Episode 1 Police 24/7

This time on Police 24/7...

stolen antique furniture is hunted down by the Priority Policing Team.

I've got a warrant to search the premises under the Theft Act, OK?

On Gower, PC Phil Davies is on the hunt for an oil thief.

That looks wet to me. That looks as if there's oil there.

And officers on the night shift try to keep Swansea's party people safe.

Mike, sit up! Mike.

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.

Swansea, Wales' second largest city,

with a population of almost a quarter of a million.

Like most urban areas, South Wales Police are fighting drug crime 24/7.

The intel obviously came in last night

that a quantity of controlled drugs is there as we speak.

Darren's been up this morning, had a quick look.

Tiny's going to do the door, via the ram hit.

You've had a chance to have a look, haven't you?

-Yeah, it's one big panel, by the look of it.

-Yeah.

Sergeant Mike Francis is leading the Priority Policing Team,

who are preparing to execute a warrant.

The subject himself, Jordan McGuire, date of birth, 17th March, '92,

he's got no warning markers.

As far as the intel is concerned,

the controlled drugs are somewhere on the premises.

Don't know exactly where.

So it'll be in, secure, and a thorough search.

-Is everyone happy?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

This elite team is tasked daily with the force priorities,

and PC Lee Robbins has been part of the unit for the last nine years.

Priority Policing Team.

Literally whatever the priority is in the sector

we're working in at that time.

It might be burglaries, it might be drugs.

We just target that for whatever period of time's required.

The priority can change at any time, and then we'll just move on to

whatever the bosses want us to actually target.

The team are responding to intelligence which suggests

the man at the address may have illegal pills in his possession.

-Breach. Police!

-Police!

-Police!

Stay back, show me your hands!

Came here, we're executing a drugs warrant here, all right?

You're being detained while this warrant's carried out, all right?

-What's your name?

-Jordan.

-Do you live here?

-Yes.

-Anyone else?

-No.

OK, I'm going to take you downstairs, sit you down,

-and we'll have another chat down there, all right?

-OK.

OK, it's a drugs warrant we're executing.

Is there anything here that shouldn't be here?

-I've got pills for myself.

-Where are they?

-In the bookcase.

-OK.

It's been a straightforward knock for the team, as the suspect

has offered up the evidence that they were looking for.

This is what you pointed out over here, is that right?

-Is this what you were referring to?

-It is.

The team have recovered what looks likely to be ecstasy tablets.

Things aren't looking good for McGuire.

-WATER GUSHES

-Oh, Jesus!

Is the washing machine on?

Problem with your washing machine, mate.

We've got a swimming pool in here now.

Have you got a mop or anything, mate?

First item found is a clear plastic bag

containing brown coloured tablets.

-Quite simply, what is it?

-Pills.

I'm now arresting you on suspicion of being in possession

of a class A drug.

The controlled drugs are there, we've taken them off the streets.

No doubt at the weekend, they would've been

flooded out throughout Swansea,

so preventing that from happening is great.

One wanted suspect arrested,

and off to custody to answer some tough questions.

-Come and stand in front there.

-Stand there, Jord.

-All right, mate.

Do you understand why you've been arrested?

As per the evidence received by the officers,

a drugs search warrant was executed at your home address.

Officers have entered and found a large quantity of MDMA,

drugs, which is a class A drug,

therefore, you've been arrested.

I'm authorising your detention

to secure and preserve evidence

and to obtain evidence by way of questioning.

-Do you understand all that so far?

-Yeah.

You can go down.

-What number, Sarge?

-13, pal.

When McGuire appeared before the courts, he was found guilty

of possession of class A drugs, and was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine.

Just a few miles from Swansea city centre

is the beautiful Gower Peninsula.

Its rich country landscape is a haven for holiday-makers.

Policing the area for rural crime is the job of Gower cop PC Phil Davies.

Come on!

Yo! Come on.

Phil's lived and worked on Gower for the last 16 years.

It's a lot different to my colleagues in town.

You're a lot closer to the community, particularly

if you happen to live in the community, as well.

Things you deal with will be a lot different,

and when things tend to go wrong,

you're aware of it far earlier, because it's day to day life.

First call of the day is to farmer Denver Austin,

who has reported a hit and run.

