Episode 4 Police 24/7

This time on Police 24/7...

Sniffer Dog Naughty Norman is on the trail of something illegal.

There's a definite strong smell of M-Cat.

It's time to bare all in Custody.

It's a garter and pair of knuckle dusters.

Bad girl gone good, isn't it?

And Neighbourhood Officer Debbie Johnson's patrol

goes off with a bang.

It was just a firework going off above the house.

This is a week in the life of the largest police force in Wales.

Seven days of action with the cops on the street

and the criminals that they try to beat.

This is Police 24/7.

Cardiff Bay Police Station.

Home to one of the largest custody suites in the UK.

If you're going to vomit, vomit in the toilet.

Looking after this house-full of detainees

are South Wales Police Sergeants - and husband and wife -

Darren and Linda Jones-Matthias.

How you doing, mate?

You going to behave yourself or are you going to be a pain?

-I don't want to see your ugly mug!

-There you are then.

He's covered the cage in spit.

After 30 years on the force, Darren is used to tricky customers,

even when they want to spit at him.

Quite often we get people in here

who are used to dominating their own little world.

The people they dominate, the situations they dominate.

'They may not be brightest of people,

'but they dominate by fear and bullying.'

-What's your first name?

-My first name?

-Yeah.

-Your mum.

"My mum"? All right. My mum, kneel down.

'The way they react in here is quite strange,

'because they are trying to do something

'to take control of their situation.'

SHOUTING AND BLEEPED SWEARING

Pull his legs from underneath.

That's it. Good man.

There are people who defecate everywhere and smear it everywhere,

or they'll urinate under the door.

MUFFLED SHOUTS AND BLEEPED SWEARING

The next arrivals are also proving to be a bit of a handful.

Calm down, all right?

MAN SHOUTING

I'm all right, babe, I'm all right.

Nicola, her partner and daughter,

have all been arrested for a public order offence

over a neighbour's barking dog.

ALL SHOUT AT ONCE

'They're just not going to listen to you.

'They demand to be released,'

and they go down to the cell, banging, kicking,

kick the cell door, bang the cell door -

generally speaking they usually wear themselves out.

See, this is what I don't understand.

There's two witnesses,

they've blatantly told the officer what happened, yeah?

But she's hauled in for it?

-Nicola!

-They will be spoken to. Thank you.

Do you have any mental health issues? Anxiety or depression?

I self-medicate. But I have borderline schizophrenia.

-Mm-hmm.

-Impulsive disorder...

SHE MUMBLES

Right, after the schizophrenia, we've got, personality, was it?

-Yeah.

-Do you have any other conditions at all?

Or is that enough?

I'm a mouthy bitch.

"Mouthy bitch." Do you want me to put that on?

If you want! At least I admit to it!

Would you like anybody else informed that you're here?

No, they're all here.

I'll for a nice cup of tea - weak, no sugar, yeah?

You don't have to sign for that.

We just stick it on your bill.

At Merthyr Tydfil Station a team are preparing to go on a drugs raid.

This is naughty Norman. An English springer spaniel.

And he's coming up to about a year-and-a-half now.

Dog handler PC Leighton Andrews has been training Norman

since he was a puppy.

We had him at 15 weeks old, and he was very naughty.

He was peeing all over the carpet in the house.

My four-year-old, he's into Fireman Sam,

and one of the main characters on there is Naughty Norman Price,

and we just thought it very apt that the name stayed with him,

so he was Norman.

Norman has sniffed out thousands of pounds' worth of illegal drugs

and the team are hoping today's warrant

will be just as successful for him.

ALL SHOUT

-Anybody else upstairs?

-No.

-OK, just one male then.

With the suspect apprehended,

Norman is now free to sniff out any evidence.

Go on.

There is so much smell of cannabis in here,

it might be having a detrimental effect on him.

But he's very busy.

It's still lingering in the air, you can smell it.

Norman?

It's not long before Norman gets a hit.

Good boy.

As you can see, there is a bag of white powder,

a large quantity of white powder,

and, er...

Yeah, there's a definite strong smell of what you call M-Cat.

The team have found more suspicious packages.

And Norman's on a roll.

We've just found some sort of powder in this bag here.

There are lots of, as you can see, small wraps.

He's obviously a main player in the drug trade.

And lots and lots of weapons in the property,

just in case somebody decides to come in

and take the proceeds of his crimes,

or take the drug itself.

The suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

And Norman added another successful warrant to his name.

Operation Bang is one of the busiest weeks for South Wales Police.

Helping the residents of Ely in Cardiff

enjoy their fireworks safely

is Neighbourhood Beat Officer Debbie Johnson.

