Episode 3 Britain's Bravest Cops

Plaza next copper I am well aware of hidden dangers facing Britain's

police officers. Suddenly a nice -- a knife is moved and the next

movement can mean the difference between life and death. Each year

the Police Federation Bravery Awards celebrate heroism and

bravery. Week during those on the streets as they continue to crack

down on crime. This is Britain's This week the most courageous

policemen in country of being honoured at the annual Police

Federation Bravery Awards. Most of them are ordinary officers fighting

a daily battle to protect the public. It is a battle that often

puts their own lives on the line as they go after the toughest

criminals. Today we retell the story of a lone police officer who

finds herself face-to-face with a violent burglar in a dark alley.

All I could see was the hammer above my head and I thought he was

going to hit me. It was the look in his eye. He had the capability of

caving my head in. Pc Nick Peters launches a series of dawn raids

against drug crime in Strong intelligence stating there

is drug intelligence -- dealing taking place. And a tense stand-off

for PC Natalie Webster and her canine partner Sadie. They were

called in to help control anti- social behaviour before it get out

of hand. It is protecting the Our brave cops come face-to-face

with many dangerous situations on their quest to protect and serve

the public but sometimes their actions go well beyond the call of

duty. The heroism of one Wiltshire officer almost cost him his life.

In January 2008 police dog handler PC Neil Sampson was out on routine

patrol with his faithful partner Anya. It was an ordinary day. Day

shift, nothing spectacular, very cold day, when I heard a report of

a man in a block of flats with a knife and one of our firearms unit

had been dispatched. They headed straight to the scene. I had been

there for a short while and a man came at the block of flats. I

called out to him. Spun and started walking towards me. He presented no

threat but you walk -- but he was getting closer and there was blood

on his trousers. As the man walked towards him he was momentarily

distracted by the arrival of the firearms unit. I remember taking my

eyes off him for a second, and the man that had been a preaching quite

happily with no real threat was now advancing towards me with a knife

in his hand. He was slashing backwards and forwards, left to

right, across his body with the knife. He got to a point where I

thought you are not going to stop, and you can have this. I sent at

the dock. -- I sent the dog. She went straight at him and hit him

head on and he turned and was slashing at her with a knife. My

next memory is I don't know where I am but I can feel really hard

banging on the back of my head. The man began a frenzied attack on Neil

and by now firearms officers Mick Mansell and Ciarian Hickey had

arrived and were closing in. He was lunging his knife into the back of

his head, a downward slashing motion causing as much damage as

possible. As they rushed towards Neil what happened next took them

completely by surprise. He turned round to look at us and ran towards

us. Not the sort of actions I expected. We discharged our taser

is practically together -- tasers. They had no effect. You are meant

to drop to the ground, you are not. Be delivered short, sharp -- sharp

shocks they could have made him lose control of his muscles but he

was oblivious. He jumped forward, took us by surprise. I took a pace

back. Behind me was a concrete step and as I fell backwards to the

ground he was over the top of May jabbing down and sloshing around

with a knife. -- top of me. The attacker was targeting his second

Kop. Neil was determined to rescue make and launched himself directly

at the knifeman. Around wasn't thinking if I could kick his leg

and hopefully disable him it would save M. Unfortunately I gave

everything I had but I missed him. Neil collapse on the floor and the

attacker started ferociously stabbing him again. From that point

really I remember seeing a taster been deployed in very slow motion,

watching the darts fly through the air was uncanny. His colleagues

were doing everything they could to get a tackle of Neil but he seemed

invincible. -- the attacker. tried with as much as force as they

could, having no effect. At that point I picked my case up and

stoned him without the card each. This time it would have delivered a

painful shock. I tried five times to be no the region and the last

one as a Pacitti and he shouted, the weirdest thing I have ever had

-- as I pushed it in. He threw the knife, I grabbed hold of him and

handcuffed him. He said, can I have a glass of water please?

suspect had finally been subdued but at a terrible cost. Whilst

trying to save Mick Mansell Neil had been stabbed several times.

Anya the dog also sustained a knife wound but luckily both Anya and

Neil made a full recovery and are both back at work. The fact I am

sad here able to talk about this incident is amazing because you

hear about kids getting stabbed and they die of one stab wound. I have

had seven and still set it talking to you.