Just as well, cos there was no way I was going to catch him.

-What time yesterday roughly?

-In the afternoon sometime.

-Sheep has been killed?

-I had to put it down, yeah.

No idea of any car or anything?

There was a number of cars there, I understand,

but nobody could tell him who hit it.

Some years you can go with nothing, you're lucky,

-but I've had two now in a month.

-Yeah.

It's not always a question of speed.

The chap who knocked down the last lamb,

he reckoned he was only going at 30mph,

but it's for people to be aware that when there's stock there,

they can at any moment just cross the road.

I think it's important that these accidents are reported because...

Absolutely, yeah.

I mean, at the end of the day, it's your stock, isn't it?

People don't know how big the problem is unless we say it.

Absolutely, yeah.

-I'll catch up with you soon.

-Thank you.

-See you.

Dealing with livestock is a regular part of Phil's job,

as cattle and horses have the right to graze freely on the common.

A lot of people will say, "Well, why don't they fence the commons?

"Why don't they enclose the animals on the commons?"

They're not allowed to do that by law.

Recently, road collisions have increased, so Phil is hoping

Peter Lanfear from the Gower Commoners Association can help him.

It's quite convenient, actually.

-Just been down to speak to Denver.

-Oh, right.

He's had some sheep knocked over down in...

Yesterday, I think we had one fall knock-down,

we had a sheep with Denver, last week, we had a cow.

You know, if you sort of had these type of accidents with

someone on a push-bike...

suddenly it becomes high policing.

If you get hold of a hand-held camera, and we can deploy it.

Once our presence is there, it's like the van -

-other road users are warned, they will slow down.

-Yeah.

Just bring people's awareness to, it is 40mph,

-so, please, slow down a bit.

-Yeah.

Guys, there's been a burglary in West Cross area.

A number of items stolen, all antique furniture.

Back in Swansea, the Priority Policing Team

has been tasked with their next case.

PC Rob Hill is leading the team on today's antiques hunt.

Enquiries have been made on Gumtree.

The items appear to be for sale from a male person in the Swansea area.

Subscriber checks have come back to an address

in Skewen, so we've got a search warrant under the Theft Act.

OK, no problem.

One in 10 crimes committed in Wales are burglaries,

and stolen antiques can be traded online at a fast pace.

Even though the burglaries happened a few months ago, the information

we've received is quite recent, and we've got to act on that

as quick as we can.

We're hoping that we find the furniture that's been stolen.

-That's the back, isn't it?

-I think this should be it.

-Yeah.

This right here.

Hello there. I'll just explain why we're here first, mate.

We've got a warrant to search your premises under the Theft Act, OK.

Go sit in by here.

Right, the allegation is, there's been a burglary, OK?

A load of antique furniture has been stolen.

Are you selling anything on any internet websites?

-Gumtree.

-Gumtree, is it?

There we are, so you've got items for sale

on Gumtree at the minute, yeah?

Two little tables. There's two little tables on it.

We'll have a quick cursory search.

Cheers, pal.

The team are looking for distinctive pieces of stolen furniture.

We're in possession of photographs of the stolen property.

We've executed the warrant, as soon as we've come upstairs,

we seen the chaise longue there.

Obviously matches the description, bang on, of the property

that has been stolen during the break.

We've taken photographs of it in situ,

and it's going to be seized now as part of the enquiry.

You're going to be arrested now, OK, on suspicion of burglary.

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence

if you do not mention when questioned

something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

I ain't done nothing.

I didn't pinch anything, like.

The gentleman who's just been arrested

states there's a couple of lock-ups he uses to store

property in, so he's going to take us there now to have a look around.

So that's our next stop.

Swansea City Centre is a mecca for retail outlets.

But not all customers are willing to part with their cash.

Lifters who don't want to pay for their shopping

are a daily problem for neighbourhood PC Ruth Davies.

We've got a male adult shoplifter detained.

He is compliant at present in the 99p Store.

So he's saved himself a lot of money by going there.

I think they think because this stuff is so cheap,

they won't bother reporting it.

I did have someone who stole pasties and concealed them

in their armpits, which was nice.

And they weren't packaged, either.

They were loose pasties in the armpit.

So I'm hoping he wasn't going to give them away after that.

That's pretty grim.

