Episode 7 Neighbourhood Blues

The friendly, caring bobby pounding the beat

has always been the hallmark of British policing...

Fantastic. Pleasure's been all mine, my friend. Mwah!

..and has even been immortalised on film

by the fictional Dixon Of Dock Green.

Evening, all.

SIREN BLARES

Today's neighbourhood police teams continue that tradition...

..but also tackle the root causes of crime head-on

by targeting known hot spots... Unlucky.

..stamping down on antisocial behaviour...

We're arresting you for a public order offence.

..and waging war on illegal drugs.

I can smell cannabis already.

In this new series of Neighbourhood Blues,

we follow the policemen and women of Somerset

as they continue their quest to make our streets a safer place.

SIREN BLARES

Coming up, on the hunt to dispel a tip-off about some weed.

Yeah, well, there's a vent, water...

..electrics. Yeah, definitely.

After persistently ringing 999,

the police come knocking for a nuisance caller.

And a brazen shoplifter is caught red-handed.

I must... I'm so stupid. I don't know what I have done.

All right, don't say any more. I'm so stupid.

Most of us have received unwanted phone calls

and there's no doubt they can be a real nuisance.

But when the emergency services

get them on their 999 line,

it can, potentially, be a matter of life or death.

There are some people out there who like to call

police and other agencies on the 999 system to get attention.

It can be a massive demand on us,

but it takes our attention away from people who do need us.

In Somerset, police call handlers are used

to getting the odd strange call.

Good afternoon. Avon and Somerset Police.

Thanks for the wait. How can I help?

Like someone who called in to say his chips had been stolen

by a seagull.

But one persistent nuisance caller, a 64-year-old man,

has rung 999 several hundred times.

One guy who rings regularly, he likes to hear a female voice,

and he will talk and talk and talk, and he's got problems.

H can be on the phone for, like, 45 minutes,

and you try to say, "Goodbye, can't help you any more,"

and he's, like, so desperate, you end up keeping talking to him.

That can be really annoying.

The man will even ring 999

to discuss the delivery arrangements for his furniture.

It's just really frustrating because there are some situations that,

all right, somebody might not be in life-and-death,

but they probably still need the police and need us quite urgently,

and you don't mind so much when people call 999.

But when it's something that's nothing to do with the police

and there's no way we can help, they really shouldn't be calling us.

Call handlers are trained to recognise

when a call is serious or not.

And if it isn't, a persistent caller

might get a visit from the neighbourhood police team

and then be issued with an acceptable behaviour agreement

to stop them making nuisance calls.

Every call is treated on its own merit because until we know

there's not a life-or-death emergency,

we have to establish that.

So, that's where the time's taken up

dealing with those individuals, establishing that, you know,

it's not a life-and-death or a police matter, for instance.

And at that point then, we can look at taking some firm action

to reduce them calling.

The man carried on dialling 999

even straight after the police warned him not to.

It can be quite upsetting and distressing,

but you've just got to try and remain cool,

try not to rise to it because otherwise you end up feeling

that you could've handled that situation better

even if they generally don't need us

and they need to be told that they shouldn't be calling us.

It's the end of the line for the prolific nuisance caller.

After hundreds of 999 calls

and being issued with numerous orders to stop his behaviour,

the police have had enough.

He's now going to be arrested.

Later in the programme,

the nuisance caller finally gets the attention he was seeking.

You need to open the door, please.

Although perhaps not the kind he was hoping for.

Drug problems in quieter rural neighbourhoods

are a lot lower profile than in big towns and cities,

and any complaints about drugs will more likely be to do with

people cultivating cannabis than dealing crack cocaine.

This morning, Dom Bryant is investigating a tip-off

that a cannabis factory has been set up at a house in Burnham-on-Sea.

But the problem with tip-offs is they aren't always spot-on.

Dom needs the homeowner's permission to have a nose around.

We're here to hopefully gain entry and consent search.

It's all about the postman's knock.

If I can get someone to answer the door, that's the key, really.

As soon as the door's open, really, that's good enough for me.

It's getting someone to answer the door in the first place,

that's the tricky thing.

