The Last Linslade Bobby. Chapter Four Part Three.

Chapter Four Continued...(remember there are ten chapters.)

As he lived with his parents I did not need to damage
any locks but waved the warrant at them. Then I searched his room
which was not difficult because there on the floor in a pile were the
coins, the broken bottle and the Clydesdale bank note. He arrived a
few minutes after me (his girlfriend had phone him landline; there
were very few mobile phones then by the way, only rich people had
them). I arrested him and after interview where he denied stealing
the bottle, he was charged and bailed to Leighton court two weeks
ahead. He was found guilty after his solicitor talked some sense into
him to please guilty (the evidence was unshakeable) and as it was his
first offence he was given a suspended sentence, mainly because the
charity money was recovered.

Note how I dealt with the whole incident from initial
crime report to the court. Today there are so many other things
involved it takes ages to get even the simplest case to court,
sometimes six months or more. A Local Beat Officer (LBO) was just
that, your local law enforcer. Because of my age and obvious ability
I was just left alone by the Sergeants who could see I was working
hard. I was even permitted to apply for search warrants off my own
back, the sergeants signature was easily obtained from the CID
supervisor if there was no shift Sgt on.

In the centre of Bideford Green there is a shop. The
shop was open for very long hours so often in the evening the only
person in the shop on duty was the cashier on the till. They had
fitted CCTV I am pleased to say, but I quickly found out that the
management did not trust their staff, at the expense of catching
shoplifters. The same lads who pinched booze from the Off Licence in
Old Road, also stole six-packs from this shop. They quickly
discovered that there was only one person in the shop late evenings,
and that the CCTV camera was facing the till, not the door. When ever
I attended a call of a theft, we would look at the CCTV only to see
two pairs of feet run in, then out as the camera was focused on the
till draw all the time!

One of my little aims in Linslade was to stop car
drivers simply dumping their cars on the footpath. They took no
notice of the fact pedestrians had to walk out into the busy roads to
get past. From me such ignorant, selfish behavior earned a £20 FPN
ticket. One man blocked the path outside the Bedford Arms one
morning, at the junction of Wing Road, Stoke Road and Leighton Road.
He was 'just popping in the pub' but it cost him an extra £20 as I
caught him. He was also given a talk too about pedestrians rights of
way and just how lethal the Wing Road junction is (was...it has been
widened since.). He took out the £20 and handed it to me. I looked a
bit shocked and told him the instructions of what to do to pay the
fine were on the ticket I had handed to him. He then told me I could
have the cash anyway, if I tore up the ticket (which one cannot do,
as once it is written up it has been issued, they are all numbered).
I warned him he was about to be arrested for trying to bribe a police
officer and to put the notes back into his pocket ASAP. I was a bit
stunned over his actions as there was no points on his licence, just
a fine. I later wondered if he just did not know about fixed penalty
tickets.

Back in the station canteen they all told me I should
have pocketed it, but then they were always taking the mickey out of
each other, as I did out of them. The inference was I needed lessons
on the snooker table, as I was useless at the game. Taking any bribe
is a dismissible offence.