Episode 7 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...

He's gone down there.

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

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 front line.

Coming up - a man with a knife has barricaded himself in his kitchen.

There's blood all around the door frame, we've got to get in there.

It's a dog's life for Adam as three pooches give him the run-around.

This is ridiculous, isn't it? Come here!

Talk about a wild goose chase, it's a wild dog chase.

And a routine traffic stop takes a violent turn for Chris.

-They'd better not be in my

-BLEEP

-house when I get back!

It's ten o'clock at night in Cambridgeshire.

Special Constable James Chatfield is out on patrol on his own.

-RADIO:

-Male's taken an overdose and is smashing the premises up, over.

An emergency call has just come in from the ambulance service,

requesting police assistance at a residential address.

There's a male that's taken an overdose,

but he's smashing the place up at the same time.

There is another mobile on their way from Huntingdon, but they're

currently tied up with something so we might be first on scene.

James is used to working on his own and is well aware of the dangers

of going solo into a situation like this.

It sounds like it could be a violent situation,

the guy's smashing the place up, so not ideal. Far from it.

James joined the Specials a year and a half ago,

inspired by childhood memories of riding in his dad's police car.

With my dad being a police officer in Cambridgeshire, it did inspire me.

You'd be at home on a Saturday and a police car would turn up

and it would be him just popping by to say hello.

I did get to have a go in the police car on one occasion.

You look in the rear-view mirror and you think,

"Ah, I'm in a police car." That's when I thought, "I want to do that."

In his day job James is an estate agent,

but he gives up his evenings and weekends to work as a Special.

I do it for various reasons.

I think the main one is the buzz that you get from helping people.

It's very important to be community minded -

if you're not willing to help out the community or put yourself out for it,

it's not going to work at all.

Cheers.

Having spent 30 years in the police force himself,

James's dad - who's now retired - couldn't be prouder of his son.

It's what he wants to do and I fully support him.

He enjoys it and gets an awful lot out of it

and he's still part of the police family.

Really, really proud.

Tonight, James is heading into a potentially dangerous situation.

A man has taken an overdose and is acting violently.

The ambulance service has called for police back-up

and James believes he might be the first officer on scene.

My thoughts were, "Oh, my God, what am I going to do?"

I've been told he's got a weapon

so I'm thinking I will be his next target.

When he arrives,

James finds two other police units have also responded.

I turned round the corner of the road and I could see a van,

one police van and a police car, which was fantastic.

The man's mother is also there -

she was the one who called the ambulance -

and the man himself is in the kitchen.

He's barricaded the door with his body and won't let anyone in.

But the scene outside the kitchen is truly shocking.

I've never seen anything like it.

The sofas had been pushed about, vases smashed,

light fittings smashed, the curtains were pulled off and there was

blood stains right around the door frame and on the walls.

The ambulance crew need to get to the man urgently

to assess his injuries, but the police are worried

that if they force their way into the kitchen,

the man could become violent.

He had access to kitchen knives, cutlery, scissors -

there could be bread knives, carving knives, anything.

We needed to get to him first of all

to stop him causing any further injury to himself,

and also if he did have a weapon we needed to get that weapon off him

and restrain him so he couldn't use it on anyone else.

James goes to assist his regular colleagues,

who are trying to reason with the man through the door.

We've got ambulance here waiting to see you,

do you want to come and speak to them?

Can you tell me if you've got an injury at all?

The man refuses any offer of help

and won't give the police any information about his injuries.

But he does confirm that he's taken something.

What have you taken? Prescription drugs.

I was in with colleagues in the lounge while they were

trying to talk to him, just in case he decided to come bursting out.

Then I changed and I went out and I spoke to the mother.

My role then changed to reassuring her.

He'll be all right, it always looks worse than it is.

'I said we were doing all we can'

and we won't be going until we'd got him out.

If it meant we were there all night, we'd have been there all night waiting for him.

Like I said, we want to help you...

The police try to convince the man to move away from the door.

If we push the door in, we don't want to hurt you,

so are you going to move?