Can go one of two ways.

No-one's answering.

But Dom's sure he's seen someone - or something - inside.

There's certainly a figurine.

A silhouette. Apparition.

Casper's ghost.

No, Pepper's ghost, isn't it? Pepper's ghost. That was it.

There's definitely somebody in.

Dom is beginning to think the occupant

is deliberately not coming to the door... Hello.

..so he checks with a neighbour. Hiya. Sorry to trouble you.

I was looking for the occupant of this house.

She says the occupant is a bit hard of hearing.

Is something wrong? No. Hopefully not. Oh. Hopefully not.

Right, I'll try again. Sorry I can't help.

No, you're very helpful. Thank you very much.

Dom's found a shed that could be used for growing cannabis plants in.

But he can't smell anything...

..or hear anything going on inside.

Boarded-up. Nice, boarded-up lines.

The shed is the ideal place for growing plants.

Yeah, well, there's a vent, water, electrics.

Yeah, definitely.

It could be just a normal place,

but more and more evidence is leading Dom to believe

someone has set up a cannabis-growing operation.

There's horse manure down here. Fertilisation.

I mean, that's perfect. Perfect set-up there.

Dom's going to try one more time

to try to get the attention of the elderly man

he was sure he saw earlier inside the house.

Here we go. Stand by, planet Earth.

Good morning, sir. What have I done wrong?

Well, I don't know. How are you? My name's Dominic.

I'm a police officer from Bridgwater.

Pleased to meet you, sir. Bridgwater, yeah?

I'm very sorry to trouble you so early in the morning. Yeah.

I'm a little bit deaf. OK, sir.

I'm here on official business, I'm afraid. Why, what's that?

We've had reasonable grounds to suspect...

I'm wondering if you could help me clear up.

..that there's possibly some vegetation growing

in one of the sheds out the back.

I'm here for you to give me a guided tour if possible

just to make sure those rumours aren't true

and that can be the end of it.

Is that something you'd be able to help me with? Yeah.

I'll get my grandson. He does... OK. ..that, you see.

The man leads the way to find his grandson.

It's just this particular building I'm interested in.

This one here.

That's my grandson. He grows a lot of plants. Does he?

But not anything... Oh, I'm sure he doesn't.

I'm not suggesting that. Drugs or anything.

You know what it's like. People talk. That's why I'm here.

Come back later to find out what exactly Dom discovers

as he comes face-to-face with the man's grandson.

We had a problem with a woman in our old house

who made a complaint... Really?

..suspecting that we were growing stuff in the attic.

Every day, the police in Somerset

receive around 3,000 calls for help from the public.

Good afternoon. Avon and Somerset Police.

How can I help?

Unfortunately, a large number of the calls

are from time wasters,

blocking lines and tying up the operators.

I had someone the other day and it was a serious call.

It was...you know, it was quite horrendous.

He was wanting to kill himself, jumping off a bridge,

and it was...it was awful,

and it really sort of took it out of me.

But immediately I put that phone down,

I went to the loo, came back,

and my next call was a lady who was complaining

because she'd bought a six-pack of crisps, opened them up

and there were only five packs inside.

She was really, really angry.

I think people that dial 999 unnecessarily

are complete and utter idiots, really.

There is no other word for them.

There might be another patient or another people needs it,

but they call just for a joke or anything.

This is really bad, I think.

It's appalling. Absolutely appalling.

A waste of important resources.

It disturbs the emergency services who have got better jobs to do.

I think it's absolutely appalling.

Time-wasting emergency phone calls can be a real drain

on the police's valuable resources, so the neighbourhood police

are bent on doing something about those responsible.

Earlier, we saw how one of the most persistent 999 callers

had rung in on hundreds of occasions.

After numerous warnings,

the man is going to be arrested for wasting police time.

Neighbourhood officer Russ Millier has arrived outside

the house of the man who is still being a nuisance.

The police on 999, they've established he's in there

and now we've got a power of entry to enter the premises.

He's not answering the door, basically.

Russ and his colleagues are taking drastic measures to get the man out.

