Beyond the Call of Duty is the title of a new book from Constable and Robinson.
Accounts of the incredible, though seldom-reported, bravery shown by police officers in their day-to-day work. A lone policewoman disarms a knife-wielding schizophrenic; two officers drag a woman from a railway line seconds before an express train roars past; an undercover cop clings onto the bonnet of a drug-dealer’s car as it speeds through a busy town centre.
These are just some of the ways Britain’s police officers are called upon to show bravery in the line of duty when even the most routine call can turn into a life-or-death situation and split-second judgements can make all the difference. Sometimes officers make the ultimate sacrifice in fulfilling their duty. When PC Bill Parker was swept to his death by floodwaters in Cumbria in 2009, he had been working to save stranded motorists.
These stories also show an insider’s view of the culture, training and techniques police officers use in carrying out their duties. The book was written over a year by retired Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Kinsella and journalist Ben Ando, who travelled the country to interview officers and staff.
From Derbyshire for instance it features the story of PC Graham Fish and Air Observer Ian Worthington, who are both part of the helicopter unit based at police headquarters, Ripley.
The two men were on duty on July 2 2007 when a member of the public called 999 to report that a woman had jumped into the River Derwent at Derby. The aircraft was sent to search the area and the crew saw the woman in the water. Pilot Erich Church kept the helicopter steady while PC Fish and former police sergeant Worthington jumped 30ft from the aircraft and into the water. They held onto the 76-year-old woman in the fast-flowing water until other officers arrived to help them pull her to safety.
Two Glossop officers also feature in the book. PCs Mathew Winterbottom and Leigh Gyte were on patrol in the town one February night in 2011.
They received a call that a woman was threatening to jump. The call was traced to Dinting railway station and the two PCs went to the area to join colleagues from the British Transport Police.
The officers saw a light and heard the sound of a mobile phone and headed toward this. Nearby, they found a woman lying across the track. At this point, an officer from the British Transport Police told them to clear the line as a train was coming which would be unable to stop. They could see the train approaching at speed and struggled with the woman, who refused to leave the track. With seconds to spare, they managed to drag the woman off the track as the train passed.
With a foreword from Sir Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers Beyond the Call of Duty: Untold Stories of Britain’s Bravest Police Officers by Ben Ando and Nick Kinsella is priced £7.99.
