Journal articles

4th March 2019

Knife Crime - A Five Point Plan

My phone has been ringing consistently in the last 24 hours - a succession of calls from journalists wanting to talk about Knife Crime, or to arrange radio and TV interviews to talk about Knife Crime. Prior commitments have meant that I've had to turn almost all of those requests down, but this is w

13th February 2019

A 10 Point Plan for Policing

I’m sitting on a train bound for Cardiff where, later today, I will have the privilege of spending a bit of time in the company officers and staff from South Wales Police. I’ll be talking to them about the day I fell seriously ill and the reasons why I think it happened. I’ll be telling them about t

25th November 2018

On Mopeds

A couple of days ago, the Met Police released a brief series of film clips that showed officers targeting moped criminals. In several instances, suspects were seen being deliberately knocked off their bikes by the police vehicles that were pursuing them. Predictably, the footage went viral. In the a

20th November 2018

Damage Done

Another week. Another round of depressing headlines about Chief Constables stating that their Forces no longer have the resources they need to do all that is being asked and expected of them. Another round of deeply disturbing headlines about police officers being attacked in the street. The accom

25th October 2018

Criminal Neglect

Policing in England & Wales is at breaking point.  Fewer officers with fewer resources are being asked to do a job that is more difficult, more demanding and - frequently - more dangerous than it has been at any previous point in my lifetime. And the responsibility for that reality rests square

11th September 2018

Without a Vision

There’s an old line from the Good Book that’s been on my mind of late. It goes something like this: “Without a vision, the people perish.” It comes from the Old Testament book of Proverbs (known also as ‘The Book of Wisdom’) and it has particular resonance as I scan the current police-related news h

20th July 2018

Rising Crime

The headlines are telling us that crime is rising. So here are ten brief suggestions from a retired police officer to suggest why that might be so: (1) Falling Police Officer Numbers There is an absolute connection between the number of police officers in England & Wales and the number of

16th July 2018

Remembering

It was the grandest of adventures – my life in blue.  I remember the moment I first knew that I wanted to be a Copper. The PC walking down the other side of Hammersmith Broadway won’t have seen the tentative schoolboy standing at the bus stop. But I saw him. And, from that moment on, I never seriou

11th July 2018

Against Hope, Believing in Hope

This is a short tale about two football teams. The first are a group of grown men who carried the hopes of a watching nation. The second are a group of young boys who carried the hopes of a watching world. In Russia, the England men’s football team made it to a World Cup Semi-Final for the first t

21st June 2018

Tense

Policing Future Much talk at the moment about the future of policing. Amongst the headlines and proposals: New recruitment processes New entry routes (three of them - and much animated talk about degrees) New approaches to assessment and professional development New role profiles New Licence

7th May 2018

The Violence Disease

Just over 11 years ago, in March 2007, I stood quietly on Hammersmith Grove in West London. I was dressed in full police uniform. It was a beautiful spring morning and we had just closed the local roads to allow the friends and family of an innocent young boy to come and pay their respects at the s

30th April 2018

A Message for the new Home Secretary

Dear Home Secretary, I suspect that this is a heck of a time to be taking on what must be a heck of a job. But if one lesson has stood out in recent days, it’s a reminder of that most basic truth: people always matter more than numbers.  Infinitely more. And, as you start in your new role, I wan

17th April 2018

We Need to Talk about Policing

When I was still at school, I decided that I wanted to be a police officer. I couldn't tell you why exactly, but it had something to do with the adventure of it all. That, and the fact it seemed to be a line of work that mattered. Ask most Coppers why they joined and they will tell you, simply, that

22nd March 2018

Stuff I Got Wrong

Retirement takes a bit of getting used to. But it certainly allows some time and space to think. Precious time. Time that can otherwise be hard to find in a world that is moving far faster than is good for any of us. And so I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about some of the things I got wrong over

28th February 2018

A Retirement Speech

This speech comes a little earlier than planned. But life happened – and today is my last as a serving police officer. I wanted to write a handful of parting words to four particular groups of people: the public we serve, the press who observe, the politicians who govern and the police officers &a

30th January 2018

Silver Linings

The best laid plans and all that.  Earlier today, I was given a date for Medical Retirement from the Metropolitan Police. My last day as a serving officer will be Wednesday 28th February 2018.  That wasn’t how it was supposed to be.  I joined the Met in September 1992 – a clueless 22 year old emb

25th January 2018

Stories & Statistics

I opened my emails this morning to find a message about another colleague breaking under the strain. Now off sick with depression and stress. Stories like that seem much more frequent these days. And it troubles me. Then to the day’s news reports and the publication of the latest set of crime figure

16th January 2018

Looking After the Thin Blue Line

There seems to be lots of talk in policing at the moment about something called ‘wellbeing’. I’m no expert, but these are my ten thoughts on the subject. (1) It’s People, Stupid The fact that more of us are talking about the physical, emotional and psychological health of police officers and sta

29th December 2017

Dear Daily Mail

This is a short note to the people who work at the Daily Mail. A couple of personal facts by way of introduction: For more than twenty-five years, I have served as an officer with the Metropolitan Police. And I am incredibly proud of that fact. It has been – and it remains – my duty and my joy. F

14th December 2017

A Copper's Year (2017)

December. A month when people seem to write lists. So here’s one of mine: Ten Coppering Reflections on the year gone by. (1) Policing under Strain I’ve said it before and it bears repeating… These are the most challenging times for policing in this country since the end of the Second World War.

