Calling the Cops

Channel Four's adaptation of David Peace's 'Red Riding' quartet has been getting a fair amount of flak from some quarters lately for its portrayal of the police in 1970s and 1980s West Yorkshire as being corrupt and brutal. The main criticisms seem to be that there is actually no history of corruption on the part of West Yorkshire police during the period portrayed, nor was there any evidence that they routinely coerced confessions from suspects, fitted up innocent people or resorted to murder in order to cover up their misdemeanours. Now obviously, Peace's novels are clearly works of fiction which present an alternative version of 1970s and 1980s West Yorkshire which acts as a microcosm of the political sleaze and corruption which was going on elsewhere in the UK. It distills a multitude of events into a single, fictionalised narrative. Whilst corruption, brutality and perversion of the course of justice may not have occurred in the real West Yorkshire on the scale depicted in the 'Red Riding' novels, the fact is that during the period they cover, corruption was endemic in some police forces (the Metropolitan police launched a whole operation - 'Countryman' - to try and root it out), and the investigative methods used by some forces was highly questionable. Let's not forget that the West Midlands Serious Crimes Squad was disbanded after its history of falsifying evidence and fitting up of suspects was exposed.

Of direct relevance to 'Red Riding' was the wrongful conviction of Stefan Kizko, a man with learning difficulties, for the murder of a young girl in Rochdale in 1975. This is paralleled in Peace's narrative by the wrongful conviction of Micheal Myshkin, a young man with learning difficulties, for the murder of three young girls in West Yorkshire. Significantly, in the real life Kizko case, which involved the police withholding evidence and pressuring Kizko into making a confession in order to secure a conviction, one of the detectives involved was later also to be part of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation, a fictionalized version of which is featured in the novels. Indeed, one of the criticisms of the novels and TV adaptation is that it implies the Ripper investigation was hampered by corruption, whereas the police were simply incompetent. The Kizko case and its links to the Ripper investigation seem to imply that it went beyond mere incompetence. But of course, this sort of stuff is all a thing of the past, isn't it? Sadly, the recent conviction of a London taxi driver for drugging and sexually assaulting female passengers revealed the police's complete mishandling of the investigation, which allowed the sex offender to continue his activities unchecked for several years.

All of which, rather labouriously, brings me to my own recent experiences of the police. Now, from the off, let me make it clear that I have no axe to grind with the police - I have enough relatives who are police officers - and my previous experiences with my local force have been quite good. However, in the course of my proper job I recently came across a cannabis farm in a property I had to attend. Now, I have no intention of elaborating upon the nature of my job, but suffice to say that I was at the property in an official capacity. Anyway, what I found there wasn't just a couple of plants and a bong. Oh no, it was a full fledged farm - the whole house had been converted to the cultivation of the plants. There were several hundred thousand pounds worth of the stuff there. Naturally, I called the police, in the full expectation that he entire county drugs squad would descend on the place, sirens blaring and lights flashing. An hour later, nobody had turned up. So, I called again, emphasising the extent of the cannabis farm. I was promised that officers would attend promptly. Half an hour later a single police woman turned up. To be fair to her, once she saw the farm, she got straight on to her control room in the expectation of the drugs squad being called out. After another three-quarters of an hour we got a single Detective Sergeant. Half an hour after that a forensics guy put in an appearance. Now, I know that I wasn't being attacked and that I hadn't stumbled upon a serial killer's den, I don't think it right that I should be left for an hour and a half guarding a cannabis factory! Particularly as it was less than a mile from my local police station.

I might have been willing to pass this off as an isolated incident if it wasn't for the fact that, a couple of weeks later, a colleague had a similar experience when he reported a suspected firearm at a property. After an hour two very scruffy officers - who looked like hey might have escaped from 'Red Riding' - turned up and made a cursory search of the premises, which lasted less than five minutes, declaring that they couldn't find anything and departing. Several knives, an axe and a slingshot were subsequently discovered on site. If this is the way the police respond to legitimate requests for assistance, then is it any wonder that people seem increasingly reluctant to report crimes, and would rather take the law into their own hands? No wonder many people seem to have no respect for the police - they know they won't do anything, even when a crime is pointed out to them. I found it especially galling that, the week after the cannabis farm incident, I had to endure the BBC running a series of radio reports about ow the police were cracking down on such farms, and even accompanied them on a raid! Incredibly, the farm I discovered has never been mentioned in the local press and nobody has ever thanked me for my part in a major drugs bust! Ultimately, I suppose I should think myself lucky, I suppose. After all, the police could have been like those in 'Red Riding', in which case they would have turned up quickly and beaten me up for having the audacity to report a crime, before making off with the drugs, selling them and framing me for the whole thing. Mind you, judging by their performance, I doubt very much that my local police could even be bothered to be corrupt - that might involve them actually having to go out and collect the back handers. Far too much trouble, I'm sure.