Holding Hands ??

One of the leaders in the Telegraph today was the story that a Chief Constable has banned his constables from patrolling in pairs ! Good Grief. Back in the day when Robert Peel was a probationer we had Sergeants that remembered "the good old days" When they were marched out as a shift by the Sergeant to their respective "Beats" and were to patrol their beats so that the only time they saw another bobby was when they had completed one circuit of the beat and saw their opposite number completing his. You were not allowed to stop and converse with him (it was a favourite practice of Sergeants and Inspectors to hide in the vicinity in the hope of catching Constables "Idling and Gossiping", as the offence !! was known)It was still an offence when I joined and, if caught conversing with another Constable when out on the beat - unless for strictly duty matters meant at least a couple weeks "shaking hands" with the door handles on the isolated industrial estate. Which also meant that you had to take your refreshments with you as there was no chance to get back to the Station for a meal break ! After at least 12-15 months of foot patrol (on your own!!) you may just have got a driving course. Successful completion, of which did not guarantee a car ! It was strictly seniority rules. If one of the Senior Constables was off for any reason, you got a drive for half the shift, and another lucky junior got to drive the other half. Otherwise it was foot patrol. The only real time you got to meet up with colleagues was an organised event such as a Friday night road check - where we all met up at a specified point (usually a natural "choke point" such as a junction) The cars would then each take a passenger and take up points as "stoppers" in case the motorist did not want to stop for the officer waving his lamp and holding up his hand !The Sergeant would usually supervise this activity from the warmth of his car, and only emerge if the customers got either over stroppy, or in some cases violent - These were the early days of the breathalyser and a lot of the motorised public believed that eight or ten pints were normal and only when you got over a dozen were you a bit suspect in your driving !! Some of the bastards were so pissed that they did not see you at all - let alone the swinging lamp (we wore dark blue clothing in those days - we did not want to be seen when on patrol - it was easier to creep up on the villains). I spent a good deal of my days as a village bobby - and, as such, automatically patrolled on my own. I only saw another constable if, by chance, they were delivering some paperwork to the police house. Again, if I spoke to the Sergeant and asked for an operation - pub raid, road check or, in the latter days when we had radios that sometimes worked requested assistance to deal with a really stroppy customer!
Patrolling in pairs !! my Arse!
cheers
mog