After his brush with police dog Anya the offender spent three weeks

in hospital and is in prison. Neil and his colleagues received a

police bravery award and Anya received the highest honour in the

land, a gold medal for the People's Unfortunately what Neil and his

team went through it is not uncommon. Into doesn't donate one

knife attack -- attack was recorded every 24 minutes -- in 2008. In

Northamptonshire at the police are fighting back. They are dealing

cannabis from the address. Groups coming and going at all times.

Recently they launched Operation Guardian to track down on

spiralling crime rates across the Today after months of preparation

officers are about to swoop on properties and search for illegal

drugs as they battle to read out crime. Pash read out. It is 7:30am

and a highly trained team of officers are are preparing to raid

three addresses. We will Pullen, make sure nobody pulls in. You

drive past the dress and there are two officers at the rear. -- past

the address. Nick is on his way to arrest a suspect for drugs offences

and searched his house. It has attracted a lot of anti-social

behaviour outside and men between 18 and 30 hanging around the area,

being a nuisance to neighbours and causing a lot of concern, so much

so There is a residents get to go near the dress. Some areas are

beginning to have a reputation for anti-social behaviour and Nick and

his team have to be prepared for the worst. He might be an empty

dress. On the other hand he might be a group of people with firearms,

knives. We do our best to research this so we were limited been a

threat towards us as police officers. We have full protective

equipment including stab vest. But we do have to be mindful of what

dangers thereof. Sometimes properties have even been booby-

trapped with fissures weapons designed to injure anyone who comes

through the door. -- vicious. sure everyone is ready. Happy?

Two officers in riot gear get ready to force the door before anyone

inside is alerted to the presence Are you all right? Take his seat.

We asked -- here as part of Operation Guardian. We believe

there's drug-dealing taking place at this address. We have a warrant

to search the premises. That is fine. The do you understand? Yes.

Before I go through the details are there any drugs in his property.

Yes. Court totally by surprise the suspect these the police to his --

without a fight. Shockingly it is hidden in a box of children's

sweets. Cannabis their own backs. A small plastic box. Some scales.

understand we are here to do our job. Anything as we need to know?

Straightaway the gentleman has stated he has got cannabis on an

and we have placated his box in kids' playroom. With some scales.

Potentially 40 or 50 individual wraps would would be about �10 each.

We have to send us away to sea distributors and dependent on the

strength it depends what happens. This year in just one day alone

there were five arrests for drug- related crime in Northampton. With

an estimated 3,600 drug-users in County it is an ongoing battle. But

this is a good result for the Operation Guardian team. Keen to

make people aware the police are watching the area news of the rest

is quickly broadcast. I have spoken to the inspector and

given him the details and within five minutes he has put on Facebook

and twitter stating and Mail Under arrest from this address, what the

her address is and the community know within five minutes which

keeps everything happy and up-to- date. Northampton police have found

it pays to have a high profile in areas of drug crime and one local

people to witness the rates and see the police are waiting and winning

an active walk on drug did -- a war on drug dealing. Supplying cannabis

carries a stiff sentence of 14 years. It is by far the most common

type of drug dealing. But across town surveillance has led

Northampton's drugs what to a potentially more serious crime. --

scored. We have intelligence a man is doodling in heroin and cocaine -

- dealing. He has had several warrants in the past, he is aware

of Operation Guardian and were off for police sentence we use. There

was a lot at stake. If court and found guilty of dealing Class A

drugs offenders face up to life in jail. Even being convicted of

possession can lead to unlimited fines or a sentence of up to seven

years. He was known to us for robbery. His associates and known

for GBH. They could potentially have any domestic weapons such as

kitchen knives, knuckle-dusters, anything they can get their hands

Nick and his team never know when they are heading into a potentially

risky situation. Unfortunately, violence against officers is all

too common. Last year, over 100 police officers were assaulted in

Northamptonshire, three of them seriously. Are we ready? Today,

anything can happen. The enforcement team is primed and

ready to go. Police! Inside, it's blatantly obvious what's going on

We haven't done a complete search yet, however we have straightaway

the pungent smell of cannabis. We went straight through and we found

the remnants of a cannabis factory which is potentially a lot bigger

than we first suspected. The male isn't in the premises, so we'll

look to try and locate him. There are a few scrappings here of what

he's done to try and sell. For now, we'll search the premises and see

what else we can find. Even though the suspect is absent, Nick

believes he has struck gold. It's obviously a sophisticated operation.

