Policing my past ─ the artefacts of crime.

A long time ago in an existence far, far away, I was a police officer. Joining in 1982, that year and those that followed were once my present day. My era. My modern-day. Nobody ever lives in history, do they? Then something peculiar happened to me. The years became decades and my life looped around … Read more

Picking up the Bill: the words on the streets of Bristol

As I kid, I remember the double entendre placed upon the street signage: ‘Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted!’ under which was daubed, ‘Bill Stickers is innocent!’ A funny play on words but illustrative of the power of English language. Last night in Bristol a demonstration labelled ‘Kill the Bill’ reminded me of this flexibility of … Read more

Murder he wrote: Normalising the abnormal

As a rookie cop there were many times when I felt vulnerable. Pub fights, large scale public disorder and high-speed pursuits were the usual suspects. The first couple of events rarely had any rules and I was always mindful that an errant punch could deprive me of my prominent, but nonetheless cherished, front teeth. Having … Read more

Nostalgia: The Stories Cops Tell

Has storytelling become a lost art? Have we become so insular, buried in our mobile technology often connecting with people we have probably never met in a virtual world of imagery and diminished literary content that storytelling has become a thing of the past? If so, I think that is sad as I was fortunate … Read more