The key to good policing

The other evening I did an attachment with the traffic department. The idea being spend a shift with a specialised department to see if there was anything I could learn as part of my probation.

That being the aim of the evening I can confirm it was a success I did indeed learn a valuable lesson.

Just as it looked like the shift had turned into a very uneventful 12 hours we saw a crappy fiesta 4 up with lads. So sneak up behind it, blue lights, vehicle stops. My colleague makes his way to the driver's door:

'Hello, son come and take seat in the back of our car'

Meanwhile I get the the names of the three passengers and begin radio checks beginning with the front seat passenger:

'Can I have a console for three person checks please?'

'Go ahead with the first'

'Officer blah, on blah road, checking blah, blah born blah'

'Got one exact match, disqual driver and an ASBO'

'What are the conditions of the ASBO?'

'Not to associate with blah, blah and blah'

'I bet you can't guess who my other person checks are?'

Before I ask my next question I turn my back, so that the occupants can't hear my question.

'Does that carry a power of arrest?'

Now, with my back turned i hear Vroom,Vroom and the car takes off!

The front seat passenger had only jumped across and started the car with the keys which we had left in the ignition!!!

Now for some reason I don't know why I began to run after the car, I know it was a crappy fiesta but i don't think I could have caught it. Dive back in the patrol car up the road one lap of the council estate and we're all over the car. That is until, it goes off road across the park, round the rugby pitch twice, into the woods, lights out, gone!

So next time I stop a vehicle I will be taking the keys out of the ignition!!!