You need to open the door, please.

Trevor?

Let's do it while he's at the window.

It's been done before. It should go in a one-er.

OK.

He can be a bit funny.

Have you got a shirt or something? Do you want to put a shirt on?

HE MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY Do you want to put a shirt on?

HE MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY Yeah, that's fine.

I'll take this cuff off. You put on a shirt, then, please.

The chap that's just been arrested...

As you see, we've had to force entry to the property.

..he's got a few issues.

So, as you can see, Steve's just had to arrest him again.

He's making these calls, just causing a nuisance,

wasting police time,

so he'll go into custody and be interviewed in relation to that.

OK.

Now he's been arrested, the neighbourhood team

will ensure he gets the right sort of help

to deter him from constantly calling the police.

HE MUMBLES ANGRILY

Watch yourself, Trevor. HE MUMBLES

Come on.

Just take it off my hand. Here you go.

Do you see what's happening? Is that fair?

Trevor, come on. No, BLEEP...BLEEP.

You're going to have to try and sort your door out.

Yeah, I smashed it right in, unfortunately.

HE MUMBLES INCOHERENTLY

There are many reasons why the most persistent callers ring the police,

but with over a million calls a year in total

coming in to Avon and Somerset's switchboard,

it's essential the neighbourhood team get the message across

that they won't tolerate the time wasters.

The prolific nuisance caller pleaded guilty

to three charges of breaching his restraining order

and was required to pay a total of ?375 in fines and costs.

The short, sharp shock has worked.

He hasn't called 999 again at all.

Back in Burnham-on-Sea,

Dom Bryant is on the trail of a suspected cannabis factory.

The homeowner is about to introduce Dom to his grandson.

HE KNOCKS ON DOOR Tom.

Tom. Tom, like his grandad,

doesn't appear to be expecting any callers.

Are you there, Tom?

There's a policeman here to see you.

Tom does finally answer the door.

Yeah. Now, we don't tread on his toe.

Are you all right, Grandad? Yeah.

This is the gentleman from Bridgwater. Yeah.

Tom, good morning. My name's Dominic.

I'm a police officer from Bridgwater.

First of all, I'm sorry to trouble you. Don't worry. No problem.

The reason I'm here, I just want to quash some sort of rumours.

We've had some intelligence to suggest...

I don't where it's come from. An anonymous source.

..that there's been cannabis convulted...con...

Basically cultivated at this address.

Can't get my words out now. I know!

So, rather than a warrant be executed, like you see on the telly

where they smash the door in and the place gets raided,

I'm here on my own, and I just want you to give me,

if possible, a guided tour.

Come in and have a look in here first if you'd like. Come on in.

Thank you very much.

Then we can quash these rumours and that'll be the end of it.

Tom doesn't appear to have anything to hide and let's Dom in.

I've built this over the last month. Yeah.

Yeah, very nice. It's not finished yet. OK, yeah.

But, yeah, I plan to insulate here. Yeah, OK.

Hello, what are you doing?

As you can see, well, there's nothing here. No, no, no, no.

And there's nowhere... And those outbuildings over there?

Thanks, Tom. Sorry about this.

That was an anonymous...? Tip-off. Was it?

Well, people ring in on Crimestoppers, you see,

which is anonymous.

We don't know where the source has come from,

but we have to act upon it. Investigate it. Yes, of course.

Looking around, Dom can see this fellow knows all about gardening

and clearly has the expertise to grow all kinds of plants.

He just needs to confirm Tom's not cultivating

the wrong kinds of plants in the boarded-up shed.

This is where you used to live, was it?

This is where I was before. Right. Yeah. OK.

Inside the suspect's shed, it's quickly apparent

there isn't a cannabis factory here at all.

It's a false alarm.

Dom is now concerned why anybody would call in

with this false allegation.

Tom, have you got any enemies

where these rumours could have come from?

Have you fallen out with anyone? Disgruntled girlfriend, ex-emp...?

We had a problem with a woman in our old house

who made a complaint... Really?

..suspecting that we were growing stuff in the attic,

which was completely ridiculous because the only things that

were in the attic were all the stuff that we've brought here.

