Episode 6 The Specials

Get on the floor! Do it now!

The Special Constabulary is the nation's volunteer police force.

-Do you know the gent?

-Watch your speed.

It's made up of over 20,000 members of the public...

Oh, he's gone down there!

..who give their time to fight crime in their communities.

Out! Out! Get out of the car!

Get out of the car!

Specials combine their day jobs....

-Stage please.

-..and home lives...

-There's a good boy.

..with being serving police officers on the frontline.

Coming up...

Tony's under pressure to catch a suspected drug dealer.

SIREN WAILS WOMAN: Keep an eye out for this car.

The particular target has left the property,

which is the one thing we were trying to avoid.

Things aren't quite what they seem when Ben deals with a drunk suspect.

SOBBING: I want to go home!

Don't hurt me!

And, in Cambridge, the Specials assist a major police operation...

Excuse me, can you walk, please?

..to protect some very important visitors.

We're expecting a lot of people to come in this morning,

which makes it a little bit more of a challenge.

CHEERING

Right, this evening, we're to execute a warrant in Cambridge on an individual.

It's 5pm and Cambridgeshire's tactical team

are being briefed about tonight's operation -

a warrant for a suspected drug dealer.

Current intel summary - believed to be currently selling cocaine.

Premises is a ground floor flat, the diagram's attached,

good for getting to know the main route to the front door.

One of the few Specials to be part of this elite unit

-is Special Sergeant Tony Bolton.

-'My personal opinion is the role'

of the Special Constabulary is to support the police,

and we are a volunteer organisation, but there to support the police.

Er, roles - MOE team will be myself, Shawn and Lee.

Entry team will be Tony, Hugh and Suzanne.

Tony has been volunteering as a Special for 11 years

and recently joined this new unit.

'I do feel accepted, I do feel part of the team.'

Anybody that is coming into an organisation

has to work quite hard for that acceptance,

'but I do work quite hard. I believe

'I'm fully accepted by the team and I enjoy my time with them.'

Everyone's happy, ready to go in 15 minutes?

'From the briefing, the particular person we're after,

'we know it's drugs, class A drugs,

'so it's important to get in there as quickly as possible,'

secure anyone within the property to ensure that,

if there is any evidence, we're going to get hold of it...

Have you got the bar?

'..otherwise it goes down the loo, out the window or it's swallowed.

'So everybody's loading up, ready to go,

'then dynamic entry and see what we find.'

Tony is out with the tactical team most Friday nights.

The rest of week, he works as a podiatrist,

helping people with foot problems.

'I think I volunteer my time to give something back.'

To me, it's a form of service to the community.

I've underestimated the weather. It is a little chillier than I thought.

LAUGHTER

Tony's not only a podiatrist and a Special,

he's also a devoted family man,

husband to Veronica and father to 13-year-old Kayleigh.

'I work very hard at trying to achieve a good work-life balance.'

I guess I just work very hard at ensuring

the girls are kept happy and I'm not away too long.

What do you have in tea?

'I just think it's phenomenal, not only does he work all week,

'but then to give time as well'

when most people would actually be far more comfortable sat on the sofa

-and vegged...

-SHE LAUGHS

..than out racing around.

But racing around with the tactical team is what Tony does as a Special

and, tonight, they're on mission to catch a suspected drug dealer.

Lee, five hits and change, yeah?

'The tactical team itself is 30 strong officers'

and that's almost like the enforcement arm

of the Central Intelligence Bureau.

The team head to another police station to collect a warrant -

the legal document allowing them

to search a property and seize any illegal drugs.

We've actually just arrived to pick up the physical warrant,

but we've just had intelligence through the other guys

that are at the address right now and the particular vehicle

of interest to us is there now with its engine running and so,

we're a bit worried that our target might actually be on his way out.

So the guys are getting kitted up as quickly as possible,

grab hold of the warrant, get out of here

and get across to the address as quickly as possible.

So the warrant's just become immediate.

If the suspect does have drugs on him,

it's critical the police catch him red handed.

'This particular gentleman was making'

plans to leave that property and, obviously, we wanted

to execute the warrant that night when we believed he'd taken delivery

and at the time, for all we knew, he could have

had those drugs on him going actually out to sell those drugs.

-Have we got the warrant?

-Right, we gotta make a move, chaps.