-Where is he?

-He's in the office.

-Fab.

-You all right to show me?

-Need me to show you?

Cos I haven't had one in here before.

It turns out that the suspected shoplifter

and PC Davies have met before.

-You all right?

-Yeah, fine, thank you.

-What have you been doing, then?

-He's admitting to the theft.

-Right.

But he won't admit to everything else

-that we found in his possession.

-Right, I'm going to caution you.

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence

if you do not mention when questioned something

which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence. All right?

So, you're saying you've only had the fish today?

I'm saying I've had the fish today.

-Am I all right to see the CCTV?

-Yeah.

The footage shows Danny stealing the tins of fish, but nothing else.

What can you confirm that you sell in your store?

-We sell the Fox's biscuits, and we sell the fish.

-OK.

Let me tell you now, you don't sell Fray Bentos pies any more.

You stopped selling them.

-Hang on a minute now. We're having a discussion.

-I know, but I...

You will get your opportunity on interview to say what's happened.

Listen to me now, you're under arrest for shoplifting.

You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you don't mention when questioned

something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you want to make a reply?

I'm happy to turn on and say that the fish is from the store.

And nothing else.

It's only shoplifting fish, like.

Not exactly the crime of the century, is it?

-Are you all right to grab the doors for me?

-Yeah.

Danny is taken into police custody, and Ruth now has to investigate.

He's got tons of stuff on him.

So, that'll be the fun bit now,

trying to sort where the rest of it's come from.

Ruth has 24 hours to prove Danny lifted the other goods,

as well as the fish he's admitted to stealing.

The custody clock is ticking.

The Swansea Priority Policing Team have arrested a male suspect

on suspicion of theft of antique furniture.

The team are about to search his lock-up for further stolen items.

CLATTERING

-It's not here, is it?

-They'd be indoors, as well, wouldn't they?

-Right, where would that table be if it's in here?

-There somewhere.

This one by here, is it?

-It looks tiny there.

-It looks small, doesn't it?

-Mike, try that.

-That's more like it.

This is what we're looking for.

The suspect will now be taken into police custody to answer

questions about the stolen furniture found in his possession.

Burglary occurred in the West Cross area in February.

Antique furniture was stolen.

The victims of the burglary are Ishi Church and his family.

-So do you mind coming down?

-Yeah, sure.

Ishi's here to identify the furniture

that the team have retrieved.

At least you got one of the good ones.

Is that the one of them?

-Yeah, both ours, definitely.

-OK.

-Definitely, yeah.

I've been checking eBay and Gumtree like Sherlock Holmes at home

on the computer all the time every week.

He hasn't looked after them. No.

Definitely have to repaint them now.

The suspect was charged with handling stolen goods.

When he appeared before the courts, he pleaded guilty,

and was sentenced to a year-long community and rehabilitation order.

He also had to pay a £250 fine.

Neighbourhood officer Ruth Davies is also on a hunt

to reunite some items with the rightful owner.

Shoplifter Danny is in custody,

having admitted to stealing 13 cans of fish,

but not the other items found with him.

Ruth has to find the evidence of the purchase.

Right, we've got NutriGrains, batteries...

..pork pies.

Yeah, this is what I joined for(!)

Serious crime.

But finding which shop the goods have come from is no easy task.

Right, we'll try the other pound shop.

Is there any way of checking your tills

to see if these items have gone through today?

Meanwhile, in custody,

fish thief Danny is taking advantage of room service.

He's on to his seventh lasagne.

Lovely. Thank you. Ta-ra.

Erm... All theirs,

every single thing, so they've now got to check the CCTV

and check the till receipts to see if they match up.

But Danny wasn't caught stealing on camera this time.

And there's no proof to say the other items were stolen.

It's the end of the line for Ruth.

It's really time-consuming.

I mean, there is a lot of paperwork that will go in to just this one...

£13 theft.

That's me gone for a whole day.

When there's loads of other stuff that I could be doing,

making a bigger impact somewhere else within the community.

Danny is free to leave custody,

and is happy with the treatment he's received.

I just popped in. I had seven microwave meals.

Charged with shoplifting 14...

No, 13 tins of fish.

And I've got to catch my own, they said.

The courts didn't let fish thief Danny Davies of the hook.