Yeah, of course. You know, family stuff.

The only green stuff Tom's interested in

is what he grows in his garden.

I used to do a gardening blog. Did you? Yeah.

What, in the magazines? Well, just online. Online.

Actually, it was recently put in the local magazine. Oh, yeah?

But it's just how to grow garlic... Fantastic.

..and tomatoes and raise stuff like that. Nice. But...

I'll look out for it. Yeah.

Thanks for your time, guys. And you.

It's obvious that he's a keen gardener

and knows what he's talking about.

As you talk, you constantly look round

and check for any possibilities,

and I'm satisfied there's nothing untoward

in that premises whatsoever.

I've been in the house and all the sheds.

There's not even a whiff of anything, or remains.

There's always remains, always a smell of something.

So, I'm happy. We can now scrub that one from the list

so he won't be bothered again.

Unwanted telephone calls are not always just a nuisance.

Sometimes, they can be very plausible scammers

that can cause real distress and anxiety,

particularly to elderly or vulnerable members of the community.

In Bridgwater, neighbourhood officers Tex Freeman

and PCSO Dan Wheller are investigating one such call.

A gentleman's phoned up.

His elderly neighbour's asked if he could give her a lift to the bank,

and when he's asked, "Why? That's a bit strange,"

she said that she's received a call, someone telling her

to get all her money out her bank account and keep it at home.

And I think probably the gist is that

someone's going to come round and pick it up and look after it,

so we'll go and find out.

Fraudulent calls are becoming more and more insidious,

and it's something Tex and the neighbourhood police

take particularly seriously.

I'll let you go up first as you obviously know her.

The man has contacted Tex

out of concern for his next-door neighbour...

..and that she might be the victim of a telephone con man.

Every year, thousands of people lose money to phone scams...

Hiya, Maureen, how are you?

..from a few pounds to their life savings.

Right, we've obviously spoken to your neighbour,

but can you just run through it again, what's been going on?

Well, I got this telephone call this morning about nine o'clock.

The man on the phone claimed he was from

the lady's bank's fraud investigation team,

and that someone had got her account details.

"Have you given any of your numbers away?"

He kept on about that for about ten minutes.

I kept saying, "No, I haven't, I haven't, not knowingly," I said.

"Unless somebody's looked over my shoulder and at my PIN number."

I said, "No."

But...anyway, then he got onto this...

Well, what he wanted me to do.

"I want you to go to your bank."

That was the first thing he wanted me to do.

And he said, "And I want you to draw out of your bank account ?500."

Maureen was completely taken in by the fraudster.

And I said, "Well, I shall have to get a taxi or something

"to take me to the bank."

So, he said, "How long do you think it'll take you?"

So, I said, "Well, if I go now,"

I said, "I could probably be back about 11."

She then went next door and got a lift with her neighbour to her bank.

He said, "I want you to phone me at 11 o'clock,"

he said, "And I want you to...not to disclose any of these details

"to the bank at all."

He said, "Because we think it could even be in your bank

"that there's somebody doing something."

With her money in her account seemingly at risk,

Maureen believed she needed to withdraw the ?500 from the bank.

However, once she got there, she revealed what had happened,

and the bank were able to assure her that her money was safe.

They told me then,

"We would never get in touch with you on the telephone."

Sorry to interrupt. Something happened, as well.

When we came back from the bank, wasn't it? Yes.

You were round mine for a cup of coffee, and a taxi pulled up.

Out the window, I said, "Can I help you?" It was a lady.

And she said, "We've had a phone call

"saying there someone wanting collecting from here, number two."

I said... "It was a man."

And I said, "Well, no, it's Maureen, the neighbour, a lady.

"She's here with me now." "Oh."

So, he's even phoned a cab to get you in. Yeah. Yeah.

This is what it sounds like, thinking about it now. Absolutely.

The fraudsters had booked the taxi

to collect a package of money from Maureen.

Fortunately, this time, their plot failed.

Anyone who phones up saying things like that

or trying to get details and telling you to get money out the bank,

no banks will ever operate like that, OK?

