THE POLICE ADVISOR BLOG

Ten years ago, in the run-up to Halloween, Britain briefly lost its mind over creepy clowns. These weren’t traditional performers with face paint, red noses and big shoes. They were masked figures lurking in the woods, standing under streetlights, or — in the more extreme cases — chasing people down the street brandishing weapons. The so-called “killer clown” craze began in the United States before spreading to the UK. For a few weeks, it turned a silly internet fad into a ge

A little pre-Halloween true story for you! Many years ago, when I was still a special constable, I was out on foot patrol, alone, on a housing estate. I was walking down a long, straight road of houses, all in darkness. Parked cars lined the right-hand side of the road; an open field ran along the left. It was a clear, crisp night with a proper chill in it — I could see my own breath — but I was warm in the uniform and wide awake, enjoying my own company in the quiet night. T

One in an occasional series (more information here) One night when I was a response officer, I was sent at about 1am to a report of a woman in an elderly lady’s house who was refusing to leave. Cynical as I am, I expected to find someone taking advantage of a vulnerable person. Instead, I found a smartly dressed woman in her forties. She greeted me with “Nice to meet you,” held out her hand, and introduced herself as Susan*. Susan told me she had lived with her parents in a l

The stars of Line of Duty (Credit: BBC) This is usually the first question people ask me, whenever I tell people I'm a police advisor. The honest answer is - it varies! Some are decent, some are wildly overcooked, and a few are only realistic if you squint hard enough. British police drama has a better reputation than most TV crime fiction, but that is not the same as saying it is accurate. A lot of it gets the mood right and the mechanics wrong. The core issue is simple: dra

Police misconduct rarely arrives fully formed. It does not usually begin with a dramatic act of corruption, a bribe in a car park, or an officer deciding to become a villain. More often, it begins with something small: a message sent, a rule bent, a confidence assumed, or a senior officer deciding that the usual processes are for other people. Three recent cases illustrate the point well. One involves a former chief constable, one a senior volunteer officer, and one a serving

It was one of those jobs that starts bad, gets worse, and then takes a turn you don’t see coming until you’re standing in the middle of it. I was on a late shift. A 19-year-old woman woke to find a masked man in her bedroom. Before she could properly process what was happening, he’d tied her hands, pulled a pillowcase over her head, and told her he’d slit her throat if she made a sound. He searched the house, then left. She managed to get next door, hands still bound behind h

I promised in a previous entry to update this blog with new figures about UK police firearms officers and deployments, and the figures for the year to March 2026 are now available for England and Wales. Total number of Armed Officers The total number of police officers authorised to carry firearms has gone up, by about 3%, to 6,558, spread across the 43 police forces in England and Wales. This is primarily driven by an uplift in the Met Police, who cover London. It's worth n

Police interviews are a mainstay of TV drama – but so often they shown as a showdown, a shouting match in a small room: the detective bangs the table, the suspect cracks under pressure, and the confession arrives neatly before the end of the episode. The reality, of course, is less dramatic – such interactions are more controlled, more procedural, and far less theatrical. I touched on this in one of my "top tropes" posts a few years ago. But I think it's worth looking at inte

Tomorrow sees the publication of The Snake, a new thriller by writer Phil Gladwin — and I’m delighted to have played a part in helping bring it to the page. It is not a cosy crime novel. Nor is it a book in which somebody flashes a warrant card, shouts “You’re nicked” and then spends the next hour filling in a notebook no one has used since 1987. The Snake takes readers into the world of London’s armed policing: a place where decisions are made quickly, consequences last for

CCTV is everywhere in the UK. It’s one of the most useful tools in modern policing. But let’s be real—it’s also one of the most misrepresented things on television. In dramas, it’s often portrayed as a magic solution: perfect colour footage, crystal-clear faces, and a detective who can “zoom in” or “enhance” a grainy image until every detail is revealed. In reality, CCTV is far more limited, mundane, and less cinematic than that. What TV Gets Wrong Television loves the idea o

One in an occasional series (more information here) Job into the control room: Male caller complaining that he went to a brothel, saw a prostitute and agreed to pay for sex with her. Paid his money and then another, much less attractive woman arrived to ‘deliver the service’. He stormed out but wants police to attend and get his money back!

