The Sleeping Policeman Or, Actually, Not Sleeping Policeman.
A friend at mine at work always likes to remind me of the time I was so knackered at the end of a night shift that I mistook a stapler for the computer mouse and so became increasingly angry about not being able to get the cursor to move around the screen whilst trying to […]
Monthly Screening Review
As we discuss in the book one of the key factors in surviving cancer is the early identification and diagnosis of something odd which is happening to your body. To that end the brilliant Cancer Research UK website has a page which lists common symptoms which you should tell your doctor about if they don’t […]
Walk challenge – 50 miles in a day
It was my father that put the idea of a fifty-mile charity walk in my head. He has spoken occasionally of doing a Margate to Maidstone walk during the early ‘sixties and funny anecdotes of that trek had engrained themselves into family legend – the advice given to harden up the skin of his feet […]
Policing Cholesterol
Cholesterol; The Good And The Bad And The Fatty Cholesterol in our bloodstream is made up of a mixture of fats and proteins called lipoproteins; there are three main types. LDL Cholesterol is the bad stuff as it tends to build up that lining in our arteries and so risks the blockage that kills us […]
Horrendous Hepatitis
The Horrendous World Of Hepatitis All Bobbies and front-line staff should have an understanding of, and respect for, the dangers of the ‘Big H’, firstly because it’s a pretty rotten, potentially life-changing condition but secondly because its symptoms can be misinterpreted as something minor and so might result in you passing it on to your […]
Professional Wrestling?
‘Terry’, as a patrol officer fast approaching fifty, knows that ‘jaw-jaw’ is more important than ’war-war’ when it comes to arresting people; if you can nick someone without rolling around on the pavement with them then that’s always a good idea. One evening he spotted a ‘regular’ who he suspected was wanted on warrant. He stopped the male […]
Strike It Rich?
Being the ‘strike team’ for a surveillance job requires certain skills – patience – obviously – but also an ability to hide away whilst waiting for that call and not bringing attention to yourselves. ‘Jon’ and ‘Steve’ were assigned to this role on an operation based within a small village. Their brief was simple – […]
Tired & feeling run-down?
Type 2 We’re talking diabetes, unfortunately, not the iconic VW Van…. One of the chapters in our book is entitled “… I Thought I Felt Run Down Because Of The Shifts …” and covers cancers and other conditions where the main symptom is the type of fatigue that’s so normal with our manic 24/7 shift […]
Acid attacks
Attacks by the squirting or throwing of corrosive fluids into the face are frequently reported at the moment so it’s worth spending some time discussing what to do if either we or a colleague should become injured in this way. For the point of this blogg I’m going to talk in terms of you being […]
Fire(brothers in)arm officers
The expertise of our firearm officers is well-known these days; recent events have demonstrated their professionalism in extremely demanding circumstances. Much of this is down to their vigorous training but also the tutoring scheme within individual teams – the new AFOs being brought on by specially selected mentors. A particular mentor on one of the […]