WOMAN: Are we going straight to the door?

SIREN WAILS

Now they've got the warrant,

they head to the suspect's home as quickly as possible.

We're still listening to the intelligence

actually coming in on the radio.

As I understand it, the particular target has just left the property,

which is the one thing we were trying to avoid.

It's a little bit confused at the moment, but I think we're going

to end up actually taking the suspect outside the vehicle.

-Kill the blues.

-Keep an eye out for this car.

-What is it?

-An Audi.

Kill the blues as well.

The team plan to intercept the suspect's car...

Go left.

..now being followed by an unmarked police car.

A slightly more subtle approach now, because we don't necessarily

want them to know there's a whole busload of us on our way.

Not this one, next one.

VOICES ON RADIO

There, there, behind you.

-This Audi?

-This Audi here. Follow it, follow it.

We just wanted to make an intercept as quickly as we could

and as safely as we could.

Stop, stop, stop!

Out right now! Out! Out!

Out, get out of the car.

Get out of the car!

Because you were in the vehicle, we're stopping and searching you

under section 23 the Misuse Of Drugs Act.

OK?

I think it's already been done...

The suspect is taken to the police van and searched.

Officers find a small amount of white powder on him,

suspected to be drugs.

We've, er, we've managed to get hold of our suspect.

He's the person we were looking for to execute the warrant on.

There's quite a strong smell of cannabis in the car,

and he's been arrested.

Tony and the team have caught the suspect,

but they still need to go to the man's property and search it.

Tonight's operation is a world away from Tony's day job as a podiatrist.

'When I'm at work, I'm going into a safe, benign environment,'

whereas, as a Special within a police role,

they're not all benign environments at all.

Sometimes, they can be quite hostile environments.

You just have to trust that he's a well-trained policeman,

that his colleagues are well-trained policemen,

um, then you just keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Tony has faith in his training and his team and doesn't think twice

about facing the same risks as his regular paid colleagues.

'I don't tend to worry, because the team's very professional.

'You've got to have trust within the team.'

You just want to get in there, you just want to help,

you want to support, you just want to get on with it.

The front door keys are on the car keys.

The team arrive back with the suspect at his property.

'No need for a dynamic entry.'

Wasn't quite as we planned it, but a good result nonetheless.

You will be strip searched, mate.

-We don't enjoy it either.

-Yeah, OK.

-But we got to do it.

-Go with these two chaps here.

-Yeah, come on.

While some officers search the flat,

others, including Tony, strip search the arrested man.

'Well, strip searching suspects isn't particularly pleasant,'

but it's absolutely vital,

because suspects will always try and hide drugs

and, again, our job is to find and preserve the evidence.

The officers conduct a detailed search of the property,

looking for that all-important evidence.

The herbal substance was just on top of the microwave.

'Everything that's actually found during the warrant will be seized.

'This will be passed across to the evidence officer.'

We'll lock it up and we'll get your keys back to you, mate.

While the search of the flat continues,

the suspect is taken into custody.

-SUSPECT:

-Please don't make too much of a mess.

Promise we won't do.

OK, first of all, I'm satisfied you've been arrested lawfully.

I'm also satisfied that the officers had power of arrest

to bring you to this police station, OK?

We need to talk to you and take a recorded interview.

That will enable you to explain, give your side of what's gone on

and what you were in possession of, OK?

-That is it, right down the end.

-OK.

While Tony is dealing with the arrested man,

news comes in about a discovery back at the property.

'The development at the flat was that more drugs had been found.'

It's a game changer for the person that's actually in custody,

because there is quite a difference with the penalties

between possession and possession with intent to supply.

When Tony gets back to the suspect's flat,

the size of the haul is becoming clear.

It's a mixture of, er, suspected drugs,

large amounts of cash.

I'd say, in total, there's a few thousand pounds.

That's suspected cannabis there.

Um, within that yellow tub,

there's something else we suspect to be cannabis, full up.

Within foil, in there, what we suspect to be class A drugs.

The person's obviously got to account for, um,

the items we've found here, including drugs and cash, um,

and any information that might be available on the things we've seen.

Initially, he's been absolutely adamant that the little bit we found

-is all there was.

-Yeah.

-So I don't know.

The guy's lied through his teeth. What he's going to do now,

-when it's all put to him...

-Yeah.

