Interesting, humorous, factual, serious, it has the lot .
Disadvantages:
None for me .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I have read a number of biographies and auto biographies over the years, although, despite being a retired police officer, never one relating to the job I held for 30 years. This book, however, was bought and read on the recommendation of an officer from the City of London, whom I had befriended as a Federation rep at conferences.
My friend's recommendation that it was a good read was certainly true and I found myself transported back in time to my early days as a constable.
As the title suggests, it is the story of the author's life, briefly from his childhood days from his birth in 1944, to his retirement from the police in 1999, the bulk of the book being his police service.
To set the scene of Bob's start in life, the first 3 chapters chronicle his childhood and his first jobs prior to joining the police. To say his early childhood was bizarre is, to say the least, an understatement. He tells of how, before he was born, his family lived in Stoke Newington during the blitz, although his eldest brother and his sister had been evacuated to Northampton, his mother, her husband and Bob's other brother, a baby at the time, remained in London.
Tragically, Bob's mothers' husband was killed in the blitz and this resulted in his mother and baby also being evacuated to Northampton. Bob was conceived there, the son of an unknown American serviceman whom, to this day, Bob has not managed to trace. The bizarre aspect of his childhood then begins. He was not raised by his mother, but by an unmarried couple who actually lived next door to her, his brothers and sister! He was regarded by his brothers and sister as - the weird kid next door - , little wonder that he felt lonely as a child.
In short, these opening chapters go on to recount his schooldays, playing rugby, leaving school, his jobs as an errand boy and bricklayer, meeting Jackie, who became his wife, their struggles financially and his life changing decision to join the Northampton Police Force in 1969.
I, as a policeman of the same era as Bob, held, until reading this book, a belief that life was the same for all officers at the start of their careers whatever force they joined. How wrong I was! Whereas, in my own force, a period of at least 4 years ' pounding the beat ' was required before one was even considered to becoming a police driver, Bob was not only driving a panda car whilst still in his 2 years as a probationer constable, he was also in C.I.D ( criminal investigation department ), something unheard of in my force and which totally amazed me.
Corby, Northamptonshire where Bob started his career, was home to one of the largest steelworks in Europe at the time and there was a great influx of Scottish workers, particularly Glaswegians, because of the steelworks. Renown for being heavy drinkers with a penchant for fighting, particularly it appears with policemen, whom they appeared to have an in-built dislike for. This explains why being posted there was considered as a punishment post. There are a number of anecdotes in the book which confirmed this belief. There was also an unsavoury criminal element amongst them as well, which are recounted in detail in the book.
Bob is 100% open and honest in his account of all aspects of his experiences as a police officer in those days, extolling the virtues of his work and virtues of the majority of his fellow officers, to castigating some of them for their methods, attitudes, laziness and failure to meet what he believed was a proper standard to perform to as a policeman.
Humorous tales of the ' wind up 'pranks played by officers on each other had me laughing hysterically and recalling memories of similar occurrences of my early days. All imaginable incidents that anyone can imagine are covered, whether funny or tragic. The first cot death he attended and the anger felt at the way the senior officer with him dealt with it, displays the honesty with which the book is written.
The drinking culture of the C.I.D officers , of which Bob was not a believer or participator in, was something, which at times, caused him to be ostracised because of this. An example of this is given when, despite still inexperienced and only a C.I.D aide, he was left to cover a night shift as the only detective on duty that night. The events of the night resulted in him dealing with 1 theft ( detected ), 5 undetected burglaries and 2 robberies ( possibly detectable ). On completing his night shift, he had to return to work by 9 am that morning to interview and charge his prisoner for the theft offence, before continuing with a full days work. A perfect illustration of ' A policemen's lot is not a happy one ' to quote the song.
The point is also made by Bob that the 70's was the time of the Sweeney on television which, along with a few national scandals, gained the Police an undeserved notoriety and misconception of the service, in the public's eyes. He does not deny that incidents of ' fitting up ' of suspects ' did not happen, but not accepting that it was as widespread as the public imagined. He demonstrates his total honesty by recounting an incident when he refused to sign a statement which had been typed for him, without his knowledge, insisting that it was done correctly, despite this being inconvenient to himself. Just so the reader does not conclude the book is written by some sort of angel, he openly admits that there were times when statements and interviews were not done totally within the rules of legality, though none of them were, in anyway, anything other than a factual account of what took place.
Reference is made to the difference between working in Corby and Kettering, although only 10 miles apart, a totally different style of policing, particularly in C.I.D, the friendliness of detectives towards the criminals in Kettering, compared to the hostility which existed between the two in Corby. Bob, by this time, had progressed to the rank of Detective Sergeant, albeit, a desk job responsible for checking and preparing crime files for crown court, extremely time consuming in the days before photocopiers. It served him well however, as he believes that the time spent in this post and the knowledge he gained from it was, in no small part, responsible for his later rise though the ranks.
Bob's candid views on capital punishment are covered from both sides of the argument from his own experiences and are very thought provoking and balanced.
The book continues through Bob's career, to his retirement in 1999 having risen through honest, hard work, to the rank of Area Commander. An exceptional feat in those days, even though Bob openly admits to his own surprise, at the speed of his early rise of promotion, unusual at that time, unlike the present day fast tracking, which is now the norm. What took Bob 30 years to achieve can now be done in less than 15 years. Perhaps that is a sad indictment of the current Police Service and a reason for what I personally know to be a low morale amongst the older junior ranks.
This is just a short insight into the book, as are too many stories I could mention particularly, but I think that you will have gathered already what this book is about and it would me impossible to highlight any specific incident, as everything written is pertinent to the full picture of his life and the changes in the job with technology, better equipment and working practices.
One illustration of Bob's belief in a honest and accountable police service, was to be instrumental in the forming of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, brought in as a safeguard against any corrupt practises, which, although some did occur, were not as widespread as many believed.
To a small degree, I compared reading the book, to watching the Life on Mars television series, the important difference being, that the book is factual, unlike the television series, which is fictional. However if I compare the two, there are some similarities between them, albeit, in my opinion, small ones.
Written with such clarity and vivid, descriptive detail, the reader very easily forms a visual picture of the event or incident being related, whether humorous or tragic, it is immaterial, the effect is the same. The book is a superb, enlightening insight into the real ' inside ' world of the police service, delivered brilliantly, by an ordinary copper, a man of immense integrity and honesty. Bob's picture, on the cover of the book, presents an image of what, people would imagine to reflect the old fashioned ' British Bobby ', that was famous the whole world over, apart from the flat cap instead of the helmet of course!
Will it appeal to anyone outside of the police circle? My answer would be a resounding yes. Anyone who enjoys reading cannot fail to enjoy what is a story of real life, told with humour and seriousness that blends perfectly. It may even confirm or perhaps, dispel, the many myths, or ill conceived beliefs of the police service, that the reader may hold.