So, straight away, you know it's someone conning you,

let's put the phone down on them.

Maureen's not the only person to fall for this particular scam.

It's one of the most common.

And according to Financial Fraud Action UK,

four out of every ten people are duped by it.

But the biggest thing, Maureen, is just if it's someone you don't know,

you've not dealt with, and you think they're trying trick you,

the safest thing is you just be polite

and say, "Sorry, I've got to go."

And hang up, OK? And let us know.

Yes. Obviously, if you have any more calls, let us know as well.

I'm not trying to worry you or anything because these people,

not expecting them to come round, but what we're going to do,

we're going to put what we call a Treat as Urgent marker

on your address, OK?

So, that means that if you need to phone us,

and we see your address, that means that we'll have it flagging up early

so it means that, you know, you'll get an immediate response.

All right? Thank you very much. That's no problem, Maureen.

Nice to meet you, but sorry it's under these circumstances.

It's very hard to ever catch the scammers that ring up

and steal from people or cause them such distress.

The big thing is don't panic about it.

Just go about your...you know, your life as normal.

I will do. I'll try. Yeah. Thank you.

The police will follow up and do what they can,

but the positive effects of their visit with the victims...

Take care. Take care.

..is often the best result of all.

I'm happy with the sort of reassurance

and what we've done with Maureen so far.

I mean, that's just the beginning.

We're now going to start investigating,

make a couple of calls to these taxi cabs,

liaise with the fraud squad and make all the enquiries we can.

I feel easy with the police now,

and I feel easy and comfortable having to get in touch with them

if I have to.

And I think they're such...friendly blokes

and really thorough with what they're doing.

I've never experienced anything like it.

It's great.

Still to come,

Dom takes a member of the public on the ride of a lifetime...

Got him! That's it! Ah, well done, mate. Whoohoo!

..and a shoplifter does something he might regret

for the rest of his life.

Please. OK. Otherwise, I can't get the degree.

Please. OK.

I was in the police force for eight years

and I'm often asked now what was the job like?

What was it like to race to the scene of a crime?

What was it like to make an arrest?

Well, now you can find out.

Avon and Somerset have introduced a scheme called Ride Along.

And it is as it sounds -

you sit in a car and you will go to incidents

and you will go and see some of the challenges that we have to deal with

and you will almost have a better understanding

of how the police operate in your area.

I've yet to meet anybody who's not completely surprised

by some of the things that we do have to deal with

and some of the challenges that we have to face.

Up for the challenge today is civilian Ian Luckhurst,

who is going to ride along with one of Avon and Somerset's finest,

Dom Bryant.

I'm a sociology teacher from Bridgwater College

and as part of the course, there's a criminology unit,

and so when I found out about the Ride Along Scheme,

I thought it'd be interesting, and hopefully what I can gain today,

I can take back into the classroom and use in my day-to-day teaching.

OK? OK. Let's do it. Let's go.

First up, a look at all the kit Dom needs to take with him

on every patrol.

Well, it's not the torso of the ex-wife, if anyone asks.

HE LAUGHS Ooh! See? What is that for?

Raids or something? Everything.

Not just raids. There's everything I need in there.

What, for today? Any day.

That's what you've got to take out on duty.

HE WHISTLES Obviously, you've got forms.

Oh, my God. So much paperwork, isn't it? Yeah.

There's the traffic triple.

I thought it would be weapons and Tasers.

For motoring offences, what we call a traffic triple.

Right. Sharps boxes if we come across any needles. Yeah.

These are knife tubes, so if we seize a knife,

we can put it in a tube. How do you feel about the threat

of, you know, being, for example, pricked by a needle?

That does frighten me more so than a knife... Yeah.

..because you're talking six months waiting to see

if you've got hep B or worse. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

With a knife,

I'd be fairly confident I could deal with it. Yeah.

But with a needle, I mean, they do hide them in places like car seats,

so when you sit in it, you know, things like that.

Dom's been tasked initially

to find some people who are wanted on warrant.

It's rather like being a bounty hunter.

