Cops and Robbers: The Story of the British Police Car. Ant Anstead
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William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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London SE1 9GF
This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2018
Text © Ant Anstead Limited, 2018
Photographs © Individual copyright holders
Cover photograph © John Lakey
Ant Anstead asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008244514
eBook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008245061
Version: 2018-05-11
Contents
Copyright
Introduction
Chapter One – Creating the Blue Line: The Birth of the British Police Force
Chapter Two – These Devilish Machines Scare the Horses, You Know
Chapter Three – Adapt and Arrest
Chapter Four – Post-War Peace; London Sets the Way
Chapter Five – Send the Area Car
Chapter Eight – Police Car Livery and Equipment
Chapter Nine – Commercial Break
Chapter Ten – Performance Cars
Chapter Eleven – It’s Got Cop Shocks
Chapter Twelve – Buying Cars – Police Vehicle Procurement and Demonstration Vehicles
Chapter Thirteen – Fantasy Cars
Chapter Fourteen – Police Driving
Chapter Fifteen – Policing on the Screen
Plate Section
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
Picture Credits
I am hugely proud of my police career, and when I look back on the years that I spent as a police officer I do so with a great sense of pride and achievement, knowing that I played a small part in what I firmly believe to be the best police service in the world; an institution that puts the great into Great Britain.
Like any typical teenager, in my youth I never really knew what I wanted to do when I was older, except that I didn’t want to follow my father into the hospitality sector. I was the second oldest of four boys; my two younger brothers were still at school, but my older brother was working as a scaffolder on building sites. I would often join him at weekends to earn extra pocket money, which I blew on car parts for the numerous classic cars I was restoring and selling from home. I had an auntie in the police, though, who was cool and I looked up to her, so I started to research joining the police. At 18 and a half I was just old enough to apply. I never told anyone what I was doing, and it was only in the week that I was packing my bags to go to police college that I told my parents of my chosen career. I was young and full of enthusiasm, and I developed a passion for the law. I loved being within the police family and still consider myself, somehow, part of that; l look back on that section of my life with great affection.
Being a police officer also taught me a lot, much of which I was able to use once I left the service, and that knowledge has given me a great sense of perspective. At the age of 23 I became one of the UK’s youngest armed officers and a full-time member of the TFU (Tactical Firearms Unit). I hold two commendations for bravery and I can recall countless incidents that took my breath away with either fear, laughter, tears or amazement. I look back at those dangerous incidents now in a positive way, as moments of great luck, and I still have the scars from them, which remind me how lucky I am. I owe a lot to the police and I am grateful for the years I spent with them. It helped me to mature, and I have the utmost respect, admiration and affection for my fellow officers.
The police service in the UK is truly a service. I think of it as a service for the people of the nation, which was the original aim, unlike in many other countries where police work has a different ethos. The police taught me about self-discipline, gave me a work ethic and, I’d like to think, some empathy (after all, the best coppering is not always about arrests or box ticking). Also, it taught me, perhaps less usefully in civilian life, firearms training. I learned how to deal with people in all different circumstances. I became fascinated by human behaviour and I use all that learning today in a positive way in my own life. People often ask me if I get nervous hosting live television to millions of viewers, and I simply say ‘No. I’ve had a gun pointed at my face, this is easy’.
Our framework of laws and the ability to enforce them is what makes modern civilised society function – without this we would have no hospitals, roads or even an economy in which to find useful work. The police are