11:47am Monday 29th June 2009
By Tanya O'Rourke
Rocketing through Bradford, sirens blaring and blue light flashing, it didn’t take long for my Friday night shift with the Bradford South police response team to get under way.
I was shadowing PC Paul McGee and PC Richard Neeves – or, as they call each other, Magoo and Neevsy – during what they expected to be a busy shift responding to 999 calls.
Our first call was to the home of a mental health patient who had absconded from Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford.
I was told the man had “violence markers” and to be on my guard – violence markers can indicate that the person has reacted violently to the police in previous situations.
I was wearing a bullet-proof vest and a hi-visibility jacket while the two officers were armed with batons, CS spray and handcuffs.
I felt relatively calm.
We tracked down the absconder, who co-operated well with the officers but I was told this is not always the case.
PC Neeves said: “He was a bit agitated but he was reasonable in the circumstances. It can be difficult to get a person into the back of the van but we are specifically trained for it.”
PC McGee said: “Sometimes you expect people to have a go at you, it’s just the uniform. At first you take it personally but you get used to it. You just have to let it go.”
Soon afterwards, we were on our way to patrol in the city’s West End when we were called to an emergency.
Foot to the floor, we were off. We were darting across lanes, running red lights, and driving at double the speed limit, yet I wasn’t worried.
PC McGee had taken a three-week course to learn how to drive safely while responding to an emergency. “It’s down to us to go through with caution,” he said.
Later we were asked to find and arrest a man wanted in connection with injuries caused to two Lancashire police officers. PC Neeves told me: “You never want to see a colleague get injured but then you don’t want to see anyone get injured.”
The 27-year-old man, of Buttershaw, was taken into custody and interviewed. He was released on bail pending further inquiries.
PC McGee said of his job: “It is different every day, it is certainly not boring and it’s satisfying when you get a good arrest.”
The shift ran from Friday at 4pm to Saturday at 2am. During that time the unit received 132 calls, attended 31 emergencies and 45 priority calls – which require police attendance but do not require immediate response.
There were 26 people arrested on suspicion of offences including assaults, public disorder, criminal damage, and attempted murder.
Superintendent Dickie Whitehead, deputy commander of Bradford South Police, said: “Response plays a key role in ensuring local people receive a high quality of service at the time they need it most.”
Inspector Darren Brown said: “We answer emergency calls from the public and help people in their hour of need.”
My time with the team flew by. We were constantly responding to calls, right up until the patrol car dropped me off at home – which probably raised a few eyebrows among my neighbours.
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