“A Night Out in London” the Five C's of the Metropolitan Police
| Date | 01 October 1988 |
| Author | Jonathan Harvey |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8806100407 |
| Published date | 01 October 1988 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JONATHAN HARVEY
School Tour Leader, Senior School Housemaster, Geelong Grammar
School, Australia
IIA
NIGHT
OUT IN LONDON
II
THE FIVE C's OF THE
METROPOLITAN POLICE
Irecently spent 8hours with officers from Paddington
Green
Police
Station, which is situated in the centre of London, around
Paddington Railway Station and the Edgware Road.
The
area is
approximately 1.5 miles square and yet in the 8hours we covered 42
miles. On this Saturday evening two
Area
Cars, one van and one
unmarked car were operating from Paddington Green. Istarted the
evening with the crew of one of the Rover area cars, Delta 4.
The
crew consisted of the driver, Des, a radio operator, Ralph, and a
plain clothed observer, Tony. Des was a Welshman, through and
through. He was delighted that Wales had beaten Australia in the
recent Rugby Tournament.
It
is not often that Iwould have
preferred to have been a Kiwi, as Wales did not do so well against
them! Ralph was a yachting enthusiast. Igather that Station history
was almost made when he offered to buy me a drink, but the
historians can relax as Tony, a former member of the Royal Navy,
ended up paying for it! When Delta 4 went off duty at lOpm I spent
an hour in the back of the van, Delta 2, not exactly designed for
comfort! The driver, Don, had returned to Paddington after a dull
spell at Barkingside, where the policing was very different. The
observer, Neville, had been in the Metropolitan Police before he
returned to South -Africa to do his national service with the South
African Police - again a very different type of policing. Neville was
one of those well known South African when-we's: 'When we were in
South Africa we..."! The night crew of Delta 2 were the driver, Ally,
and the radio operator, Neal. Ally had a real love of London, being
born within the sound of the Bow Bells.
He
was also one of the
trained marksmen of the Force. These marksmen, used only on
special occasions, have done a
great
job in keeping the number of
armed robberies down to the minimum,. and yet not having the ugly
sight of policemen wandering around with guns on their hips at all
times. Neal was a Scot and, like Des, very proud of his country of
origin.
The incidents of the evening make me suggest that there are five
words beginning with C that summarize the situation.
Control:
The vehicles and manpower were controlled with skill and
precision by both Scotland Yard, 011 main Force radio network, and
344 October 1988
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