The majority of the people are quite tidy.

You get the odd ones that aren't,

but you know, that happens anywhere, doesn't it?

It's just a great place to work.

And I know it like the back of my hand.

Well, the majority of it anyway. Which helps!

Tonight PC Johnson is checking in on a local takeaway owner

who's recently been the victim of hate crime.

-Good evening.

-Good evening, how are you, all right?

Yeah, we're fine. You haven't had any trouble tonight, have you?

Well, there was a load of guys down here, like, 30, 40, you know?

-How long ago?

-I informed the police.

-You didn't?

-No, I did.

-Oh, I was going to say.

-Yeah, I did.

So you've been a victim of racist abuse and things like that?

Yes, I have been, yeah.

Yeah, Davinda's on a hate crime action plan,

and we regularly call and check that everything's all right,

and he's got our numbers, so he can contact us,

as well as reporting things as they happen.

So, hopefully, we'll get on top of it.

-We will.

-Yeah, we will.

-Yeah, we will, yeah.

Anyway, thank you very much for everything.

Nah, it's all right.

-Take care, see ya!

-Bye!

To actually be living like that must be horrendous.

That's why the force obviously takes such positive action towards it.

Yeah. And I'm glad it is, cos so it should be.

Times have moved on from when people just put up with racial abuse,

and things that went on years ago, when it was just accepted.

Like, when I was a little girl.

Patrolling the streets on foot

allows Debbie a chance to mix with the locals.

Boys, come on, give the ball up.

It's 9:20pm, there's people in bed now.

And she's got more in common with this group of lads

than she first thought.

Where do you live then, boys? Do you live round here?

-I live up there.

-So who's your dad then?

Can't tell you that. Top secret.

-That's private, confidential stuff.

-Lee's not your dad, is he?

-Who?

-Lee BLEEP.

ALL: Oh!

Is he your father? ALL LAUGH

I used to go out with him, many years ago!

ALL LAUGH AND CHEER

All right then, well enjoy the rest of your night, boys.

-Thanks. See ya!

-Thanks, Auntie Debbie!

ALL LAUGH Nice to meet you!

See you, sweety-pie!

Back at Cardiff Bay Station...

..Nicola Perry is on her way to the custody photo booth.

Her records need to be updated.

Here comes Naomi Campbell(!)

Give us an autograph!

It's been four years since Nicola was last arrested

and her records show a variety of offences.

Mainly assault, threatening words and behaviour.

Public disorder. Back in my younger days shoplifting.

That's it, really. I am a volatile person.

When somebody's in my face and they are screaming at me,

I can't walk away. I just snap, and, you know,

I've got a mental illness, I'm not going to blame it on that,

but I think I done well pretty well today, keeping my hands off her,

and not smashing her face in.

Since her last visit

Nicola has added a few new tattoos to her collection,

some of which she's happier to show off than others.

I'm not showing you the others!

-Probably one on your bum.

-Left cheek, yeah.

And I got one on my leg, round there, as well,

I can show you that if you want to see that one.

We'll do that one next, OK then.

-What's that one?

-It's a garter with a pair of knuckle dusters.

-OK.

-Bad girl gone good, isn't it?

-That's all right.

-Isn't it? Isn't it?

Nicola is keen to get out of custody in time for her shift,

working as a long distance lorry driver.

With my job, I know what I'm doing, I don't get told what to do,

I've got nobody on my back, I'm just in my wagon, and off I tot,

you know, until the end of the day.

So, yeah, hopefully I'll be out in time to go to work in the morning.

Nicola appeared in front of the court

and was given a £270 fine for a public order offence.

Hundreds of crimes are solved each year by South Wales Police

with the assistance of the Dogs Unit.

Canine cops Ben and Orla

both live and work alongside their dog handler PC Ieuan Evans.

They've got on from day one, they're no worries.

And I walk them with the pets - we've got two pets at home -

so all four will walk together, so it's nice.

Orla's the boss.

-RECORDING:

-'South Wales Police, what's your emergency?'

'There's a young boy came up behind me,

'he broke my handbag, he snatched it off me,

'and ran away.

'I can't get in my house, cos he's got all the keys.'

'Just stay on the line with me now,

'we're going to get officers out to you, OK?'

As PC Evans arrives at the scene,

his fellow dog handler, Leighton, has also responded to the call.

She's gone down there, or he's gone down there?

-He's gone down there.

-Right.

But you've heard what they've said on the radio.

It's been ripped off her.

-Yeah.

-We're assuming he's gone down there,

-he's looking at the footage.

