The Police Unity Tour 2015

The Police Unity Tour. What a simple yet perfect way to describe this years cycle ride supporting the charity COPS. Police….yes; Unity….. most definitely; Tour…. as close to riding in a peloton as you will you get! The Police Unity Tour UK has been going for several years now but it was only this year...

LEADERSHIP: Your mate’s your boss.

My abiding regret in 18 years as a police officer is that I never went for promotion. As you get longer in service you see friends climbing up the ladder. Police Sergeant, Police Inspector; before you know it they have gold braid on their hats. I regret not going for promotion not because my friends...

LEADERSHIP: An Introduction.

Well here we are. In the last series of blogs we covered Well Being. A subject in itself. But it is nothing to the subject of leadership! This is an introduction so this blog will be brief, more an index to kick off the subject as a whole. As I have always said, these are...

WELL BEING: A Recap

Over the last month or so I have attempted to describe the various things that make up well being through my own eyes of 18 years as a police officer. No one gets it right all the time but that is not what is important. For everything is a journey which, takes time and effort....

WELL BEING: # 4 Stress

“The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.” - Thích Nhất Hạnh I want you all to hold onto that sentence for the time being. My previous blogs covered worry, depression and burnout...

WELL BEING #3 Burnout

Wow doesn’t that encapsulate our role as police officers. Burnout however is not confined to those engaged in stressful occupations. You have heard the phrase “The straw that broke the camels back.” What ever you do, when you’re ready to snap and give up, then you are at the same place as those that risk...

WELL BEING. #2 Depression

The worst thing to hear when one is depressed is “Pull yourself together”, “It will get better.” For years depression has not been recognised as an illness and as a result those views have continued to pervade. For anyone that has suffered depression, they will know the stigma that the illness attracts. One is thought...

WELL BEING: Introduction

As many of you that have followed this blog previously you will know I have commented on many aspects of traffic legislation and what it was like to be a traffic officer and all that it entailed including the role of a family liaison officer. Traffic legislation has probably more case law associated with it...

Welcome back.

During the start of this year, major changes in which, to be honest every police force in this country had to embrace made me realise that there was no longer a place for "Tales from the Slab." After some persuasion I realised that there was still a place for this blog site, albeit with a...

The end of an Era

Sadly, this will be the last post from the Tales from the Slab. It has been decided that after 55 years the way in which we police the motorway will change forever. That’s not to say that the motorway will not be policed. It will just be policed in a different manner. We have the...

Invest in yourself.

The Tales from the slab blog is about road policing. But every now and again it’s about the people that work the slab and all other emergency workers. For do we not bleed? Its fair to say that 2013 has been an awful year for one reason or another. Perhaps it has been a good...

Moments that change your life.

Once in a while you read something that makes you stop. What makes it exceptional is the words. Not written by the hand but by the heart. Indeed, anyone who has been in a similar situation will recognise the fact that the writer must also have been there too. That is its power. And so,...

Snow road to Christmas………

As winter yet again approaches, here is an article from December 2010 courtesy of The Blackpool Gazette and reporter Jacqui Morley. Snowmegeddon! It's the moment most motorists fear...the steering has gone light, the wheels are spinning, and the car is out of control and skidding on icy compacted snow. That's the hazard many face as...

Officer down…..never forgotten.

Todays blog is a guest contribution and in my eyes a very important guest. I have never had that earth shattering radio transmission that is "Officer down." Whilst we accept that police officer's will lose their lives on duty, it is a thankfully rare occurrence that a police officer is murdered. Regretfully Mrs Lin Woodward...

Walking the thin blue line……….

Describe the job description of a police Officer…… that would be a question I would ask of any prospective candidate wanting to join todays police service. Many varied answers would ensue, some brilliant, some dire. When I had my final interview with a superintendent and an inspector, the purpose of which was to vet the...

Specialist or specialism?

It is an inescapable fact that police forces across the country are been asked to do more with less. Or at the very least maintain what they do with less. At some point over until 2015 and beyond, something will have to give. Whether that be a sea change on how the police deploy there...

The Motorway

Having spent the last three years blogging about the motorway, it struck me that I haven’t actually told you about “the motorway” or as it is nick named by those that police it as “the slab.” Many things you will already know about the motorway and some things you will not. The first motorway to...

In the family way………

Recent events have transpired that has prompted me to write this blog.  Something I feel very strongly about.  In my unit, in the downstairs reception area is a space of wall that is directly adjacent to the entrance door.  You cannot hope to miss it.  On the wall are four plagues dedicated to police officers that...

You must be mental

As a motorway patrol officer there is nothing that will get me quicker out of the door than that familiar radio transmission “PEDESTRIAN IN THE CARRIAGEWAY.” As a concern for immediate safety, that run will always be made on blue lights and siren. Today I will be looking at use of force on the motorway...

