Arrested developments
From a mass brawl to a suspect with a sword, it’s a tense watch with our emergency services
999: WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY?
Channel 4, 9pm
AT A Sunday league football match, a disgruntled player is brandishing an axe.
In another incident in the early hours of Sunday morning, all available units are scrambled to assist an injured officer at a mass pub brawl.
“Clearly, when you hear ‘officer down’ it puts the fear of God into you,” says Sgt John Brixey.
“I was in fear of my life,” says injured officer PC Nigel Willcocks.
“The only thing that would have helped at that point was a lot more of us. That’s never going to happen.”
This is sadly just a usual day at the office for the relentless work carried out by Wiltshire’s police, paramedic and fire services.
In the UK, incidents of violence are at an all-time high, with more calls reporting violence, accompanied by an increasing lack of respect for the police.
“Respect. That’s the one thing that’s gone entirely,” says PC John Miller. “We’re the last bastion. Once you lose us, you do not have law and order.”
Needless to say, as cameras follow the emergency services as they attend these calls, it makes for tense and heart-racing telly.
Police officer Rachael Woodbridge adds: “You can pretty much guarantee on your shift you’re going to get five to 10 violence calls. We call it ‘going bat s**t crazy’.”
Aside from the axe and brawl incidents, there’s also a report of arson, and a suspect on the run with a sword leads to high-speed drama and a brutal night-time confrontation.