arrests, with CD by her side she is often called to deal with
:33:23. > :33:28.
:33:28. > :33:38.incidents on heroin. -- with Sadie. Intruders have been spotted at a
:33:38. > :33:38.
:33:38. > :33:48.farm and Sadie's sensitive nose is needed. I'm coming over. Within a
:33:48. > :33:49.
:33:49. > :33:58.few minutes Natalie is on the scene. Hello. Did you call us? How many
:33:59. > :34:06.were there? Two. Had they gone to the left? I don't know. They have
:34:06. > :34:16.gone this way. Thank you. Two males made off on foot and I'm going to
:34:16. > :34:20.
:34:21. > :34:25.Good girl. It was the end of the farm he chance upon the intruders.
:34:25. > :34:30.I just took the dog out for his nightly walk and he was walking at
:34:30. > :34:35.the back when he saw something cracked down and assure my torch
:34:35. > :34:40.and there was a man trying to steal the diesel -- I shone. Another one
:34:40. > :34:44.came down from the upstairs granary down the steps and they both ran
:34:44. > :34:49.from the corner. The diesel thieves fled as soon as they were disturbed
:34:49. > :34:56.by the farmer. Sadie has picked up their scent and Natalie wastes no
:34:56. > :35:02.time chasing after them into the night. This is incredibly risky.
:35:02. > :35:12.Natalie is hot on heroin with no back-up and has no idea how
:35:12. > :35:13.
:35:13. > :35:17.dangerous they can beat -- a date - Sadie is focused and doing a
:35:17. > :35:27.tremendous job. She tracks the suspect for 50 minutes before other
:35:27. > :35:35.
:35:35. > :35:44.officers arrived. Did you go of the The main road, you will come up.
:35:44. > :35:49.This time that thieves have got away. We tracked away through the
:35:49. > :35:56.fields and come out on a driveway. They have clearly got into a
:35:56. > :35:59.vehicle. Unfortunately that is where we lost it. As West Mercia's
:35:59. > :36:04.patch covers a lot of farm and agriculture crime is on the
:36:04. > :36:08.increase. With the spiralling cost of fuel, default deft from farms is
:36:08. > :36:13.a growing problem. -- diesel theft. There is some consolation for this
:36:13. > :36:18.farmer. We believe they got away empty-handed. The barrels are still
:36:18. > :36:22.left in situ so they have been spooked and maybe they have got
:36:22. > :36:27.some billion pincer. Looked like they have got away empty handed.
:36:27. > :36:34.There is nothing left for Natalie and Sadie to do so they had into
:36:34. > :36:40.plan to deal with any drunken strugglers. Tonight the evening has
:36:40. > :36:43.been slow to start with but picked up. A bit of a truck with the dock.
:36:43. > :36:53.A couple of other incidents were the dog wasn't able to be used but
:36:53. > :37:03.
:37:03. > :37:07.I have been noticeable. And that is Britain's police officers know all
:37:07. > :37:15.too well that night patrols bring with them an extra element of
:37:15. > :37:19.danger. Trouble is more likely to erupt under the cover of darkness.
:37:19. > :37:26.One night in 2010 Humberside PC Lee's Smith was running one last
:37:26. > :37:30.errand before the end of her shift. -- Louise. 9pm she was driving into
:37:30. > :37:37.the town centre where a call came over the Prince -- police radio and
:37:37. > :37:42.alarm had gone off at a shot close by -- shop. The front of the
:37:42. > :37:46.building was fine, the shutters were down and it looked in order. I
:37:46. > :37:51.thought I best check the back of the premises as we do to make sure
:37:51. > :37:55.the premises is secured throughout. Galloway was very dark so I was
:37:55. > :38:05.quite wary. I make sure I had my wits a white -- a balmy -- the
:38:05. > :38:06.