He pleaded guilty, and was fined £330.

13 tins was pushing my luck.

The best way to do something is pick two up and put one back.

Don't be greedy.

If you make your way to the green for the fancy dress...

They're not throwing sponges of water, are they?

Cos I'm going to be a prime candidate if they are.

On Gower, and neighbourhood PC Phil Davies is on duty

at the Llanrhidian village fair.

Hiya, all right? Gareth, all right? How are you doing?

You've got to stand back a bit, haven't you?

You're hitting it from point-blank range, man!

-Charlie wants to be a policeman when he's older.

-Do you?

To me, this is what policing is all about.

It's about getting to know a community and trying to...

help a community, and have the time to do it.

Hi, all right? How are you doing?

Yeah, well, if you can get to speak to people,

you can understand what their problems are,

and then hopefully keep the area crime-free.

See you. Ta-ra!

Knowing his people and his patch is vital for Phil to do his job

over the 70 square miles of countryside he has to patrol.

This is a gentleman who is reporting the third theft

of central heating fuel from his tank in the garden.

He's an elderly gentleman, and quite clearly something like this

will cause him and his wife quite a lot of concern.

Hello.

After two previous visits,

PC Davies is now familiar with Mark Keegan's disappearing oil.

Let's have a look at the tank.

That looks as if there's oil there.

There is over the time, I think.

But that may have been leaking for a good while.

-Just very slightly.

-Right, OK.

The problem is...

the camera isn't pointing quite correctly on this.

-I'll show you the film in a minute.

-Right, OK.

-I haven't got it quite on the tank.

-So where?

-The tank is over here, is it?

-Just here, yes.

-Right.

The camera itself is a motion sensor, so if there is any movement,

it will record events.

The cow has set that off!

Although there is nothing wrong with what it's recording,

if we could get it on the tank rather than the side,

that may be advantageous.

I couldn't move it around, actually.

Right.

You're a big bloke. You can help there.

So we want to move it across a bit, don't we?

It's very, very stiff, and I'm reluctant to...

-RECORDING OF DOG BARKING

-..to force it,

because I could damage it.

Try a little bit harder.

Oh, wait there. Now it's moved.

Oh, well done.

Right, I take it you've got the sound of the dog

attached the camera, have you?

-Doesn't do any bloody good though. It didn't wake me up.

-Oh!

When I joined the police, this is what I wanted to do.

I wouldn't necessarily say I wanted to be a Gower policeman,

but you're certainly part of the community and try to do your bit

to make sure that if they are the victims of crime,

that you do your best for them.

At night, Swansea gets swamped with party people.

He's not going to lock you up tonight!

LAUGHTER

My next-door neighbour.

Deal with the headaches in the morning and give them a knock.

The infamous Wind Street is a 300-metre strip

that is home to most of the city's bars, pubs and clubs.

And when the revellers get seriously intoxicated

and need medical attention,

there is a safe haven close by.

I'm the nurse, OK?

I fell on the dance floor...

On the dance floor, OK.

This mobile first aid unit was installed to help police

deal with injured and drunk people.

Where are you stopping, byt?

It's funded by the South Wales

Police and Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael,

and tonight,

he's meeting with the student police volunteers who work here.

There are about 1,000 people who have been helped

since the help point came into being last September.

And the statistic I find useful is the fact that on the first night,

there were 18 ambulance journeys that weren't needed,

and on 18 occasions, of course, that means police officers

were back on the streets helping to keep people safe.

He's drunk a bit too much.

He can't stand on his own two feet.

We're bringing him down here now, get him some water,

sober him up and get a taxi home for him then.

All right, Mike?

Bring him over here.

Have a little sip of water by here now.

There's no need to get out of the chair.

Have a drop of that.

I'm OK. I'm OK.

-Take a pew, will you?

-Mike!

Well, we'll get you sobered up now, right?

I'm going to get you some water.

The St John Ambulance medics are concerned, as their patient, Mike,

seems to have mixed alcohol with his prescribed medication.

I've just looked up some of the treatment that this gentleman is on,

and it says that using it with alcohol could cause

some unpredictable emotional symptoms.

So maybe that's why Mike feels as he does.

HE SOBS

It was a one time only thing, wasn't it?