This is a heavy-duty lamp that provides enough heat for cannabis

so they can grow rapidly, 24 hours sunlight. So the plants are growing

almost from a tiny bud on there to about there for about three months.

Once it's got a bit bigger than that, you can dry it out and chop

it down and it's ready to go. police are now finding that more

and more cannabis is been grown here, rather than being imported

from elsewhere. Over here, we have the main buds from the plants. He's

drying this out now so he'll chop up the leaves and sell them on, or

he'll take the bud from it and grow from there. In one year alone

across the UK, nearly 7,000 illegal cannabis farms were uncovered.

Feeding the habit of nearly 1 million regular cannabis users. In

Northamptonshire last year, police shut down 150 cannabis factories.

But of course, Nick wants to get the man behind this one. We've got

an officer outside waiting just in case he comes back. He'll be wanted

for conservation of cannabis. that's not all, during the search,

officers have also found what they suspect are stolen goods. That

PlayStation is linked to three crimes. There's a serial number

which matches one given by the victim of a burglary, so we believe

that's one from a burglary. Everything is carefully bagged and

recorded. We'll call that bedroom one and two. We want all those

plants over there. Put them in a bag, that's the bud. All the plants.

Nick's team are closely followed by a sniffer dog to make sure nothing

is missed. We're looking for Class- A heroin and cannabis. We're

finishing off the bathroom and kitchen, finishing here and then

into the attic. You tell us what you want. I'll just work my way

round. But the strong smell of cannabis is hightening the dog's

senses. Their noses are very sensitive, so it's not ideal to

search in an address where there's a cannabis factory. That said,

she's got a very powerful nose so hopefully if there is some Class A

here, she'll find it. But the dog draws a blank. Nick and his team

dismantle what's left of the cannabis factory. We've made sure

that all our efforts are concentrated on seizing the

evidence itself, taking down anything used to grow the cannabis,

and then look to locate the male, which should be put on our wanted

system, and we'll speak with him when he comes in. There's now a

warrant out for the arrest of the suspect. Since launching Operation

Guardian, Northamptonshire Police have seen a 20 per cent reduction

in robberies, burglaries and vehicle crime across the county.

And the high-profile campaign against drug offenders seems to be

Thankfully, there were no nasty surprises for Northamptonshire

Police today, but last year, their fellow officers were not so lucky.

Three plain-clothed cops were watching a block of flats in an

unmarked car one December afternoon. They had a warrant to arrest a

highly dangerous man. Recently released from prison, 44 year-old

Ian Scott had spent the past 24 days on a crime spree. There's not

really much to do except wait to see if the off's been sighted. We

were anticipating that we might be sitting in the car all day. But of

course, that wasn't to be. After just a few minutes of surveillance,

the officers spotted their suspect coming towards their car.

noticed a male matching his description walk along in front of

us approximately 20 metres away. From all the information we'd been

getting and from the information of his description, I was confident

that this was the person we were looking for. Three of us got out of

our car at the same time, identified ourselves as police

officers and told him to stop. He became very agitated them and I

would think he was worried. He turned round and he started to run

away from us back where he'd come from. At that point, we started to

run after him. The unarmed officers were dealing with an unpredictable

suspect and he was about to prove just how dangerous he could be.