-..I don't know. Not reliable.

Drugs and money aren't the only things

uncovered by officers during the search.

It's within his home, but if you were to take that into the street,

then there would be an offence committed there, so...

But this is the sort of thing he's got on top of his kitchen cupboards.

You could chop a lot of tomatoes with it, I think.

The contents of a digital photo frame

also cause concern for Tony and his colleagues.

Yeah, the barrel. Minimum barrel in this country is 24 inches,

so, yeah, that's a sawn off shotgun, yeah.

'Finding weapons, sadly, isn't that unusual.

'From hammers behind doors to baseball bats.'

And it is something that we come up against and finding things like that

I think just reminds every single police officer

of the dangers involved in the job we're doing.

Nearly two hours later, Tony and the team leave

with all the evidence they've found.

'I hope I'm making a difference

'every time I go out in uniform as a Special Constable.'

When you're actually working on the frontline as a policeman,

you do see a lot of the negative effect of drugs,

'but there's no doubt, selling drugs can be incredibly profitable

'and some people make a ginormous amount of money off it,'

but all the money they're making

is always off the back of somebody's else's misery.

Ultimately, there was insufficient evidence

to charge the suspect with dealing.

He pleaded guilty to possession of class A and class B drugs.

He received a fine and the drugs were destroyed.

Specials are unpaid volunteers who work alone

or alongside the regular police to fight crime in their communities.

-We got all of 'em!

-I don't want you walking on the main road again.

-Come on.

-Recovery's en route.

Specials are not Police Community Support Officers.

They're fully fledged members of the police force

who have the same powers in law as their paid colleagues,

including the power of arrest.

-Stop it!

-Move over.

-No, no, no.

-Move out the way.

Within many Special Constabularies, officers can rise through the ranks

from constable all the way to Chief Specials Officer.

Ouch! I've found the thorn.

You're under arrest. Anything you say will be written down.

Specials work 16 hours a month or more as volunteers

and undertake all kinds of duties...

Squawk!

..from policing community events to arresting hardened criminals.

CLOCK STRIKES

Sometimes, Specials are required

to support their regular colleagues policing major events.

In Cambridge, it's 7am

and Special Sergeant Kirsti Bruce is getting ready for her shift.

'I normally would be on my way to work,'

so, yeah, I've taken the day off to do this.

27-year-old Kirsti has been volunteering as a Special

for the last three years.

-Shall we go this way?

-Er...

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

When she's not giving her time to the police, Kirsti works as a nanny.

Here we go.

Oh, look, you have to make it. Not just paint it, you have to make it.

Kirsti has teamed up with her colleague for the day -

Special Constable Jamie Cooper - who also has a day job.

'I work at Sainsbury's supermarkets'

on the hot food, meat and fish counters.

Can you order a new ticket for the Wensleydale with cranberries?

'I worked on it during uni as a part-time job

'and, er, since finishing a couple of months ago,

'I've now gone full time.'

Specials Kirsti and Jamie are playing a small part

in a large scale security operation,

designed to protect some very important visitors.

The whole force is on high alert.

We're expecting a lot of people to come in this morning,

which makes it a little more of a challenge for us policing wise.

Because of the nature of the visit, Market square will be closed

for buses, taxis, most likely even cyclists.

We'll be asking them to go on foot.

So obviously a lot of people. We don't want any trouble whatsoever.

PEOPLE CHEER

Large crowds are building

and the police are vigilant to potential threats.

Kirsti and Jamie's job is to stop traffic

and make sure there are no vehicles in the area

where the VIPs will arrive, even bikes.

Can I ask you to get off of your bike, please, and walk down?

You can go there, but you have to walk.

Can I just ask you to dismount and walk down, please? Thank you.

We do have a lot of cyclists. We are busy.

CHEERING

HUGE CHEER

Your Royal Highnesses, what an absolute delight it is

to welcome you to the city of Cambridge today.

CHEERING

Away from the crowds,

it's not quite as exciting for Kirsti and Jamie today.

Stop, please!

Nevertheless, the Specials are still committed

to playing their part in the bigger security operation.

You are cycling the wrong way down a one-way street.

Hello, mate. Unfortunately,

this road is going to be closed from now until this afternoon.

Excuse me, can you walk, please?

It's actually always nice

to do something a little bit different to the, er, standard

Friday, Saturday night shifts that we are all very well used to.

I just enjoy it. It's something to do.

I've got a lot of spare time, it's a worthy cause. It's just nice.

Good fun. I enjoy it.

This is a day that Katherine and I

have looked forward to for a very long time.

18 months, in fact, ever since my grandmother, the Queen,

on the morning of our wedding,

bestowed on us the name of this great city.

Excuse me, sorry, can you dismount, please?

The Specials might have the raw deal,

but at least they've got their patter right.

Can you walk please, mate?

Some people, I've asked them to walk that way

and then, I've told them that you have to walk that way as well,

as that's one way, then they go that way!

CHEERING

There is a man running down there.

He's going to have his work cut out trying to get through those crowds.

Can I just ask, is this your bike?

MAN RESPONDS, INAUDIBLE OK, that's fine.

I just wanted to make sure. It's a bit of an unusual...bike.

The Royal visit has passed off without incident

and the Specials have done their duty, even if they didn't

get to meet the Duke and Duchess in person this time.

I've never really seen any royal, so I thought it'd be quite nice,

but, as it is, I'm still not going to see any royal!

In Peterborough, Special Constable Ben Ventham

is out on shift with regular officer PC Petr Torak.

A call comes in over the radio of an incident involving a drunk woman.

ON RADIO: '..she's running down Bretton Gate, towards the hospital.

'She's lying in the middle of the road

'between the roundabout at the station

'and the next roundabout going towards the hospital.'

SIREN WAILS

We've got reports of a drunk female lying in a road.

Sort of a pretty busy main road as well, er,

and disrupting an ambulance crew in their duties,

so, er, we're going to head over there now.

When Ben isn't doing his duty as a Special, he has to cope

with the demands of a full-time job as a recruitment consultant.

OFFICE CHATTER

I don't suppose you've got any web graphic designers?

You want to log in to that?

-I've got a web graphic designer roll on there.

-Yeah?

'I work 9 to 5 in my day job, whereas, when I'm policing,'

you could be working from 5pm in the evening

till 7am doing a night shift.

I've got another guy in, um, who they've given the test to,

and they want to book him for an interview.

'In my day job, I talk to people that want my help.

'And, er, in the evenings, when I'm out on shift,

'I talk to people that don't want my help.'

It's a good time, a very good time to get on board.

24-year-old Ben has been a Special Constable for a year.

'I've always grown up wanting to be,'

probably wanting to be a police officer, um,

and I've always done things throughout my life,

whether it being through school or work,

I've always been in a role where I've helped people.

SIREN WAILS, OFFICERS CHATTER

'Being a Special is a great way of giving back to the community

'and it's just being in situations that you've never been in before.'

Petr and Ben arrive on scene

to find the woman lying at the side of a busy road.

My colleague's here...

'When we got there, it was clear she'd had a lot quite to drink,

'whether she was under the influence of drugs as well, we don't know.

It's a testing situation for a young volunteer like Ben.

WOMAN SOBS

Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me!

You go to some incidents, um...

and events that are very challenging, are very upsetting.

-I want to go home!

-Where do you live?

'It was clear that she was emotionally unstable.

'She was wailing about on the ground.

'She was crying, she was shouting.'

Come on, then.

'One moment, she wanted help. The next moment, she didn't.'

-I'm sorry, sorry.

-That's all right.

I'm with it now.

We'll just sit you in the back of the van for now

and then we'll go from here, yeah?

-I want my...

-SHE SOBS

-Don't leave me!

-OK, come on.

SOBBING CONTINUES, OFFICERS SPEAK AT ONCE

No, don't leave me!

'When you see someone in a very intoxicated state,

'it's quite depressing.

'You see so many people that are drunk.'

It's quite frustrating, um,

that they put themselves in their own situation.

They don't know how far they can take their...their drinking.

-Come on, mate.

-With the woman in the back of the van,

Ben and Petr try to find out what's gone on.

There's a report around the corner that a vehicle's been damaged.

Another officer on scene

informs Ben and Petr that a nearby car has been found vandalised.

BANGING FROM INSIDE, SHE YELLS

The woman is angry and frustrated at being contained in the van,

but the officers need to establish

if there are any witnesses to the alleged criminal damage.

'There were a few other people, bystanders there,

'that had witnessed her kick and damage'

a vehicle just off the road.