I quite enjoy the hunt, you see. I quite enjoy hunting them down.

I quite enjoy that.

Like the Predator films. IAN CHUCKLES

Like the extraterrestrial warrior in Predator...

KNOCK ON DOOR Hello. Very sorry to trouble you.

I'm Dominic from Bridgwater Police Station.

..everybody today is invisible too.

He's definitely not there. I kind of feel this need.

I want to help a little bit and help Dominic,

but I know it's not my place.

We're looking for a gentleman that lives here, please.

My role is simply to observe and see what happens,

so I kind of feel a little bit helpless at the moment.

I found that really, really disappointing.

It's a game of cat and mouse. It is. There's nothing lost.

But I want a result, you know, and I expect so do you.

Yeah, well, we'll get one.

People who are wanted on warrant

are mostly people who have failed to turn up for a court case,

having been arrested and bailed previously.

There's somebody in there.

The next man on today's wanted list lives upstairs in a block of flats.

They're in there. I can hear them talking,

but they've seen the police vehicle.

Dom's not the only one trying to attract this occupant's attention.

Hello. There's someone in. So am I.

Yeah, there's somebody there. I can hear them.

I'll keep buzzing. Maybe they'll answer.

All right, I'll knock as well. You buzz, I'll knock.

As well as Dom, there's a taxi driver downstairs

and now some neighbours

all trying to speak to the man inside the flat.

Yeah, I need the gentleman in there, please.

There's a taxi man downstairs waiting.

Hopefully, he'll be coming shortly, sir. OK?

Dom can hear children inside.

I mean, if I think there's kids in there with no adults,

that door will be going in.

All right. We need to get that door open, then, cos I'm concerned.

Get him out for me, please.

All of a sudden, after Dom's threat to break it down,

the door opens.

He goes in to look for his wanted man,

but once more, Dom's out of luck...

Right, I better go tell him before he breaks the buzzer, all right? OK.

..and so is the taxi driver outside,

who was hoping to pick up some money he was owed.

We'll get them, mate. Don't you worry. All right.

It's no problem.

No-one's above the law.

Later, we see Dom the bounty hunter finally get his man.

The beautiful city of Bath is a magnet not only for tourists

attracted by the Roman baths and stunning Georgian architecture,

but also for students who come here from all around the world to study.

And if you like to shop, Bath has every kind of shop imaginable,

including some large department stores

where, inevitably, shoplifters go to work.

CCTV operators in this store recognise a man that's just come in.

He's the person they suspect of stealing some swimming shorts

a few days ago, and appears to have returned to try his luck again.

He's not going for the swimmers this time.

Instead, he's selected some expensive tops...

..and wanders off to find a changing room.

Meanwhile, operators alert the police

through a special secure network called radio link,

which connects all the shops and police together.

They're monitoring it at the moment. I'm solo-crewed.

If there are any units nearby, I'll give you an update in a minute.

Neighbourhood officer Roger Parker is on the case.

He's not in any mad rush

whilst the man in the shop is still under surveillance.

He's selected other items,

he's making his way to the changing room,

so they're monitoring him within the store,

which is on, I believe, about three storeys.

So, that's where we are at the moment.

There's no CCTV in the changing room, of course,

so it's a matter of seeing what he goes in with

and checking what he comes out with.

Charlie, Sierra, 16-75.

The man leaves the changing room with the same items he took in.

Perhaps he isn't shoplifting after all.

But the operators are still a little suspicious of him,

so they continue to keep an eye on him.

We'll have to see how it goes. I mean, you take everything,

try and keep it down on the lowest level of confrontation

and just wait on an update from our city link.

The man has selected another shirt to try on.

Whilst the man is still under surveillance...

Got any update?

..there's no need for Roger to hurry.

OVER RADIO: 'Yeah, men's section.

'Having a bit of a browse, selecting more items.'

Something a little odd happens.

The man picks up the same shirt as he tried on before,

but this time, heads towards a different changing room

in a more secluded part of the shop.

Yeah, let us know.

The man leaves the changing room

and now the camera operator is really suspicious.

He's come out empty-handed.