:38:06. > :38:15.alley way. I had a rustling sound. I saw a man dressed in dark
:38:15. > :38:19.clothing. Half inside the building, half out. The door open. He she
:38:19. > :38:23.disturbed a burglar and found herself in a terrifying predicament.
:38:23. > :38:28.She due risk tackling the man on her own or letting go? -- should
:38:28. > :38:33.she risk. I was away from the main road when the people were present.
:38:33. > :38:38.Quite scary. I did think I really could do with some help now. I wish
:38:38. > :38:44.I had a colleague with me at this present time. I just kept thinking
:38:44. > :38:50.I'm not letting you get away with this. She summoned all her courage
:38:50. > :38:56.to confront the man. As I approached I said to him stay way
:38:56. > :39:02.you are. He did. He stayed hunched over he teamed, initially. He
:39:02. > :39:06.started to spin round so then we came face to face. But before she
:39:06. > :39:10.knew it he broke free from her grasp and ran towards a 10 ft metal
:39:10. > :39:17.fence. He was trying to clamber over it but she wasn't giving up
:39:17. > :39:21.that easily. Appleton back down by his jacket. We started scuffling.
:39:21. > :39:31.At that moment because he seemed a lot stronger than me I thought I
:39:31. > :39:35.
:39:35. > :39:38.eight need back-up so I pressed my Her call one straight through to
:39:38. > :39:48.the police control room and cut into radio traffic alerting all
:39:48. > :39:51.
:39:51. > :39:57.But for the moment she was all on her own, grappling with a desperate
:39:57. > :40:02.man. I was dead king and to his jacket because he was trying to
:40:02. > :40:11.escape -- dragging. He produced a hammer, held it above the head.
:40:11. > :40:16.Kept saying let's go. I said no. At the Hamadan. Or legacy was the
:40:16. > :40:20.hammer for my head. Thinking as yet know what is going to happen. I
:40:20. > :40:23.thought he was going to hit me with it. The look in his eye, he had the
:40:23. > :40:27.capability of cabling my head and with a hammer and it was quite
:40:27. > :40:31.frightened. -- caving. A single blow to the head would be enough to
:40:31. > :40:39.seriously injure or even kill her. Although she had called for back-up
:40:39. > :40:46.she was still very much on heroin. I tried to put my left arm up to
:40:46. > :40:54.move the on holding a hammer away from by which point he even bit,
:40:55. > :41:00.left arm. I yelled. The pain was so quick and sharp and then let go. He
:41:00. > :41:02.had a chance to turn round and round off but I was seconds and
:41:03. > :41:07.then pulled him back. All I could think of was I'm not letting this
:41:07. > :41:12.person go. Through sheer determination she managed to keep
:41:12. > :41:17.hold of the suspect. When back-up arrived and I could hear the sirens
:41:17. > :41:22.the relief I felt was immense. Finally her fellow officers found
:41:22. > :41:27.her at an straightaway arrested a man. It did on them he he could
:41:27. > :41:30.have hit me with his weapon -- dawn on me. It could have gone straight
:41:31. > :41:35.through my head. Officers could have turned up to find me laid at
:41:35. > :41:41.the scene if it had gone terribly wrong. But it is part of my day-to-
:41:41. > :41:44.day role and I expect I might come across situations like this or
:41:44. > :41:48.confrontation and it is part of daily life as being a police
:41:48. > :41:52.officer. Her heroic actions got the result
:41:52. > :41:56.she wanted. The dangerous man was put behind bars for three and half
:41:56. > :42:06.years for burglary and assault. Louise was honoured in this year's
:42:06. > :42:08.
:42:08. > :42:13.Next time... We retell the moment when teach
:42:13. > :42:19.courageous officers to go -- 1 two courageous officers struggled
:42:19. > :42:21.through heat to rescue a mother and baby from a flat fire. My thought
:42:21. > :42:28.was she doesn't answer the door there was a possibility and might
:42:28. > :42:33.Passat. We are on the streets of Aberdeen with an elite police dog