-We don't know which direction.

-He's got cameras there, has he?

-He's got cameras all down the side.

Where does she live? Up there?

I assume she's come from this way.

Time to put Orla to work to find the handbag.

With this sort of scenario we've just got to think like the villain.

So we've got the helicopter up above us now,

so they'll be able to tell us if there's anybody in there.

But I'll clear this lane first

to make sure the handbag hasn't been abandoned,

and that side, and then what we'll do,

we'll just clear this area here, because if he has stolen the handbag

the likelihood is he'd discard it somewhere.

She's out of the vehicle now, so she's knows she's working.

So she's working the area for any ground disturbance,

anything that's out of the ordinary.

An old lady's had her handbag snatched off her in the lane.

-Up here?

-Up here, yes.

-Oh, never!

-So...

-Is she all right?

-Yeah, she's fine.

-She's got a bruised knee, I think, but she's OK.

-Oh, good, good.

-Oh, dear.

-So everybody's happy, eh?

-We don't have to lock our doors then?

-No!

-OK, all right, thank you.

-Thanks.

-RADIO:

-'If you make your way back down to the store,

'we've got information on the person responsible.'

OK. Back en route.

The team have obtained information

regarding the suspect's possible location.

He normally answers if he can hear a dog barking.

Speak. ORLA BARKS

Speak, speak. ORLA BARKS

This is a stab in the dark.

It would be nice to eliminate him from the enquiry.

If he does hear a dog barking, he normally answers.

Hence, get the dog to speak.

Speak. ORLA BARKS

Good girl.

Orla has tried her best.

Go on, get.

A few hours later a suspect was detained and arrested

for theft of the handbag.

In the Cardiff Bay custody suite the detainees continue to arrive.

-Do you want my pockets picked?!

-Jason! We're searching you.

Everyone who comes into custody gets searched.

Sergeant Linda Jones-Mathias has been working in Custody

for the last five years.

-Do you want to take him down to the cell?

-Yeah, yeah.

Just about the usual really,

the cells are full of extremely intoxicated people.

It was four years ago that Linda and Darren

discovered they had more in common than just the job.

We realised that we had the same sense of humour,

and that was probably the catalyst of how we clicked, yeah.

# Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh Nuh-nuh-nuh... #

I was a PC working in Barry,

and then got promoted to Sergeant, promoted into Custody.

When you get promoted into Custody,

you have to have what's called a mentor.

Darren was my mentor,

and it just sort of progressed from there, really.

I don't have relationships with everyone I mentor,

-because I mentored about five men before Linda.

-THEY CHUCKLE

Picked up in Cardiff for drinking and driving is a mother of two.

-What has she blew?

-122.

I'm going to book you into custody, give you your rights,

make sure your health is OK,

then the officer will carry out the station procedure with you, then

we'll make a decision about your alcohol level once you come back.

If I could come back another day and do everything,

because my husband is in Afghanistan, he is away.

If you blow over the drink-drive limit,

you will not be leaving here until you are under the limit,

you have to stay until your alcohol level drops.

-So I couldn't take a taxi home?

-No.

-Cos I...

-I've got children.

-How old are your children?

-Ten and nine.

-Why are they home alone?

They were being dropped home with their mum.

They were in the car with her? Oh, nice. OK.

My major concern regarding her is she's saying she's concerned

about her children yet she was happy to drive in a car

with a ten and nine year old, she said,

and she's more than three times over the drink drive limit.

The limit in the UK is 35 micrograms of alcohol

to 100 millilitres of breath, and she's 122 on the street.

It will be interesting to see what comes back on the breathalyser.

Place your mouth around the tube and blow.

-Harder, keep going.

-BEEPING

It's not enough, you stopped.

-Don't hesitate. If you hesitate, it stops.

-OK.

-OK?

You have to take a deep breath, blow steadily and evenly, don't hesitate.

Deep breath, blow.

BEEPING

Blow. Keep going, keep going. Not enough, stop.

This is probably the last chance you're going to get at this, now.

You're looking at a refusal, now. Or a failure to provide.

It's in your interest now to make sure you blow this time round.

OK, deep breath, and blow.

BEEPING

Keep going, keep going. Stop.

You obviously hesitated or something, because then we just...

-No, I didn't.

-It's aborted it.

OK. Failed to provide.

It's an automatic charge of failure to provide specimen of breath.

You will be charged with that offence and bailed to court,

but I will not be bailing you from the police station

until you are under the drink-drive limit.

Go with my colleague and she will show you where you're going.

'The machines are designed

'so that anybody who is reasonably fit will be able to blow.'