But he suddenly becomes agitated.

When I heard the banging noises I was looking round at my colleagues

thinking, "What's he doing?"

Real loud banging noises like he's pulling stuff down,

glass smashing - I've never heard anything like it.

The police are worried the man may try to make a run for it,

so James is asked to guard any possible escape routes.

Can you make sure there's someone round by that window?

-Yeah, I'll go round.

-Cheers.

The situation is now becoming increasingly urgent.

The man is in a bad way

and the police are seriously concerned about his well-being.

It sounds like he's throwing up in there and he's collapsed as well,

but there's blood all around the door frame.

We've got to get in there.

Armed officers have been called to gain access to the kitchen.

When they arrive, James briefs them on the situation.

What have we got?

There's a chap in there, you can hear him,

there's blood all round the door, he's got knives and everything,

and he's taken some anti-depressants.

Everything now moves up a gear

as the armed officers prepare to enter the kitchen.

Get all this out the way in case we need to drag him out

and deal with him. So get that out the way.

But hearing the commotion outside, the man becomes distressed.

The police need to get in there straightaway.

They get ready with the Taser and prepare to break down the door.

Can you stand back and we'll break the door open?

Then the man suddenly opens the door.

Show me your hands.

But he's not going down without a fight.

He launches himself at one of the officers.

Fearing for their safety, the police decide to use the Taser.

Put your hands behind your back, now!

The state of the man was pretty horrendous.

He was covered in blood from head to toe, it was all over his face,

all down his chest, legs, arms, the lot.

It was like watching a horror film

and then realising you're actually in it.

It's an alarming sight for the man's mother,

but James does his best to keep her calm.

He'll be all right, now ambulance have got to him they'll sort him out.

The paramedics are now able to assess the man's injuries.

And although they look alarming,

they turn out to be quite superficial.

He has several wounds, nothing overly serious,

but there's a lot of blood everywhere.

We're going to take him to hospital cos he needs some wound closure

done on the wounds on his hands and across his body.

It's just now getting him out safely

cos he's still a bit edgy around us and the police.

The man is taken to the ambulance

and will be transported to the nearest hospital.

And for James, it's the end of a very eventful shift.

From arriving at that house

and seeing what he'd done to his own house,

I was very concerned for my safety and colleagues' safety as well.

He's capable of doing that, he's capable of injuring any one of us

and that really is at the front of what I'm thinking all the time.

A lot of people would say, "Why do you put yourself in that situation?"

It's the thought that potentially you are helping someone.

We get him out of the house, he goes to hospital, he survives,

that's a life saved.

And the buzz of that, that is what does it.

The man was admitted to hospital that night,

where he was treated for his injuries.

He was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Specials are unpaid volunteers who work alone or alongside

the regular police to fight crime in their communities.

-We got all of them!

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

-Come on.

Recovery is en route.

Specials are not police community support officers.

They are 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, no!

-Move out the way.

-No!

Within many special constabularies, officers can rise through the ranks

from constable all the way to chief specials officer.

Ouch, I found a thorn.

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

Specials work 16 hours a month or more as volunteers

and undertake all kinds of duties,

from policing community events to arresting hardened criminals.

It's a freezing cold day in Cambridgeshire

and Special Constable Adam Catling is out on patrol

with colleague PC Kersten Richmond.

They've just entered the village of Melbourn

when they come across three dogs running loose in the street.

Hello, hello. Where did they come from?

Hello.

Adam and Kersten need to find out who the dogs belong to,

so they check their collars for an address or phone number.

But before they can write the number down, the dogs take off.

They went into a side street - we thought we'd manage to corner them,

but that wasn't the case

and they then decided to run back past us towards quite busy traffic,

which then became a game of cat and mouse, or cop and dog.

Come here!

No, no, not in the traffic.

In his day job, Adam works for the ambulance service,

a job not a million miles away from his work as a Special.

I'd say working in the police is incredibly similar

to working in the ambulance service.

The basic interpersonal skills that we use are exactly the same.