remember him reaching into his left pocket and he pulled out a plastic

bag which he unravelled and dropped on the floor, and inside this bag

was a black hand gun. I could see the look in his eye and he was

definitely pointing it in my direction. The gunman fired

directly at the officers. Instinctively, Jon and Richard

dived for cover, but Raj stood still, frozen to the spot. I could

just see the whole of the end tip of the firearm and when he shot it,

I thought, what am I going to do from this point? Shall I continue,

shall I fall to the ground, or shall I just remain where I am? I

thought, it's too late, I'm going to get shot and I'm going to be

dead. Raj heard the gun fire another three or four times, but

astonishingly, all the shots missed. What the officers did next showed

remarkable bravery. There's no way this guy's getting away from us now,

considering what he's done and the time of day. Loads of people

milling around, and if we'd left this guy run off with a firearm,

who knows? Myself, Raj and Richard continued to pursue him. At great

risk to themselves, the officers were now in hot pursuit of a

dangerous criminal. Jon dashed round the back of the building to

cut off any escape route. I was faced with the suspect with his

back to me and he had the firearm held up pointing at Richard and Raj

at very close range. The two brave officers found themselves staring

down the barrel of a gun. You see scenes like this in movies and

things like that and you don't really realise that it could happen

to you. So when it did happen, time slows down and you do kind of,

there was a momentary pause of, OK, so now what happens? While the

plain-clothed officers were wearing stab vests, they had little

protection against bullets. happened so quickly. We all gave

him clear instructions, put the gun down, it's the police, put the gun

down. It was touch and go. wrong move could mean the

difference between life and death. Then Richard and Jon saw their

chance to end this nightmare. think there was a sense of

realisation that he'd been caught and he wasn't going to be going

anywhere. When I saw him kind of relax his shoulders and lower his

arm and drop the gun to the floor and I saw Richard and Raj inch

towards him, I knew they were going to try and contain him, and I

caught him from behind and he was taken to the ground. Finally, the

violent robber had been caught. It turned out the gun was in fact an

imitation, but the officers couldn't have known that at the

time. For fearlessly tackling what they thought was an armed and

highly dangerous man, they each received a police bravery award.

Sometimes, I think we take it for granted that we'll be going home at

night and, realistically, that incident brought home that there

are some really horrible people out there that are intent on causing

harm to individuals and police officers, and that maybe we

shouldn't take it for granted that everything's going to be OK.

offender is now serving more than eight years in prison for shooting

at the police. Thanks to the courage of those three officers,

another dangerous criminal is off Just like we saw with our brave

cops in Northamptonshire, arresting violent criminals is one of the

toughest jobs for Britain's police. There's always the danger that

someone's going to get hurt. But in the most extreme cases, the police

have one last trick up their sleeves - the dog unit. Police

officer, stop! Stop, or we'll send in the dog! Police dogs are not

pets, these highly-skilled animals are trained to attack everyone

except the officer they're partnered with. At the end of the

day, no matter what, Sadie will protect me. That's one thing she

will do. And if someone comes to attack me, she'll protect me. And I

will always look after her as well. But I feel that having the dog

there is a great support. handler Natalie Webster works the

beat in West Mercia Police with her German Shepherd, Sadie. They've

been partners for more than four years. This highly efficient team

provides back-up on the most dangerous call-outs, from firearms

incidents to public disorder. feel 100 times safer having Sadie

than I would do if I was on my own. Obviously, I've worked on my own as

well and in some situations, I wouldn't get Sadie out, but I know

she's there in the van if the situation arises that I need to get

her. It's Friday night at Worcester Central Police Station. Natalie and

her fellow officers are preparing to raid a house to arrest a man

who's jumped bail. What we'll do first is go round the building,

bang the door, and if we can't get any response, see if he's in there.

If he's in there, we'll use our powers and go in. Do you want me to

go round the back? Yes, if you would. We're going to an address to

try and arrest somebody who's wanted on warrant. He's known to

have mental health problems and he's not taken his medication, so

they suspect he may be a problem, so they've asked for dog support.

Sadie will protect the arresting officers and the public if things

turn ugly. And with more than 100 assaults on West Mercia Police

officers last year, the cops are always glad for some canine back-up.

You can start walking while he's drinking.

Any job can be dangerous and anything can turn into a dangerous

job. Sadie can stop anybody running off. She's also there as a presence

barking. Sometimes, that's enough to stop somebody from playing up.

They'll see the dog and think, no, it's not worth it, and they'll

comply. If not, the dog can be used if it's necessary. Once at the

address, Natalie and Sadie quickly get into position, trying not to

alert the suspect. Whilst two officers cover the front door,

Natalie and Sadie head round the back in case the suspect makes a

It's a tense few minutes, but Sadie's presence is enough to

intimidate the man and he doesn't resist. I'm going to have to give

you a pat down to make sure you haven't got anything sharp.