A lot of people won't give a breath because they think that it stops

them getting in trouble or getting done for drink-driving.

She didn't even give herself a chance

because now it's a straightforward charge.

But it wasn't straightforward.

The lady claimed a medical reason as to why she couldn't provide

a breath test and the case was dropped by the court.

B Wing, Sergeant Flower speaking.

South Wales Police Air Support Unit has been gathering intelligence.

And a number of cannabis factories have been discovered this week.

The thermal imaging cameras have identified a house with hotspots,

sometimes linked to the growing of cannabis plants.

Thanks for coming, everyone.

As you know, we've got a warrant to be executed today.

Neighbourhood officer Debbie Johnson is briefing her team.

Satellite imagery of the property.

The dark shadowing shows the heat source.

Once you know that we're in, if you guys can rock up to the house,

and everybody take their places, really.

Being local, Officer Johnson knows the family,

so she hopes she can enter the property without using force.

I've got a warrant, we're doing this as tidy and easy as we can,

because we know you're tidy and I always get on with you, OK?

That's why we just knocked the door.

A tip-off suggests the drugs could have been moved

and stashed in the property's garage.

Possibly some remains, we'll have a little look inside.

The sniffer dog finds traces of something in the car.

They're just ends of spliffs there.

Debbie has also been successful and is able to make an arrest.

Vincent, come here.

'We didn't find exactly what was expected,

'but there was some cannabis'

and some medication that's got no names on it found.

So I've arrested Vincent

and we'll take him down the Bay, where he'll be questioned.

PC Evans may be a dog handler,

but he's a police officer first and foremost.

Out on patrol in Cardiff,

he's just spotted a car driving erratically in a residential area.

Do you think it's acceptable to drive down the street in that manner?

-Yes.

-You do?

-I wasn't over the speed limit.

-But it's aggressive.

-How is that aggressive driving?

-Because it wasn't safe.

If somebody had stepped out into the road, it wasn't safe.

I was one doing over 30 mph, so...

-Regardless of whether you do the speed limit...

-The limit's 30 mph.

The type of area you are in is residential, there's kids,

people walking round, and you're driving too fast for that road.

You've got to assess it, you've got to drive. You've got a skill there.

You've got to reassess every time you're driving. Is it your vehicle?

-My girlfriend's.

-Are you insured on the vehicle?

-Yes.

What's the name, please?

Can I have a vehicle check, please? Grand Avenue. With insurance.

'Yes, got a negative, the only two persons on the policy

'are a Lucy and Ruth. Over.'

Is there a Lee Coleman named on the policy? Over.

-I'm on a trader's policy, as well.

-But you're not trading, are you?

Lee thinks he's legally able to drive the car

under the terms of his trader's insurance.

-But you're not trading, are you?

-No.

-No.

Neither are half the traders who trade on a trader's policy.

I haven't stopped them, I've stopped you.

-You're just being awkward.

-It's not insured to be on the road.

What do you mean? My missus is insured on it.

It's not insured for you to use it on the road.

You never said that, did you? You said the car is not insured.

-It's not insured under you.

-The car is insured.

Under your girlfriend's name. I'm seizing it.

My missus's sister lives literally round the corner.

If you want to get your wife to come and get it,

you're going to be reported for driving with no insurance,

you don't have to say anything, but it may harm your defence...

..anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Do you understand? You're also being put on a Section 59 warning, OK?

For careless and inconsiderate driving.

All right? So if you get caught driving in that manner again,

in any vehicle or in that vehicle,

then the vehicle will be taken off you.

-It's a load of

-BLEEP.

-Opinions vary, but that's the law.

-Yeah.

OK. We'll wait for your girlfriend to come here now, OK?

An unhappy Lee waits for his girlfriend

to collect both him and the car.

And Officer Evans can attend his next call.

Public perception, they see the dog handling and they just think,

"You're just a dog handler. You don't do anything."

But we're still police officers.

I signed up 18 years ago to be a police officer

and that's what I still do.

As I say, the dogs are just - I call them an added luxury.

They're an added tool for us that assist us in doing out policing work.

Arriving at the custody suite is Vincent.

INDISTINCT SPEECH

Officer Debbie Johnson needs to question him

about the cannabis found.

-Are you producing cannabis, growing it anywhere?

-No.

How often do you smoke it?

One a night, if I'm lucky.

It's hard to explain.

I was addicted to it years ago cos I was on it for 20-odd years,

but then I stopped doing it.

Are you worried that you might get addicted again?

Well, yeah, I am worried like.

But that's why I'm just trying to, you know...

