Life in Police Custody: Thoughts and Images

There are some things that we do in lifeSometimes to earn a livingSometimes for pleasure But in doing so we often feel or witness painWe remain humble in order to provide for our familiesOur compliance merely to prevent feelings of disdainThis is not intended to offend, shock or offer abuseJust an honest set of opinionsDare I say the truth Michael John, a recent retiree, recounts his thirty-year working life with the Metropolitan Police Service in various parts of London. Rather than an exact chronology he tackles a wide variety of topics relating to police work with chapters headed: Pros and Cons, a taste of what goes on, Drink Drive, Death, Diversity (which must be the shortest chapter ever!), Drugs and Drug Use, Mental Health', Policing and Crowds. He describes in some detail daily life e.g. as a custody officer relating some pretty hair-raising incidents, being at the Notting Hill Carnival and early on his first visit to a mortuary. He is not afraid of revealing his opinions about changes in policing and gives them air in a series of poems that conclude almost every chapter. The reader cannot but help being impressed by his overall attitude with his lack of bitterness even when matters seem to turn against him. Needless to say he writes under a pseudonym.... Mehr