Although the arrest has gone smoothly, Natalie and the team

suddenly find themselves in the midst of a threatening situation.

You BLEEP! BLEEP! You what? You want to watch your mouth, or you're

going to get locked up! Without a second thought, Natalie confronts

the man. I suggest you go home, you've had enough to drink, haven't

you? The young man appears drunk and is becoming aggressive. Stop

being an idiot and go home. I've seen you before. Natalie and the

other officers are instantly on their guard. At moments like this,

anything could happen. You're the drunk one, calm yourself down, get

yourself home. The man seems to be spoiling for a

fight. You've called us over by the way you're mouthing off, why don't

you just go home? For the moment, Sadie stays in the van. She's

trained to catch criminals and will bite, so Natalie has to choose

carefully when to use her. If I had Sadie here, the rest of the group

might move away more quickly. But you've got to justify it. It's

somebody just being drunk and disorderly at the end of the day,

it's not a serious offence, so this time it's not necessary to get her

out, there's enough police to deal with it. The question is always,

haven't you got anything better to do? Well, yeah, we have, but at the

end of the day, you can't leave him shouting in the street and being

drunk. For Natalie and her fellow officers, dealing with drunken

troublemakers is all too common on a Friday night. But it's a problem

across the country, with 70 per cent of stabbings and beatings done

It is not too long before Natalie Just been called to a shout from a

paramedic attending an end to cheat -- incident in the High Street.

Things must be serious. All the emergency services have a special

alarm button that lets them intercept police communications

when they are in trouble. Natalie the lights to the scene. -- blue.

The young woman has attracted a crowd and things are getting tense.

Natalie heads in with Sadie to try and calm things down a see what

she's doing, don't walk into the dock. You will get bitten. Groups

of Duncan disorderly revellers are roaming the streets and getting out

of hand. Dogs are an effective tool for the police. They can often

With Natalie's help the late night troublemakers are soon under arrest.

When you have got a dog you act in a different way. Whereas a shift

officer might get hands-on, arrest people, if you have got your dog

they will do the work. Unless you're going to use it to buy

somebody you want to keep people away porky people away from

officers. -- keep people away. is a busy night. Within minutes of

sorting out one at drunken showdown there is another one kicking off

seven miles away in Worcester city Pubs have called Last Orders and

everybody is spilling out onto the streets. There has already been a

fight and one youth arrested. Natalie steps straight in with

Sadie to support her fellow officers. Despite having an

aggressive police dog snapping at them the arrested youths mates are

getting edgy. Natalie uses Sadie to do what she does best, keep back

the rowdy crowd while her fellow officers moving to arrest his

Get him. Friends of the young man are trying to get closer to the

arresting officers but Sadie keeps them away. Don't go near, keep back.

You want to go round, go that way. Definitely a useful resource

protecting the offices dealing with the prisoner, so it is keeping

people away from them. It has been a hectic time for Natalie and her

fellow officers. With all these revellers out on a Friday and

Saturday night they see five times more violent crime in the city

centre and typically it all happens between midnight and the early

While Natalie Spen is a lot of her shifts supporting fellow officers

making arrests, with CD by her side she is often called to deal with

incidents on heroin. -- with Sadie. Intruders have been spotted at a

farm and Sadie's sensitive nose is needed. I'm coming over. Within a

few minutes Natalie is on the scene. Hello. Did you call us? How many

were there? Two. Had they gone to the left? I don't know. They have

gone this way. Thank you. Two males made off on foot and I'm going to

Good girl. It was the end of the farm he chance upon the intruders.

I just took the dog out for his nightly walk and he was walking at

the back when he saw something cracked down and assure my torch

and there was a man trying to steal the diesel -- I shone. Another one

came down from the upstairs granary down the steps and they both ran

from the corner. The diesel thieves fled as soon as they were disturbed

by the farmer. Sadie has picked up their scent and Natalie wastes no

time chasing after them into the night. This is incredibly risky.