5th December 2017

Stories for the Ages

Stories matter. And yesterday, at London’s Guildhall, some extraordinary tales were told. The great old venue played host to a unique and very special gathering of police officers, emergency services colleagues and members of the public. Welcomed jointly by the Met, BTP and the City of London Poli

16th November 2017

Horrible Bosses

In any walk of life, it seems to me that there is a bit of a difference between bad management and good leadership. All the difference in the world in fact. So here’s a (by no means exhaustive) list of the sorts of things that might just be evident wherever bad management is to be found: People

25th October 2017

Back in the Real World

In the world inhabited solely by those in possession of armchairs and agendas, it would appear that everything ought to be a priority for the police. But, in the real world inhabited by police officers and staff, things are a little less straightforward. In that other world, the police should be doi

18th October 2017

Womankind

Where on earth to begin? I’m not going to waste your time with some clumsy attempt to set out my feminist credentials but – in a world of pussy-grabbing presidents and molesting movie moguls – I do want to put on record the fact that I’m troubled by the way in which we (men, mostly) treat and regar

21st September 2017

A 25 Year Love Affair

September 21st 1992. The day I took the oath and began an adventure – a love affair – that has continued for the last 25 years. I love policing. When you strip away all the noise and the nonsense, it turns out to be as extraordinary as a job can be. It’s about saving lives and finding the lost. It’s

25th August 2017

Missing the Point

Two particular news reports have caught my eye in the last few days. The first was about vehicle rentals – specifically the call for a robust review of current UK procedures for hiring vans. In response to the horrifying European terrorist attacks of recent months, it was suggested that the author

24th July 2017

Time for a Royal Commission?

Let’s deal with the title question straight away. Actually, I don’t think it is time for a Royal Commission on policing in this country. I don’t think it’s time for anything that has the potential to be drawn out, bureaucratic and enormously expensive. But I do think there is an urgent need for a

4th July 2017

Believe in Blue

In March of this year – in the immediate, horrifying aftermath of the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack – we discovered and expressed a renewed sense of appreciation for our police officers: for who they are and what they do. The following month, we lined the streets in our thousands as the funer

27th June 2017

TEDx Talk

  I think I might have done a TEDx Talk... I think you might be able to watch it here...   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibl3M4dTF2U?rel=0&w=560&h=315]      

17th June 2017

Anger & Hope

Yesterday, I woke up feeling angry.   At the loss of innocent lives.    In tower blocks.    On bridges and in markets.    On the streets of our most troubled neighbourhoods.   At people getting richer - and damn the consequences.   As souls are sold and bucks are made.   And the poor get left behind

1st June 2017

Dealing With Trauma

I'm not really an expert in anything. I'm just a man with a story to tell... I’ve told some of that story in a book called ‘Blue’ – and the response from people who’ve been kind enough to read it has been extraordinary. I’m very, very grateful. The past few weeks in policing have been astonishing

28th April 2017

The Agency of First & Last Resort

“I won’t have the police service as the place where all of society’s ills are laid out and blamed on us.” (Cressida Dick, Met Police Commissioner, April 2017) The painful privilege of policing is to venture into the hurting places – and to encounter the lives being lived there: the damaged and the

28th March 2017

The Finest Coppers I Know

  Last week, PC Keith Palmer gave his life protecting this city that is my home. He was a husband. He was a dad. He was a police officer. And he was a thousand other things besides. I never had the privilege of knowing him – but I know what he was. ‘Hero’ barely even begins to cover it. --------

21st March 2017

Urgent Assistance

  “Urgent Assistance”. Two highly emotive words – instantly recognisable to police officers everywhere. It’s a distress call. It’s the distress call: the one radio transmission guaranteed to cut through the relentless background noise – to prompt any Copper within travelling distance (and some m

8th March 2017

Don't Go Changing

So much of the current talk in policing is of change. Of the pressing need for reform. And, truth be told, there is a great deal in this job that needs sorting out. But, amongst all the conversations about things like modernisation and transformation, it seems to me that we’re in danger of missin

27th February 2017

Nine Things I'm Learning

  I have a birthday this week. Not an especially significant one but, nonetheless, a prompt to pause and think for just a moment or two.  About work. About life. About the things that really matter. Almost 47 years of life. Almost 25 years of policing. And there are some things I’ve been learni