If you are making a film, drama, documentary, or branded piece that involves police work, a good police advisor is not just there to check uniforms or tell you whether a scene “looks right”. I can bring my experience of over 30 years policing to help shape the story, protect realism, avoid legal mistakes, and – bonus – I can save you time on set. A lot of problems happen because people bring in an advisor too late. By then, scripts are locked, locations are booked, and scenes

If you’re writing a contemporary UK police drama, there’s a quiet revolution happening that almost no one is putting on screen yet: police drones are now routine bits of kit, and the officer flying them might be miles away from the incident. That simple shift, from “on-scene gadget” to “remote, networked capability”, is a fresh, underused hook for storytelling. From novelty to everyday tool Police forces across the UK already operate hundreds of drones. They’re used to find m

Very Q (quiet) first night shift (Friday) of our set of 7 nights. Went to a domestic where our caller said his wife had 'stabbed' his new girlfriend (already, I have questions). We got there, it actually turned out that it was a very minor cut with a potato knife - but the 999 call had been very dramatic. He was there, pissed, covered in bumps, cuts and bruises - turns out his wife's new boyfriend had given him a right beating. It was like an episode of Jeremy Kyle, trying to

Stop and search is one of those police powers that everyone has an opinion about. Most people have seen it on TV, read about it in the news, or perhaps been stopped themselves. Depending on which side of the argument you’re on, it’s either an unacceptable invasion of privacy, or a vital tool in fighting crime. From my own experience, it is also one of the powers that is easiest to misunderstand and, sometimes, easiest to get wrong. “Gotta have grounds” Officers have to have g

The news that two police officers were killed on the A66 near Middlesbrough—along with five young men in another vehicle—is horrifying. My thoughts are with the family and friends of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough of Cleveland Police. It’s heartbreaking that they left for work that day not knowing they would never return. May they rest in peace. It’s less than two days since the tragedy, and details are still emerging. Reports indicate officers were in pursuit of a VW Pa

A cell door somewhere. This is the best side to be on! If, like me, you’ve watched enough police dramas, this will already be familiar. Police have arrested someone, they’re marched into a police station, and booked in with a few brisk lines of dialogue, and “bang” they’re shut in a cell before the story moves on. The reality is that custody is one of the most legally important, carefully controlled, and often misunderstood parts of policing in England and Wales. It’s not jus

One in an occasional series (more information here) We had one slightly interesting job last night - a woman calls 999 to say their family dog was asleep on their daughter's bed, suddenly woke up, bit her and went mad - they were all hiding in a bedroom with the dog going crazy outside! We turned up with firearms, all ready to taser/shoot this mad dog, when it came down the stairs wagging its tail! Advised them to take it to the RSPCA as they obviously won't or can't handle t

As a front line police officer, I attended thousands of incidents over the years, and met many people in all sorts of situations. Sometimes there was drama - death, injury, violence, confrontation. But not always, sometimes situations weren't as they first seemed, or people surprised me. There were quite a few funny situations too. People are endlessly amusing! I started writing down some of these more memorable stories, although I'm not sure why. I did for a while have a blo

This is something I’m seeing more and more often, for some reason, in adverts and TV dramas, even the odd dark comedy (I’m looking at you, Inside No.9!) So here is my impassioned and heartfelt plea to the costume team, crowd ADs, or anyone who is putting extras and actors in police uniform in front of a camera… PLEASE NO HELMET STRAPS! Police officers wearing helmets (or ‘bowlers’ if the officer is female) with the chin strap / restraints is an absolute clanger. It never happ