I was a special constable with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary for five years, giving me a front-line view of policing as I simultaneously worked as a senior civil servant at the Home Office.
You very quickly learn two things about “the job”. First, that when people are having the worst day of their lives the quality of your response makes a profound difference. Second, when the wheels fall off, you need a person in uniform standing next to you who can have your back. When you strip away all the progressive verbiage pumped out by policing quangos on what matters, the public expects two things, above all: moral and physical courage.