Natalie is hot on heroin with no back-up and has no idea how

dangerous they can beat -- a date - Sadie is focused and doing a

tremendous job. She tracks the suspect for 50 minutes before other

officers arrived. Did you go of the The main road, you will come up.

This time that thieves have got away. We tracked away through the

fields and come out on a driveway. They have clearly got into a

vehicle. Unfortunately that is where we lost it. As West Mercia's

patch covers a lot of farm and agriculture crime is on the

increase. With the spiralling cost of fuel, default deft from farms is

a growing problem. -- diesel theft. There is some consolation for this

farmer. We believe they got away empty-handed. The barrels are still

left in situ so they have been spooked and maybe they have got

some billion pincer. Looked like they have got away empty handed.

There is nothing left for Natalie and Sadie to do so they had into

plan to deal with any drunken strugglers. Tonight the evening has

been slow to start with but picked up. A bit of a truck with the dock.

A couple of other incidents were the dog wasn't able to be used but

I have been noticeable. And that is Britain's police officers know all

too well that night patrols bring with them an extra element of

danger. Trouble is more likely to erupt under the cover of darkness.

One night in 2010 Humberside PC Lee's Smith was running one last

errand before the end of her shift. -- Louise. 9pm she was driving into

the town centre where a call came over the Prince -- police radio and

alarm had gone off at a shot close by -- shop. The front of the

building was fine, the shutters were down and it looked in order. I

thought I best check the back of the premises as we do to make sure

the premises is secured throughout. Galloway was very dark so I was

quite wary. I make sure I had my wits a white -- a balmy -- the

alley way. I had a rustling sound. I saw a man dressed in dark

clothing. Half inside the building, half out. The door open. He she

disturbed a burglar and found herself in a terrifying predicament.

She due risk tackling the man on her own or letting go? -- should

she risk. I was away from the main road when the people were present.

Quite scary. I did think I really could do with some help now. I wish

I had a colleague with me at this present time. I just kept thinking

I'm not letting you get away with this. She summoned all her courage

to confront the man. As I approached I said to him stay way

you are. He did. He stayed hunched over he teamed, initially. He

started to spin round so then we came face to face. But before she

knew it he broke free from her grasp and ran towards a 10 ft metal

fence. He was trying to clamber over it but she wasn't giving up

that easily. Appleton back down by his jacket. We started scuffling.

At that moment because he seemed a lot stronger than me I thought I

eight need back-up so I pressed my Her call one straight through to

the police control room and cut into radio traffic alerting all

But for the moment she was all on her own, grappling with a desperate

man. I was dead king and to his jacket because he was trying to

escape -- dragging. He produced a hammer, held it above the head.

Kept saying let's go. I said no. At the Hamadan. Or legacy was the

hammer for my head. Thinking as yet know what is going to happen. I

thought he was going to hit me with it. The look in his eye, he had the

capability of cabling my head and with a hammer and it was quite

frightened. -- caving. A single blow to the head would be enough to

seriously injure or even kill her. Although she had called for back-up

she was still very much on heroin. I tried to put my left arm up to

move the on holding a hammer away from by which point he even bit,

left arm. I yelled. The pain was so quick and sharp and then let go. He

had a chance to turn round and round off but I was seconds and

then pulled him back. All I could think of was I'm not letting this

person go. Through sheer determination she managed to keep

hold of the suspect. When back-up arrived and I could hear the sirens

the relief I felt was immense. Finally her fellow officers found

her at an straightaway arrested a man. It did on them he he could

have hit me with his weapon -- dawn on me. It could have gone straight

through my head. Officers could have turned up to find me laid at

the scene if it had gone terribly wrong. But it is part of my day-to-

day role and I expect I might come across situations like this or

confrontation and it is part of daily life as being a police

officer. Her heroic actions got the result

she wanted. The dangerous man was put behind bars for three and half

years for burglary and assault. Louise was honoured in this year's

Next time... We retell the moment when teach

courageous officers to go -- 1 two courageous officers struggled

through heat to rescue a mother and baby from a flat fire. My thought

was she doesn't answer the door there was a possibility and might

Passat. We are on the streets of Aberdeen with an elite police dog