Two weeks ago I told you I’d recently retired from the police having served just over 15 years. It was a medical retirement so it wasn’t a choice, more a life necessity.
Today I’m going to start a series of posts talking about policing. What it’s really like. So, hopefully, if you love crime fiction you can see where the fiction and reality meet. You can also get a feel of where I wrote Shallow Waters from. The kind of detective I was. Who I really am. It was weird hiding that part of my life as being a police officer was such a big part of it.
I’m starting in the most basic place there is. The relationships within the service and the camaraderie that is there.
Whoever joins the police as an officer always has to do two years probationary service on a uniform shift first. Everyone. It’s where you start the learning process. It’s where you start to get your love of the job.
The uniform side of the job is extremely underrated. Everyone wants to know what it’s like as a detective, dealing with more serious crimes. But uniform get to every scene first.
This post is about the relationships you have within the police though and this is why I still love uniform so much. This is where you learn the importance of the relationships you have. When you’re in trouble there’s nothing like hearing those two tones in the distance and knowing they’re heading for you. I know that feeling. You’re physically struggling, but it’s an emotionally euphoric sound. Those people are there for you.
That’s why there is a real camaraderie within the uniform part of policing. You rely on each other in a very real way. Your lives could literally depend on the other’s reactions.
Once you move on to detective departments things change slightly. There’s not the danger, the immediacy, that there is in uniform. No matter what we write in our novels, as a detective you are rarely in as much danger as the front line officer because if you were they’d be demanding you go out in much more than just your suit. So with the slowing down in speed of jobs comes a more relaxed relationship at work. You’ve been in the job a few years, you work long hours. When you finish you want to go home to your family rather than to the pub.
Another thing is how you address each other. If you have a good sergeant you call them by their first name. Though never in public, never in front of visitors – social care etc, or higher level bosses. It’s just a respect thing.
Bosses (inspector and above) call you by your first name. They don’t call you DC whatever. Neither do they call uniform cops “officer” when on a scene. If it’s a small station/working area, it’s more than likely the detectives will know the uniform officers names, after all we all work in the same building so a lot of them will even be friends! If a boss knows your name they use it. If they don’t they ask then use it or they just speak to you civilly and ask you to do whatever it is they want you to do.
When addressing an inspector or above it’s always Sir or Ma’am. Depending on your own DI, it can be Boss or Guv, depending on where you are in the country. (But use Sir/Ma’am in front of senior colleagues and visitors or members of the public.)
We work together. We work respectfully. (There are obviously some people you will think of as idiots in there because the service represents society and there are always people you will clash with.) They also have a laugh as much as they can, even when the job they’re working is hard because something needs to break the pain of what it is they’re dealing with. It doesn’t mean the officers are callous. It means they are trying to keep their humanity not lose it.
I hope this has given you a little insight into how police working relationships function. Is it what you thought? Do they match up to what you’re reading or help you with what you’re writing? Is anything glaringly different to what you expected? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
jenanita01 says
I have come to crime/thriller writing quite late in life, and like most people, all I have to go on is what we see in films and on TV. So I know I will enjoy this series of posts a lot!
And Shallow Waters is on my TR list. Lovely title by the way…
Rebecca Bradley says
I’m glad you enjoyed it. And I do hope you will enjoy the rest of them.
Margaret says
That was a really interesting post, Rebecca. I didn’t know you had worked for the police, I must have missed your other post somehow. Some members of my family work for the police but I don’t get to hear about what it’s like to work for them. I’m looking forward to more posts on this subject.
Rebecca Bradley says
Thank you Margaret. It’s often hard to keep up with every blog post of every blog you follow. I miss lots. I’m glad you enjoyed this post though. My family didn’t really hear this either. It’s funny. I suppose we don’t take it home with us.
Janet O'Kane says
This is fascinating, Rebecca, and I look forward to reading future posts. I’ve just started watching the BBC series The Detectives and am in awe at how invested those officers are in seeing justice for the victims. And one of them said exactly what you’ve said on FB: there’s nothing more exciting than interviewing suspects. That series demonstrates how planned an interview is, how the officers start with a strategy and work to that, rather than the random questioning that most TV programmes seem to show. I’d love to know more about this aspect of the job, even though I don’t write police procedurals.
Alex J. Cavanaugh (@AlexJCavanaugh) says
Good to hear there is so much respect. This will be a fascinating series!
plaguedparents says
Followed! I’m so glad I saw a RT of this on twitter! I teach Criminal Justice in the US, so I am looking forward to reading more of your work!!
Margot Kinberg says
This is absolutely fascinating, Rebecca, and so helpful! Far too often, TV and film (novels, too!) are completely unrealistic about police life. I like your ‘this is how it really is’ perspective, and I already like the fact that, in general, there’s camaraderie among police. There has to be if it’s all to work well.
readingwritingandriesling says
Fascinating post Rebecca.
autumnhm says
I am glad I found you!! I am looking forward to following you 🙂 I enjoy reading crime books and I do watch some crime t.v. The shows that I watch are about crimes that have really happened. I knew that detectives and police officers cared about the victims but I never realized how much until I started watching these shows.
nancyrae4 says
Wow, I never thought you were on the force. That’s why I could never solve a mystery, only read about them:)Your description of uniform life sounds very much like my step-daughter’s. She did five years in Peroria, IL, on the street. Very dangerous city. After two kids came along, she moved to a small town. She’s still patrol, but not at as much risk. Still, the stories she tells are amazing, funny, terrifying. Thanks for a great post!!
Even though your retirement was not by choice there is the upside of more writing time. Best to you, Rebecca and thank you for your service.
chitchatandpics says
Very interesting insight. It’s so easy to assume representations on TV or in books reflects the reality.
djpaterson says
Really looking forward to the rest of this series – thanks, Rebecca!
cleopatralovesbooks says
What a fascinating post – having read a lot of crime novels I have an idea of how the service works but it is so good to hear it from someone who has been there. Like Janet I watched the recent BBC series, Detectives, and was quite surprised that the questioning of suspects wasn’t as I’d imagined it to be… no good cop/bad cop scenario in sight! Can’t wait to read more about your experiences.
Corina says
I am looking forward to reading more about the real inner workings of the police system. I loved Shallow Waters. I thought it had a genuine feeling to what the procedures were. By the way, I’ve written a blog post today in which I talked about you and Shallow Waters. If you want to check it out, you’ll find it here: https://corinajoyc.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/picking-up-the-ball/
Jacqui Murray says
Fascinating. So different than the US. Are the Brit crime dramas that I watch on TV authentic? Say, Wire in the Blood?
Elle Turner says
Great idea for a series of posts, Rebecca. When I was a teenager I wanted to join the Police but, at the time, there was a height requirement and I wasn’t tall enough. By the time I grew I had changed my mind!
Looking forward to the rest of the series 🙂 xx
emaginette says
I love your new pic. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’ll be soaking it up for possible story ideas.
Anna from Elements of Writing
Carol Balawyder says
This is a very interesting series. Looking forward to reading more. 🙂
Graeme Cumming says
As you’ll gather, Rebecca, I’ve been out of action the last few weeks, so I’m randomly catching up on posts. This was really useful. I may have to re-read the policing parts I included in Ravens Gathering to make sure I got the relationships right. That aside, I’ve saved the post to Flipboard so I can refer to it again in the future. I suspect I’ll be doing more of that with your future posts.