Working in the two jobs brings me quite close to the local community.

You get to know people on first name terms and the relationship

that you build with them is something I really quite enjoy.

Dealing with people is a different matter to dealing with animals.

Today, Adam and Kersten are hot on the heels

of three particularly slippery characters.

Here you are, here you are.

They just crossed the road like ducks.

I don't know where they've come from.

Talk about a wild goose chase, it's a wild dog chase.

On the day itself it was quite snowy and icy,

so straightaway there was a hazard with us trying to chase these dogs.

It appeared that at any point that we got near them

to the point of being able to get hold of them, they instantly ran away

and kept that one step ahead of us the whole time.

Being on four feet instead of two, they definitely had the advantage,

which was quite humiliating.

Due to the weather conditions,

the dogs could be a risk to other road users.

Adam decides it's time to call for back up.

We've got three dogs just running round in the road.

And in the meantime they decide that in a case like this,

four wheels are better than four feet.

There's another main road there.

-You're kidding.

-I've just seen one go past.

Where that hedge is.

We'd better get in because if they've gone on that main road...

The pressure is now on to catch the suspects.

They're heading towards the busy A10,

where cars are whizzing past at 60 miles an hour.

It's no place for a Labrador and two Jack Russells.

But with gardens and hedges left, right and centre,

the village is full of hiding places for crafty canines.

I've got no idea where they've gone from here

because they were out of my sight.

It's a mystery. Where have they gone?

The police decide to appeal to witnesses

for any sightings of the suspects.

I don't suppose you've seen three stray dogs walking down here?

-No.

-No, OK. Thank you.

I don't suppose you've seen three dogs running around

on their own, have you?

-Not yet. Are they big dogs?

-One Lab and two Jacks.

Oh right. I'll keep an eye out.

-So they didn't come this way.

-No.

It's starting to look like the pups have given the police the slip.

It's not every day in the job that we end up chasing dogs.

Usually we're much more akin to chasing criminals.

I think they can certainly be a lot more predictable than dogs

and in some ways much easier to catch.

This is a new one on me.

But then Adam suddenly spots the suspects up ahead.

-Ah, here we go.

-Grab him, grab him, grab the dog.

The dogs are now just a hair's breadth away.

Kersten and Adam close in.

But once again the mutts are one step ahead.

Come here!

I don't think this is going to happen any time soon, put it that way.

It's all turning into a bit of a dog's dinner,

so Kersten and Adam decide to lie low until the dog handler arrives.

They meet him in a nearby field

and all three head off in search of the pooches.

But it's now 20 minutes since they were last sighted and there's

no sign of them in the streets or in the neighbouring fields,

so they decide to call off the search.

-Cheers for your help, thanks for that.

-See you later.

Unless there's any other calls or we come across them

while we're out on patrol, we're just going to leave it how it is.

Famous last words.

Minutes after calling our search off for these dogs,

we have another sighting.

Our dog unit has just seen them come round the corner,

so we're heading off to see if we can catch them again.

And this time they're in luck.

-Got one.

-Fantastic, hooray!

-Well done!

We saw he had the larger of the three on a lead and there was

a tremendous sense of relief that with the other two staying nearby,

the chase was finally over and we'd got them safe and away from traffic.

A bowl of dog biscuits later

and three very grubby pooches are securely fastened on their leads.

All that remains now is to make contact with the owner.

Could you come down to get them? Otherwise we'll have to get them

taken to the vets or into kennels, which will cost.

Come on, then.

The dogs are loaded into the police car

and the dog handler arranges for the owner to come and meet them.

At least we know that they're going to be OK now and there's not

going to be any road-related incidents, which is always good.

Team effort, we got them!

But it's not quite over yet.

Unfortunately when we got there some time passed without her turning up,

which meant that we had to call her to see what was going on...

-She's in labour.

-Oh, my God.

She was due this afternoon, she was heading to hospital

when we called, she was on her way back

and the pains had started to kick in and the contractions.