-You're nothing to do with this?

-No, we was just with her.

The officers then have a word with the owner of the damaged vehicle.

What we'll need to do is to take the lady to the police station

and then get some statements and stuff, yeah?

-All right?

-Yes.

-It will take about an hour or so.

-All right.

OK, cheers, we'll see you later.

We've arrested her on suspicion of criminal damage

and, um, we'll take her back to Thopewood and the cells

and then we'll head on and get some statements and follow up enquiries.

The officers' immediate priority is the intoxicated suspect

and so they head off with her to custody.

It's all part of Ben's job as a Special.

'I would like to be viewed as...'

as a normal officer that's giving up my own time, not getting paid, um,

to try and help the community

and obviously help normal officers as well.

WOMAN SOBBING, VOICE DISTORTED

-Come on. That's all right.

-Help me, please.

-Come on.

By the time they arrive at the station, it's 10:30 at night.

-Hang on a second.

-Who's that?

-That's one of our colleagues.

-SOBS:

-Help me, please!

It's all right. So we'll go up in there.

OK, come with me.

Whoa!

All right, just want to go through a quick gap.

We'll put you in a cell, you can have a sleep. We'll get a coffee.

They've brought the suspect to the custody suite for processing.

SOBBING CONTINUES

You all right? Time of arrest, please.

-Up you get.

-Come on, just stand up.

-Up you get, my lovie.

I've never seen anyone fall asleep at the custody desk,

especially in front of a custody sergeant, um...

'It's my first time I've witnessed that, um...

'I don't suspect it will be my last.'

-There you go, come on, that's it. Do you want to sit down?

-Have a seat.

THE WOMAN COUGHS

Circumstance of why she's been arrested, please.

-Stop it!

-Pack it in.

PETR: She's been seen to be smashing vehicles.

If you keep hitting yourself in the face, I'll handcuff you.

-SOBS:

-Stay with me!

Has she assessed by paramedics? Have you been taking any drugs?

-I've had cannabis, if that helps.

-It does help.

Have you got any injuries at this time?

-I've hit my head a couple of times. I've got a bit of a headache.

-OK.

-How did you hit your head?

-My fist, I think.

-Hurting yourself, were you?

-Yeah.

Listen, this is important. Have you got any medical conditions?

I've got schizophrenia. I hear voices.

It's becoming clear to Ben

that the suspect has more issues than alcohol and drug abuse.

SOBBING CONTINUES

'She explained to the sergeant that she suffered from schizophrenia.'

It puts everything quite into perspective, um... It, um...

'You can kind of see how and why she reacted in certain ways, um,

'back out on the street when we arrested her.'

It's, um, it's quite difficult to take in.

Ben's learnt that this case isn't as straightforward

as it first appeared back at the roadside.

-Feel like harming yourself when you're here?

-Sometimes, yeah.

-What about now?

-A little bit.

-Now?

-A little bit.

-Little bit?

I could get a knife right now and just go...

Well, we won't let you hurt yourself while you're here.

As you know, the cells here are all covered by CCTV,

so we can keep an eye on you, make sure you don't cause any damage.

You've got the right to have someone told that you've been arrested

-and detained here. You're going to tell your mum, are you?

-My mum.

-Speak to your mum.

-OK.

Mum, I'm really sorry.

SHE SOBS, WORDS INAUDIBLE

'Once someone's been arrested, you're always given the opportunity

'to let someone know where you are and that you have been arrested.'

-SOBS:

-I can't remember!

I'm sorry!

'And it's often, more often than not, I think, nine out of ten times,

'people would call their mums. It's probably innate behaviour we have.

'We want our mums when we're in, er, in desperate trouble.'

She was clearly very upset, um, very troubled and she wanted

to let her mum know exactly what had happened, where she was.

I don't know, Mum. If I knew, I'd tell you.

-Come on, then.

-The officers took the woman to the cells,

where she was assessed by paramedics.

This way?

Due to insufficient evidence,

the woman was later released without charge.

'It does affect me massively, but I think the reason I carry on doing it

'is because, deep down inside, I really enjoy the job.'

I've learnt a lot about myself being a Special Constable.

You learn new things, new challenges, you're put in situations

'you would never be in outside of being a police officer.'

I do think I make a difference as a Special.

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