-Is that why you just smoke one spliff a night, is it?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-I can't go back down that road again.

-Yeah. Yeah.

HE MUMBLES

..do you know what I mean? That's why I went back on the cannabis.

I didn't want to go back on the cannabis cos

I was doing £300 a week on it.

Right. You don't want to go down that road, do you?

No, I don't want to go down there. That means that...

-That's why...

-HE SIGHS

-Well, maybe this can be a little warning, can't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

When you speak to him, you see, nice guy.

When you speak to him. And he's been through a lot, hasn't he?

If you come back here in the near future it won't be a caution.

Vincent received a caution for possession

and no evidence was found of growing cannabis plants.

INDISTINCT SPEECH

-Police.

-Hi, there's a mad dog in my street and...

it's attacking everybody. Can you come and get it?

It's a fierce dog, pit-bull or whatever they call them.

-I don't know.

-You think it's a pit-bull, do you?

-Yeah.

PC Evans' experience as a dog handler could come in handy,

as the incident involved a dog on the loose.

DOG BARKS Did you see what happened?

It wouldn't stop and then it started attacking Dad.

It attacked that little boy next door and his mother.

-Is this yours?

-He wouldn't have bit anyone.

We'll have a look. I'll speak to them now.

Whatever's happened... Where's he got our from?

Gone out the side door.

-Just round the corner.

-Right.

He scared me because he was literally trying to

do that to my leg, you see. He wasn't trying to play.

And then, the little kid, he just jumped on the kid

and then his mother tried to push the dog off.

And then he started trying to bite the mother,

and she was screaming and the dog was out of control.

Sorry. - He hasn't bit somebody, has he?

I don't know. We've just had the report.

Maybe he's jumped up. Whoever it is has panicked.

He's obviously as Staffordshire bull.

With everything that's going on at the moment, pit-bull,

Staffordshire bulls... How old is he?

- He's only 14 months. 14 month, is he?

He's probably playful, isn't he?

-Calm down. Hey, calm down. Oi.

-Don't panic, OK?

We're not in the habit of just putting healthy dogs down.

All right? They're dogs. It happens.

He's 14 months old. He's still a baby. He's excited.

-All right? We'll get to the bottom of this.

-All right. Cheers.

It later emerged that no-one had been bitten,

so no further action was taken against Oscar and his owners.

With this dog that we just dealt with now, which is a Staffordshire,

which is not a banned breed,

people panic. They see them and automatically think they're pit-bull.

In fact, they're nice natured dogs...generally.

I love this work, working with the dogs.

At the moment, I don't foresee myself doing anything else...until I retire.

After nearly 12 hours of booking in detainees,

the sergeants Jones and Mathias are looking forward

to the end of their shift.

If you follow my colleague here, mate.

But before they can finish,

a homeless man is brought in for being drunk and disorderly.

-All right?

-Morning. How are you?

-SLURRING:

-I haven't done anything.

-Just be cool to let the officer search you.

-No.

I'm going to authorise that you stay here until you sober up a bit.

-I'm sober.

-Until you can look after yourself in a better way.

-I'm all right!

-And we'll make a decision whether to charge you or not.

That's my personal property. Put it back in.

Pop him down the cell and we'll get the nurse to see him.

'When detainees come in under the influence of alcohol,'

especially ones that won't tell us how much they've drunk or whether

they've taken anything else, they are a massive

high risk...from death, really.

They're the ones that we have to keep an eye on the most,

especially if there's a history of alcoholism.

They can withdraw really quickly and they can die really quickly.

We'll just look at your head

and we'll ask you all the questions later. How's that?

HE MUMBLES

-Hmm?

-I fell.

-When did you fall over?

-Er...yesterday.

Yesterday. That happened yesterday, did it?

-Why haven't you cleaned it up then? Haven't you had a wash?

-No.

-No? Did you have some food yesterday?

-No.

No? What about some tea or coffee?

Have you had anything to drink other than alcohol?

-Just alcohol.

-Just alcohol.

We're supposed to be the last resort,

yet we seem to be used as the first resort.

Cos as soon as they've had a drink or they're a little big aggressive,

the hospitals refuse to deal with them, so we end up getting them.

It's frustrating. It's not the right place for someone

who's having a trauma to come into.

You've got to be compassionate as well to the people who do come in.

You strip away the bravado, the drunkenness,

they're people with problems.

You can't take it home with you, you just can't.

Cos otherwise I think it would just drive you mad.

The custody suite never closes. It's open for business 24/7.

But for these sergeants, it's the end of an eventful shift.

Thank you and good night.