Monday, we visited the Thames Valley Police at Reading station. We attended the early morning briefing, and were shown around by the inspector. Then, we were assigned to officers for ride alongs. Each police Constable has a list of ongoing cases they check in on. They also patrol the general area. My first constable was Sally. She was a fine dining chef for 10 years before becoming an officer. And my other officer was Connie. She is actually a PC at the Abingdon station on loan to the Reading station. Donald Trump is visiting the Queen Wednesday, so many Reading constables were called to London to prepare for him. Constables from other stations were asked to help out at Reading. (Their picture is below, but I was not allowed to take a picture with them for their safety and mine. Sally is blonde, and Connie is brunette). Police in the UK always patrol in pairs. It’s safer and more effective. They called themselves a police service and not force to connect with community. They are huge in community policing, something that only began in the 1980s in the US. Their Community Era of Policing started in the 1800s, so they have a much better relationship with their citizens.
My first ride along stop was to a woman Sally had been questioning about an illegal dog. The dog had attacked several people and was currently in police custody. The owners were very annoyed and concerned about the health of the dog. They argued with Sallly for 30 minutes before letting her go. We were on our way to a second illegal dog questioning when an immediate call came through. Sally turned on the blue lights and sped through traffic to get there. All UK police have a stigma of being crazy and drivers. We were swerving in and out of both lanes, making our own lanes in traffic, running lights, nearly hitting many other cars, and going well over the speed limit. The immediate call was by a local hospital that claimed there were 60+ travellers, or gypsies, refusing to leave an area of the hospital. One of their group members was sick, and they were all trying to be in the same room and pray with the sick member. Unfortunately, the doctors and nurses were unable to treat the patient since the room was so crowded. The police made all of the travellers move to a family waiting room, and allowed them to visit the patient on two at a time. I was told to stay in the car for my own safety. We went to the second dog place before returning to the station.
We were then transported to the police training center. Here, we got to meet police dogs. They performed biting demonstrations, and the handlers explained how they improve the dogs' biting. The first dog is Gus. Then Sammy. Then Sasha, who is a rescue. Then Howie who is about 8 months old. Then Watson who is just learning to get used to a harness. And finally the newest member of the police force, Tony, who was just picked up that morning.
It was a very exciting day full of information. The day ended back at the station about 4 p.m. I then went with about half the group for dinner at Bella Italia. We were all asleep by 8 p.m.