A LIFE OF CRIME
We need desk cops out on the frontline
THERE’S been a bit of a stooshie in some quarters about rookie cops being sent out on the frontline with as little as two weeks training during COP26.
And with Omicron racing through the population at an incredible rate, it was inevitable it would affect critical infrastructures including the police.
Numbers are depleted as more and more officers go off sick or have to self-isolate leaving the thin blue line even thinner.
So in an effort to keep frontline policing at optimal levels, probationers will once again be out on the streets helping their colleagues alongside some 300 office-based cops.
This can only be a good thing. Compared to their response colleagues, most support officers work regular hours and spend most of their career inside away from the public they signed up to serve.
If I were in charge (and it’s probably a good thing I’m not) I’d send officebased cops back on to the frontline every few years.
Support roles are important but, for me, the real policing is done on the streets. “THE hallway is a sea of mail and fast food flyers. A narrow pathway has been cut through the middle of it by the feet and legs of police and paramedics, leaving knee-high mounds to either side.
“This is what you get when time stands still, when no one knows or cares that there’s no longer anyone at home.”
From The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill.
Crime scenes are the kind of place that most people would never want to see.
I’ve stood on the other side of the tape countless times, seeking information on the gory scenes inside. Sometimes a friendly cop would give a fleeting insight into what lay behind the tape and the closed door.
“It’s a bad one.” Or “It’s like a butcher’s shop in there.”
These bloody scenes are nightmares to most of us but meat and drink to forensics and detectives who can harvest all sorts of clues among the gore. Many cases are solved by what’s found inside.
But once the cops and the SOCOs go home, what next? Who cleans up the mess?
The world of the crime scene tidy-up experts has been in the public eye thanks to hit BBC One comedy The Cleaner, starring the ever-present Greg Davies.
It is also the subject of a new book from a favourite author. The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill is the latest from Craig Robertson, writing as CS Robertson, and delves deep into the world of those who mop up blood, clean human flesh from walls and body fluids from floors.
The book is a brilliant read but it also gives a real insight into what happens when the police leave.
The scene that’s left behind is potentially deadly, littered with lethal pathogens, and it is cleaners like Grace McGill who have to make it safe.
The book concentrates on older people dying lonely deaths and Grace begins to realise that there is a connection and delves deeper.
Craig, who was a journalist for more than 20 years, has done his research and the end product is a twisty, chilling but respectful dark offering that gives us an insight into a hidden world.
When I asked Craig what made him think of such an unusual storyline, he said: “I wanted to know what it said about society that people could die without anyone noticing. And I wanted to know about the person that had to clean up the mess.
“I was fascinated, and horrified, at news stories of people who’d died alone at
A GENTLE reminder that Police Scotland’s Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse in Scotland (DSDAS) exists to help tackle domestic abuse.
Since the scheme launched in 2015, they’ve had over 13,000 requests to ask about the background of a partner. Of the 13,334 received, 7530 people (56 per cent) were told that their current partner has a violent or abusive past.
If you are worried or suspect your partner may have a hidden past the scheme may provide the first step to taking control of your situation.
GET THE LATEST CRIME NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX EVERY DAY To sign up, go to bit.ly/Criminal RecordNewsletter or scan this with code your phone camera