In 1981 amid recession and widespread urban unrest Dave Watson left the building trade to join the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police. You will be enthralled by his stories which cover every human emotion, from a cancer victim having a breakdown to a young bingo caller falling to his death fleeing a raid from the drugs squad. On the way we meet characters and scenes and events that would be hard to find in the most creative pages of crime fiction: the three pensioners who volunteered to be Dave’s ‘deputies’ to chase a robber; a ‘Carry on’-style brothel raid; a crazy chase where when the thief was stopped when the patrol car parked on his foot; a colleague who was convinced he has been abducted by aliens; delivering a baby at midnight on Christmas eve; anguish during the miners’ strike; and many more enthralling stories.

Tha’s Locked Up: Memories of a West Yorkshire Policeman by David Watson (2012) PDF

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