He could have left the polo shirt in the changing room,

so an assistant goes to check.

It's empty.

He's either suddenly put on weight

or slipped the shirt on under his jumper.

He's actually put on one of the polo shirts,

got it underneath.

We've got a description of the make and colour

and he's just saying he's going round, selecting other items.

Essentially, we've got two people down there behind us,

we've got one guy there and we've got another guy further down.

Inside, the suspect is carrying on browsing,

trying to act normally and not draw attention to himself.

He's in for a big surprise when he leaves the store,

especially now Roger's joined

by several plain-clothes security colleagues.

See where the lady in the red thing is? Yeah.

I'll hover somewhere there, all right? Yeah.

If you can just position yourself here. Yes.

We've got two other people there, all right?

I don't want any grabbing and rolling round on floors. No.

But the minute we get a heads up,

hopefully we'll detain him and we can get him back in the store.

So, I'll let Gary know as soon as I see him come out. Yeah.

What we've done is the people from some of the other security offices

further down in the SouthGate have come up to assist.

Back inside, another five minutes of browsing

and nobody has approached the man. He thinks he's in the clear.

Time to sneak out.

OVER RADIO: 'You should be able to see the male now.'

Excuse me, sir.

The man's collared.

The store's security officer and Roger

escort the suspected shoplifter to a basement office.

They suspect he's not a local.

Can you speak English? Yes. OK.

So, I'm going to ask the security people

why they've detained you, OK?

I watched as the male selected various items.

He's then selected a polo top,

which he's taken into our fitting rooms. Yeah.

Erm, he's then exited the fitting room without the item.

I've had one of our female staff members check the fitting room

and she's found the label, which is across on the side there,

which has been removed from the item, and just the hanger.

Have you got anything on you you haven't paid for?

Yeah, I've got this. Right, OK. Here.

Right, can you just remove your top a minute?

The man shamelessly admits to having clothes on he hasn't paid for.

Just this item? Right, have you got another thing underneath that? No.

Do you want to just take that off? Right.

Have you anything, before I search you? No, no, no. OK.

The only thing on the man is his Italian driving licence.

As well as the shirt,

he will be charged with stealing the swimming shorts from a few days ago.

And what was the value of those? ?74.

So, ?74 the other day. Yeah, ?74, three items.

Right, so, on the basis of what we've seen today,

what they've seen, I'm going to arrest you for the theft today

of that item of clothing there...

..and three swimming costumes on the 12th of August.

I mean, is it necessary... Yeah. ..to be arrested?

Yeah, because we're not looking at one item.

We're looking at two items and they're over the amount of money

which we can deal with it in store.

But it is not possible just to pay for these? No.

I must... I'm so stupid. I don't know why I have done this.

All right, don't say any more. Is there something I can do, please?

The man is just one of Bath's poor students,

but he's beginning to realise what trouble he's in.

Try to understand me.

I've got an important exam on Thursday... Yeah.

..and next Thursday again. Yeah.

So, it is very important for me to do this, please. OK.

Otherwise, I can't have the degree. Please. OK. I know this is...

Right, listen, listen. I have done something really stupid.

Listen, listen, listen. Calm down. Yes. OK?

I'm sure we can sort it out.

Just calm down. Keep calm. Yeah. All right?

Just follow him.

I'm going to hold on to you. Is it necessary? Yeah.

Just want to make sure you don't run away

cos you might be faster than me. No, I don't run.

The chances are you probably are faster than me, all right?

But it's only out the back here.

Right, just want to put your safety belt on.

After being interviewed at the police station,

the student admitted stealing all the clothing

and was released after being given a police caution.

Much to his relief, he was free to take his exams.

Earlier, Dom was on the trail

of a number of fugitives wanted on warrant,

but wasn't having much luck,

and he's not that hopeful about the next one either.

Right, it's a chap who's wanted on warrant. Again, very elusive.

Every time we knock on the door, no-one's ever heard of him,

nobody knows who he is.

But this time, he's struck it lucky.

The man, who is suspected of drug offences, is at home.