She's gone to hospital. We're not delivering a baby!

In the time I've been working with the police,

this is one of the most surreal situations.

Chasing dogs for two and a half hours

for the owner to then go into labour,

it's something you couldn't plan for

and certainly something that isn't involved in your training.

Luckily there is someone at the owner's address,

so they're able to deliver the dogs safely.

-There's number one.

-Come on, boy.

There's number two, she's got a sore back left leg.

-Thank you very much.

-No problem, take care.

The main worry with these three dogs was that they were going to

cause an issue with traffic. As light and funny as it did seem,

it was very much just a matter of trying to get control

of the dogs before they became too much of a risk to the public.

It came as a tremendous relief, beyond what I can describe,

that we managed to get them home safe and sound.

It's 11:00pm - pub closing time -

and Special Constable Chris Hallatt is out with PC Colin Johnson

on a drink driving patrol.

When did you last have a drink?

Blow in there until I tell you to stop.

-Have you had a drink tonight?

-No.

-You haven't? OK.

When he's not volunteering,

Chris helps manage two police training centres.

My day job is basically managing sites, working alongside

'other police officers, police staff, dealing with contractors...'

OK, when are you starting that?

'..dealing with security problems.'

When I walked in, the alarm wasn't set.

Basically making sure everything's working properly.

You've got to be able to think on your feet, stay organised,

being able to deal with people.

Someone's always got a problem, so it's nice to fix that problem.

Tonight Chris and Colin are on the lookout for drink drivers,

and a van in front has aroused their suspicion.

The drivers were a bit scatty, trying to get out the way, seeing a police car.

They suddenly turned off the street and were driving a little bit quick.

So we followed it and pulled it over.

-We're doing a drink-drive campaign. Have you had a drink tonight?

-No.

-You haven't? When was the last time you had a drink?

-Yesterday.

-Have you got your driving licence?

-No, not with me. I'm in my pyjamas!

She had this one-piece suit on, what they call a onesie.

I try not to judge a book by its cover,

but why are you out at midnight in your onesie driving a van?

The police have pulled the driver over on suspicion of drink driving,

but it quickly becomes apparent

that there's much more to this case than meets the eye.

-Have you got insurance to drive this vehicle?

-Don't know. I think so.

Well, that'll be a no, then.

The woman doesn't have valid insurance

and is breaking the law by driving the van.

The van is owned by the male passenger's father.

He claims his parents let him and his girlfriend

borrow the van to go to the shop.

I don't believe your dad will allow her to drive this vehicle,

knowing she's got no insurance.

I want you to be honest.

I am being honest. He said, "Just take it."

-Did you hear him say that?

-No, my mum said we could take it.

It's not your mum's car, is it?

It's my mum and dad. You can come round and speak to my mum.

Just to let you know, I'm seizing the vehicle under

section 165 of the Road Traffic Act for being driven with no insurance.

There's no-one here that can drive it with relevant insurance.

I've got reason to believe that vehicle is going to be

-driven away from here.

-Well, no... You can take the keys.

No, I'm not being funny...

I'll have to empty it all out, then.

It's not down to me, but I'll have to empty it out.

The officers are seizing his dad's van.

His father is a builder and his tools are in the back.

If it's being seized it will be safe, won't it?

It will be put into a secure compound.

The male passenger seemed a bit scared that we were taking it.

He took his dad's tools and made every effort to secure the vehicle.

-Does your dad need it for work Monday morning?

-Tomorrow.

-Right, OK.

The mother of the female driver arrives

and she's not pleased about her daughter's choice of evening wear.

-Sorry, what's been going on?

-Just been to Tesco's...

-Look at the state of you.

I'm in my pyjamas. I've just got out of bed to get something to eat.

-You would have thought I'd murdered someone.

-Oh, shut up.

I'm sorry. Can I leave this with you?

-You can do.

-Because I'm going out.

PC Johnson runs some checks on the female driver

and it's more bad news.

You've got six points on your licence.

-Yeah. Now I've got about ten.

