There is a good term used by the old bill in the UK… “Dammed if you do or dammed if you don’t”
Generally police get hammered in the news by the media .Some totally justified and some either a way off the mark or not all the information has been provided and telling half the story.
What you never see is the good stories, the hard working amazing people that actually joined to make a difference. Yes there are rotten apples in the job but they are in the minority compared to vast amount of the good ones who are out there protecting victims, locking up criminals and safeguarding the most vulnerable.
One of those people was my mate Aid. Previously a head chef, he joined the police as a late starter and then worked his way to the marine unit and became a solid senior member of the team.
Not shy to say his mind and generally would blert out his thoughts before thinking about what he said even in the presence of senior management. But that’s was good because you knew where you stood with him. Even the chief inspector that turned up with out an ID lanyard on was impressed/ slightly taken back when Aid said “WHO ARE YOU!” In an ebrupt manner when the new boss came to introduce himself to the team.
His technical mind was forever working to help overcome challenges the team were having. On a tactical RIB, at the dead of night faced with coldest of wind and the hardest of rain it was almost impossible to communicate. Coms sets for that environment were coming in at over £10k minimum. The brainy bugger only went off to his garage in his own time and built his own sets. In fact these sets were better than the commercial ones available to the point that he helped them better there product at no cost, because it was just about fixing the problem.
I can remember the start of aids fight like it was yesterday. We were on a team marine training session. Everyone had been working hard and getting tasks done. On that day that strong solid character started to have a bit of a moment with his throat. It was like it was blocked and causing him distress. I remember sitting with him and said mate you need to get that checked out. Sure an enough after multiple people saying the same thing he took the step and went.
Aid was diagnosed with a throat cancer and this started his long, hard fight.
They say it takes a certain type of person to be a police officer. Iv always contemplated the actual meaning of this because no one person is the same.
Aid was Strong, Selfless, Driven and all about the team and the job at hand.
You can come up with a number of fancy words that someone is trying to get promoted on and thinks is the next best thing, but for me:
STRONG
SELFLESS
DRIVEN
ALL ABOUT THE TEAM AND THE JOB AT HAND.
Aid in the fact that out of work he was all about his family. His wife who I now know to be one of the strongest lady’s I have ever met and his two boys who clearly have inherited the same characteristics as their old man.
This to me is a good representation of what that certain type of person should be!! And now when someone says “do you think a person could make it in the police” I end up putting them in my head against Aid. If they have elements of his characteristics and mind set that complements the above then maybe they can make it. If not then probably not.
Near the end when it was clear that Aid only had weeks rather than months it was decided that as a team we would all go around his house for tea and bacon rolls. A lot of the team wanted to see him but I guess were nervous about how they were going to cope with the emotional side.
In short it’s was the best thing we could have done as a team. The anticipation of it becoming a somber goodbye was soon drowned out by that team mentality humour which of course I threw my self under the bus being the butt of a few jokes.
It’s a day I will never forget. Hard, emotional and sad but balanced with laughter, humour and team war stories.
I ended up stepping up as a temporary sgt during Aids last few days. I visited him and his wife two days before he left us.
I am very proud to say that I served with that tough, hard, clever, loving officer who would give you everything to see you succeed.
I will finish on telling my favourite memory with Aid;
I was not even a year into my new job on the marine unit. We were heading up the Thames on our old Rhib called Seahorse. It was rough and condition were challenging. Aid clearly wanting me to succeed was pushing me on keeping speed up over the large swell and waves. The waves were tall but close together creating a hole between them. At the top of a big wave the boat nose dropped causing me to fall on the throttles. In short I drove it under the wave, smashing the windscreen and setting off all our life jackets. It took a few seconds to register what had happened and then I looked at Aid to see how much trouble I was in. He looked at me for a few seconds with a stern face and said…. What the F!!! No one’s done that before!! That was amazing. We got the boat to safety and talked it through. An experience I will never forget!!!!
I guess in summary working in the police force you get to meet some amazing people who are really passionate and do some real good for the communities they serve. However the sad reality is that these people and stories rarely make the news. It’s only the small proportion of bad stories that get the biggest coverage.
It’s worth noting that for every bad story that gets all the attention in the media there are hundreds of good stories that only a few will ever know happened. Aid is just one of so many officers that have died whilst in the job to which they have all given so much.
The wider public wouldn’t have known Aid, but I did and those key characteristics and memories will never fade.