While Dom's ride along Ian looks on from the safety of the police van,

Dom handcuffs the man

ready for the journey to the police station

where he'll be held in custody.

Another aspect of the job

ride alongs get the chance to witness.

You can't go in guns blazing.

Yeah, it's not really like what you see in the Hollywood movies.

You know, fire first, ask questions later.

You can't take that approach at all.

It's very much almost like a customer relation issue.

I don't know how much Dom would agree with that.

You've got to kind of keep the members of the public on your side.

And the way you deal with that and the way you do that

is to come across in a very kind of courteous,

calm, professional manner.

Now Ian, as well as the prisoner, will get the chance to see inside

Bridgewater's state-of-the-art police station.

You can't get out of the vehicle until the door shuts behind us...

OK. ..so there's nowhere for the detainee to escape.

Ian observes the booking in process.

The suspect's name is taken

and the charges entered into the record book

before his clothes are changed and he's placed in a cell.

Right, arms up. That's it. Thanks, mate.

He'll be held there until he appears in court.

Here we are. Here we are. Cells 13 to 24.

The cells are not somewhere

most people would choose to spend the night.

Yeah, not particularly comfortable or inviting, is it?

But, you know, it's not meant to be, I suppose.

Camera. Oh, yeah.

No PlayStation. No, no. HE CHUCKLES

Back on the road, there's more work to be done.

At a garage, Ian has spotted an opportunity to help.

He's seen something while Dom was refuelling.

Strange. We were at this petrol station

and I saw a trike motorbike with a trailer

and the back flap was open,

driving up the road with all his petrol cans

and tools on display and I was kind of, you know,

pointing out to Dom that there could be a potential hazard.

It looked like an insecure load A38 outbound towards Highbridge.

I'm going to see if I can find it, stop it.

SIREN BLARES

With a petrol can about to fall into the path of an oncoming car,

there's no time to lose.

Hold on tight. Takes immense concentration.

For Ian, it's his first pulse-raising blues and twos run.

Got him! That's it! Ah, well done, mate. Whoohoo!

Sure enough, Ian was right.

There we go. Good call.

I'm Dominic. I'm a police officer from Bridgwater.

Let me shake your hand. Hello, madam. Hello.

Hello. Hi. How are you? So, my friend here was a bit worried

you were going to lose your petrol and all your bits and bobs, OK?

Yeah, thank you. All right? That's bounced off.

Saw you at the petrol station and I thought, "Oh, blimey."

Oh, right. Cheers. Thank you very much.

So, we bombed up the road to chase you down.

6-0 for a PNC check, please.

Is it Reliant-based or...? It is, yes. Yeah.

Very nice too.

Dom's in his element with this bad boy.

I'm crazy about bikes myself.

I like bikes and...bikes and cars. Yeah, yeah.

That's fantastic. A real adrenaline kick, you know.

Erm...yeah, I'm so pleased we got them

cos when we got to that roundabout, they could've gone either way -

the motorway or Highbridge Road.

Luckily, we got the right choice and managed to track them down

and, you know, no-one got hurt.

Thanks for your time. Have a nice day, all right?

Thanks for letting me know. No problem at all.

A few words of advice and everybody's on their way.

Getting people to understand exactly what the police do

and the pressures they face

is an important part of gaining the public's trust.

The Ride Along Scheme is a powerful way to do this

and one which Ian won't forget in a hurry.

There are several things

that I'll probably take away with me after today.

The adrenaline you get from, you know,

putting the blues and twos on.

And as Dom quite rightly said, you know,

it's not all about, you know, chasing bank robbers

and shoplifters.

It's really about helping members of the public.

I want to say thank you for today.

It's been fantastic. Pleasure's been all mine.

It's been a very insightful experience.

Nice to have you on board.

Really, it's been great and I hope you've enjoyed it.

Whether it's answering 999 calls or showing members of the public

how offenders and victims are dealt with,

we've seen today just how important good communication is

for the neighbourhood police.

Until next time, evening, all.

We know we're the last thing

between something disastrous...

..and something hopeful.

Just sometimes we make a difference.

That's why we come to work.