Following the work of the Blue Line

FROM the busy towns to the quiet countryside, there’s a chance to see what working for the North Wales Police Roads Policing Unit looks like in a new series on S4C.

Y Llinell Las (The Blue Line) starts on Tuesday.

The North Wales Police region covers an exceptionally wide area – nearly a third of Wales’ land, and the problems are very diverse from area to area – from the cities in the east to the countryside of the west.

With in-car, custody and body cameras, we follow North Wales Police in their incredible day-to-day work.

PC Rich Priamo, from Wrexham, has been part of the Roads Policing Unit for three years. For him, working for the service is a family thing: his father was in the navy, his mother an army nurse and his sister and brother-in-law also work in the service. According to Rich, “all our blood is blue”.

There is nowhere like Wrexham to Rich and he recognises that he has seen everything here. In the first episode, he goes after a driver who is nearly three times over the drinkdrive limit: “There is nothing better for me than taking someone drunk out of a car and putting them in prison. Because you know nobody’s dead. The thing that annoys me is if I don’t catch someone and they kill somebody... I feel like I’ve failed.”

Sgt Raymond Williams has been with the unit for 10 years and, for him, making a difference is what motivates him in his job. He says: “If I get so much personal satisfaction from being able to make a difference to someone in the darkest time of their lives... that’s worth a lot more in someone’s head than money in the bank.”

For the first time ever, cameras will have complete and honest access to the work of North Wales Police Roads Policing Unit as they work to keep us and our communities safe in an area that ranges from secluded country lanes to the busy North Wales Expressway, the A55.

Filming for Y Llinell Las began over Christmas in 2019 and, over the recent period of Covid-19, the team has followed all the guidelines, legislation and protocols the Welsh Government has set to ensure that the work continues in a safe way.

The series also draws viewers’ attention to drink-driving, speed, violence against the police and much more.

Y Llinell Las, February 16, 9pm, Welsh and English subtitles available. On demand: S4C Clic, iPlayer and other platforms. A Slam Media production for S4C.