-Come on, you're all right.

-I know that!

Mike has a visitor.

It's his girlfriend, Lauren.

HE CRIES

Come on, now.

I don't want her to be pissed off at me.

Mike, sit up!

Mike!

It's all right.

His blood pressure dropped a little bit and then he had his...

A bit of an episode out there.

The team decide to take action, and put Mike on an intravenous drip

to get fluids into him fast,

as he is severely dehydrated.

It is, the impact of excess of alcohol is pretty frightening.

I think what's terrific is the resilience with which the students

are coping with the sorts of things that they are seeing.

They are providing a really important public service.

Come on, then.

Taxi's waiting outside.

Eventually, the fluids do their trick,

and Mike is back on his feet and ready to go home.

I've got to be honest, I'm glad they found me

and I'm glad they helped me, so...

Right, see you again, Mike.

All the best, pants and vest.

It's the morning after the night before,

and PC Ruth Davies is on duty to mop up the after-effects.

We are going to Wind Street.

We are going to empty some of our drug safes.

Each premises, as part of their licensing agreement,

has got to have a drug safe.

The door staff then, as a condition of entry,

they can search their patrons to see if they've got anything on them.

No-one is prosecuted, so it's more of an amnesty bin than anything,

to sort of stamp out drug use on Wind Street.

Hiya! You OK?

-How are you doing?

-Ruth.

-Hi, I'm Phil.

-Phil, nice to meet you.

Any drugs that are seized are posted into this safe,

which only the police have the key to.

This is quite a lot for a few months.

On this occasion, looks like we've got some ecstasy tablets.

That's a bit old school.

Bit of coke in this one.

Just seems to be the go-to thing now, doesn't it?

They'll go out and do a bit of coke.

They go out this is more grainy, so that's going to be meow.

It's got a slight yellow tinge to it as well.

And it absolutely stinks.

We do get bad batches going around.

People overdosing and stuff,

so it's good for us to know what's out there.

We bag them up then as a job lot,

and then when we get back to Swansea Central, book them in.

Make sure none falls out.

-Thank you very much.

-No problem, that's fine.

And I'll speak to you soon. Cheers. Ta-ra now.

Being part of the neighbourhood team

in the city centre is rewarding work for Officer Davies.

You see a problem through from beginning to end -

you're a single point of contact.

You do actually feel like you make a difference.

As opposed to just being a faceless police officer.

And being visible when policing in his community

is at the heart of Gower cop PC Davies' workload, too.

I've had a call from a lady who lives out in Kittle,

a small community a couple of miles away from here.

She's found what she describes as a nine-inch dagger

on the cliffs.

The weapon in question was discovered

by retired couple Mr and Mrs Chambers,

when they were out taking in the views of Three Cliffs Bay.

It's a little bit more lethal than ceremonial.

So where did you find that?

There is a little seat where we always end up sitting

-after our walk.

-Yes?

And it was under the seat sort of lying in the grass.

I only found it because my hat blew off my head.

I thought it was just a funny thing to find on the Gower.

If you were walking about the street with that,

you would be breaking the law,

because of the length of the blade and the article that it is.

You'd be breaking the law.

I used to work for the police as well. In London.

-But I said, nobody can walk around with that.

-No, that's right.

It's ridiculous.

There's really no excuse for carrying that around, is there?

If anything turns up, I'll let you know. OK?

-There we are. Good to see you.

-Thanks a lot.

-See you.

The knife may be a sign of changing times on Gower,

but after 16 years of policing the patch,

PC Davies is still captivated by its beauty.

There's very few offices around

that would offer you a view like that.

One of the best views going. Can't fault that, can you?

Next time on Police 24/7...

Whisky-Lima-five-five.

..officers respond to a distressed man's call for help.

I've dealt with people like Peter Sutcliffe.

You name them, I've dealt with them, in Brixton Prison.

But I can't cope with this.

The detectives are out looking for clues.

I mean, there is an old glove on the floor here, but it's soaking wet.

I don't know if we'll get anything, but it's worth keeping.

And a suspected burglar isn't happy

about spending the night in a custody cell.

-Wait till I see the boy. Wait till I see

-BLEEP.

-I'm going to

-BLEEP

-stab him.

I love you, Dad, right. Ta-ra.