-That means I can't give you a ticket,

because your licence would be gone. I'm going to report you for court.

You're being reported for the question of prosecution for driving

-a motor vehicle on the road...

-Are you nicking me?

-You're not being nicked.

Just hurry up, people need your help and you're having a go for driving to the shop to get cream soda.

I'm dealing with you, who's driving around on the road without insurance.

What if you knock someone over and kill them?

I doubt it, I was only going to the shop.

-What if someone else knocked one of your kids over?

-Just breathalyse me, will you?

She's already got six points and is now due another three,

but complains this is all a waste of police time.

Police are there to deal with situations like that, aren't they?

If you had the right documents, you were insured and driving the vehicle,

we could be dealing with something else.

-Have you had anything to drink tonight, at all?

-No, I don't drink.

OK. Blow into there until tell you to stop.

Chris breathalyses the woman to make sure

she hasn't been drinking alcohol.

The test comes back clear.

But PC Johnson has just made another damning discovery.

-More bad news for you. Your licence is no longer valid.

-Oh!

So you are also being reported for driving otherwise in accordance with a licence.

Great, anything else you want to do me for before Christmas?

You're going to be reported for both offences.

-It will mean a court appearance.

-I don't care, to be honest.

I don't want to drive any more, anyway.

I'm not well. I'm in my pyjamas.

The female driver had no insurance and driving licence, basically,

so to me that's someone who doesn't really take any care.

The car is towed away and the woman

and her boyfriend make their way home in a taxi with his dad's tools.

Case closed, or so they think.

Literally before we got to the end of the street,

we heard a call come in over the radio.

Control is reporting a domestic dispute in progress

at the address of the man whose van has been impounded.

A specific street and house name was mentioned.

We looked at each other and thought, "That's the address of the van."

We'll go as well. It's a domestic now at that address.

SIRENS WAIL

As we arrived there was the young man that had been in the van

at the time we seized it, was out in the front garden.

-What's going on?

-A kickoff, big time.

-Who's kicked off?

He had a fat lip, and he was saying, arrest his dad.

The man claims he was hit by his father

when he came home without his van.

Just try and calm down. All right?

The father has accused his son of stealing some of his tools.

Due to how the father was acting,

he was handcuffed immediately by PC Johnson.

-You're a bit agitated.

-No, I'm

-BLEEP.

You can't go around hitting people.

The man's wife is also in the house

and appears to have been involved in the incident.

Her cheeks and her nose looked swollen.

I think she was trying to stop the dad from hitting the son

and she got in the way, got punched in the face.

-You're under arrest for ABH times two.

-Sorry?

-You're under arrest for ABH...

-Times?

-Two.

-For your son and your wife.

-And what?

-And punching your wife.

-Right.

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 will be given in evidence, do you understand?

I understand I'm under arrest.

You better make sure, when you release me,

because I'll tell you now...

-They'd better not be in my

-BLEEP

-house when I get back.

-Why is that?

-I'll burn it

-BLEEP,

-that's why.

-OK.

-So, lock me up, do what you're going to do.

-Can I just remind you that you are under arrest.

-Yes, I know.

And anything you do say...will be written down and used against you.

-That scamming little

-BLEEP...

-I'm not going to discuss it now...

..ripped me off and you're nicking me!

You need to calm down, we'll deal with this.

-No, I don't think I need to calm down, actually.

-Yes, you do.

Would you be like that if your son ripped you off?

Right, we're going to deal with it in custody, sir.

It started with a routine traffic stop

and ended up with a chap being arrested

for assaulting his wife and his son.

People make choices in life.

You've got to take the consequences, haven't you?

It just goes to show you small little things,

like from a minor traffic offence, escalates into something like this.

Yeah, if the girl had insurance, none of this would have happened.

The man was taken into custody

and charged with two counts of common assault.

The case went to court but was later dropped.

The female driver was summonsed to court for driving without

a licence or insurance.

She pleaded guilty, received six points on her licence

and was ordered to pay a £180-fine and £90 costs.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd