Turns out I’m not going to be the new Commissioner of the Metropolis after all…

Writing the letter asking to leave the job was one of the hardest things I think I’ve ever done, I sat there at my desk thinking about everything that had happened to me in my service, the good times and the bad, I think there were more good than bad really. Being at the scene of so many memorable events, getting to do things that most people would never even think about. I included some short anecdotes in my resignation letter, I think it was one of the best things I’ve ever written… It was three pages long… I gave it to the Supt and walked out in tears, only one person in the office knew what I was doing and she quickly ushered me into my office for tea and the good biscuits, and we waited… The boss will be in any second I’m sure, and I have my defences ready, he won’t talk me out of it…

*knock knock*
“What, on Earth, is this Wint?”
“Erm, it’s a resignation letter Sir. See it says so at the top”
“Yes but why”
“There’s three pages of why right there Sir”
“I...

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The BBC seem to be giving one of my comedy heroes Blair Gibbs some media attention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14780735

“Officers should wear uniforms on their way to and from work to increase police visibility and help reassure the public, a think tank has suggested. The right-leaning Policy Exchange said in London that would equate to having an extra 1,200 officers on the streets.”

Perhaps in an alternate reality this is a good idea.

Earlier in the week I tweeted that I was no longer using my warrant card to obtain free travel. After weeks of working double shifts, with no rest days or annual leave and having daily been faced with the sight of scores of officers sleeping in the corridors of police stations because they could not make it home and back again in time for their next shift, I ended up fed up when for the second time in as many days I had got on a bus to start the journey home and the bus driver was calling for my assistance with some minor ticketing issue. The bus sat there refusing to move until I’d “dealt with him” (the chap...

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The BBC seem to be giving one of my comedy heroes Blair Gibbs some media attention http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14780735

“Officers should wear uniforms on their way to and from work to increase police visibility and help reassure the public, a think tank has suggested.

The right-leaning Policy Exchange said in London that would equate to having an extra 1,200 officers on the streets.”

Now I am sure in some world this is a good idea.

Earlier in the week I tweeted that I was no longer using my warrant card to obtain free travel, after weeks of working double shifts, no rest days, no annual leave and seeing scores of officers having to sleep in corridors at police stations because they can’t get home and back again in time for their next shift I ended up fed up, and knackered when for the second time in as many days I’d got on a bus to start the journey home and the bus driver was calling for my assistance with some minor ticketing issue, the bus sat there refusing to move until I’d “dealt with him” (chap who had the wrong ticket, or no Oyster...

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It’s hard to return home, to go back to some level of normality. How does one decompress after experiencing things like the last week? I really have no idea, some on my team have voiced the same opinion, others are thinking the same but are keeping it the Q word (I still dare not say it…) I know this because I know them well, I’ve been living in such close quarters with them for days now, I couldn’t tell you how many days because I have to keep asking people what day it is! We’ve eaten together, driven round London together, we’ve all smelt shockingly bad at times, and we’ve done it all with a smile….

I have never been prouder to be a police officer!

I had my entire outlook on humanity destroyed on Saturday night in Tottenham, people I’d never met, never even spoken to were out there and they were trying to hurt me, they were trying to hurt my officers and our community. There were times when we were in nothing short for our lives, when gangs were throwing barrages of bricks at us, when there were overwhelmed numbers of people rushing at our line trying to...

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“Look out it’s the TSG”, this screamed by a youth clad head to toe in black, while wearing his face mask.
So I quickly check behind me, having been on the wrong end of a TSG baton charge before while deployed in plain clothes as a spotter I have no desire to feel the pain again. But there is nobody there but a couple more of my officers, oh it’s us, this young lad thinks we’re the TSG!

Working on a specialist unit means people do not normally mistake me for the TSG, normally I doubt they even realise I’m a police officer, which is handy when out on surveillance or meeting a CHIS (a “snout” if you’ve ever seen the Bill). On my unit there are officers from several police forces, and a couple of government departments that hold law enforcement powers. Earlier in the week I was out talking to a group of senior police, customs and SOCA officers about how to extend this kind of co-operation and now I am having bricks thrown at me.

There are so many things I would like to say, so many experiences that have...

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