Lane Two Hoggers

Recent legislation now means that a driver can be dealt with for the offence of driving without due care and attention by means of a fixed penalty notice. Until the change in legislation a driver could only be reported for summons and a court file submitted. The addition of a fixed penalty option has been...

Traffic Offence Reports

Recent events in road policing legislation have seen a revolutionary sea change in how traffic offences are being dealt with. Up until recently if you received a non endorsable fixed penalty notice (an offence that carries no points) you would have twenty-eight days to decide whether to accept the fine of £30 or have the...

Resource to risk.

Resource to risk is a familiar term often heard within the police family. On the face of it, a thoroughly sound principle. Direct the greatest number of officers towards the biggest risk of crime. Usually, but not always, that probably means a busy town Centre night time economy and all the related problems that go...

My Bike saved my life.

WHEN I SAY MY BIKE SAVED MY LIFE IT REALLY DID. I have always turned the pedals around, from about six years old. My first proper bike was a Raleigh with 24 inch wheels and a white saddle bag As I grew up life became more and more difficult until one day aged 13 years...

Behind the times?

This latest rambling came as a result of a conversation on twitter the other night. The subject was Cannabis, whether to legalise it or decrimalise it? There is a difference and one Holland have embraced. It is still an offence to be in possession of Cannabis in Holland but they choose not to enforce the...

I was lucky………..

I knew i would have to write this at some point. Knew I wanted to write it, knew I needed to write it.  All my years as a family liaison officer count for nothing.At 23:40 hours on Friday 21st April  my dear Mother took her last breath and started her journey from this life to...

Every story has its end.

A blank screen.  Like a writer facing a blank page its difficult to to know how to start. Perhaps I will start will this.I am grieving in advance.My mother has suffered declining health for many years now but in the last few months the down turn has been dramatic.  6 stone in weight, almost as...

Shades of the same flower.

As I get older some memories are familiar friends recalled everyday; others pop up out of the blue but are as vivid as the first time they are experienced. Hector is one such find memory. Hector lived at the end of the street in an area called Old Trafford on the out skirts of central...

Roadside tombstones

Like many of you I suspect, I do the same regular journey along the same route most days of the week. It is a journey which will have one aspect in common with every other journey everyone else will do. That is the bouquet of flowers that are fixed to a  lampost, fencing or an...

Ten mile tailback.

In my police vehicle are a pair of binoculars........more about them later.  We have all been in that position, stuck in standing traffic for hours on end, getting frustrated and hot under the collar.  I was working Christmas day when the tragic events unfolded of a fatal RTC on the M6 motorway in Staffordshire.  The...

It’s like trying to jump out of your own skin………

This post is a first for many reasons. The cat has been sick on my keyboard and as a result of cleaning it, it has now rendered my computer useless. Secondly I have now had to post this using my phone, very cosy. Thirdly I have never posted about depression. Perhaps considering the subject matter,...

Visions of the future………

Trying to predict the future is always a difficult thing to do.  Even going back to the early 90's I remember when the internet first appeared I downloaded a a simple game at a rate of 300kb/sec, a blistering pace then.  Who would have thought now that the internet is an intregal part of our...

I’m a leaf on the wind…….

I, like many of you watched the BBC program regarding cyclists and other road users.  Like many of you, I encountered a range of emotions I found myself experiencing.  As an experienced cyclist for over 3o years, some spent racing competitively and also havig a full time job as a a road policing officer I...

Over in a second.

I am afraid to say that we play at road safety advertising in this country.  Below is a collection of adverts from various parts of the world regarding excess speed and drink driving.  I have to warn you all that some of them are very impactive. They speak for themselves.          ...

The Black Arts………

Often referred to by Collision Investigators, the subject of Collision Investigation is a vast and complex subject.  The collision investigator can often be the most important witness in a criminal case.  Although police officers there sole over riding duty is not to their colleagues investigating a collision but to the court for they are treated...

Unlawful killing.

I am but a humble foot soldier.  An operational police officer.  Schooled in all aspects of law, now specialising in road traffic law.  That does not make me an expert.  I have a working knowledge of the law, knowing enough to allow me to conduct myself on the roads of the UK.  If I need...

Snow road to Christmas.

As winter approaches, I have reproduced an article I did for a local newspaper back in December 2010 when temperatures plummeted to -15 Celsius. Snowmegeddon! It's the moment most motorists fear...the steering has gone light, the wheels are spinning, and the car is out of control and skidding on icy compacted snow. That's the hazard...

A necessary evil.

With growing austerity police forces across the country are looking at ways to save money.  Quite rightly my own branch of policing has come under the spotlight.  Sadly, some forces have drastically reduced or even chopped their road policing units.  However, every force in this country is required to reduce KSI's (killed or seriously injured...