I joined the police as a Police Community Support Officer in June 2014, after 10 weeks of training, we passed out at the end of August, with another 10 weeks of tutorship. Finding your feet - quite literally and getting used to the patch I would cover.
Working in the Forest of Dean as a PCSO was unique to say the least. Foresters are very traditional, dislike change and are extremely stubborn. We dealt with a number of boundary disputes, issues with CCTV pointing in the wrong direction, cars parked in the wrong place. It was ludicrous some of the simple minded things we went to. However on most days it was an honour to be in uniform, offering help and support to those in desperate need.
The Forest of Dean is a tourist hotspot
Each year thousands of people visit here, canoeing down the Wye, to visit puzzlewood to see where Star Wars was filmed. Symonds Yat with its stunning views, the ponds, lakes and forest walks. There is also a outdoor cycle centre that during lockdown was classed as 'accessible exercise', this place attracts thousands of thrill seekers ever year to the down hill tracks. When I say down hill, I mean the gradient is ridiculous! Just watching some of the youtube vides give me motion sickness! This one day whilst on duty I assisted with providing first aid support to a male who had fallen off his bike at the centre. He was there with his family and two children. He had a nasty gash to his elbow and I was concerned about a compound facture to his thigh. As you can imagine ambulance waiting times and the fact he had travelled from Oxford, we waited for his wife to come back from the family friendly trails before taking him to hospital.
The loveable rogues
Dealing with the same people on a regular basis, you become almost attached to them, likeable young people who have had a shit time. This one young lad - James had got lost in the care system. As many youngsters reach teenage years they find it difficult to process the trauma they have been through and end up going off the rails. When the foster placement cant cope or they reach 17/18 they get lost in the system. Examples of this have been shown on a recent BBC documentary Teens in Care with Joe Swash. James was one of these, a lovely lad who just got things wrong, never received the support he desperately needed and couldn't cope with adult hood. We regularly sourced food parcels for him, The Barnwood Trust helped with furnishings in his flat. How ever the one day we couldn't find him and needed to check on his welfare. We eventually got hold of him and gave him some food. In conversation we asked about what support he needed, he didn't have an answer. He had no clue how to run his flat, how to take care of himself, how to keep safe anything. He really was lost. His exact words were 'if a dogs head was fucked up you would put it down, yet with a human being we are left to struggle on with it'. Bless him
Another one of my rogues was Lewis, he had a fortunate upbringing, he was at University when his life spiralled, got in with the wrong crowd, smoked way to much cannabis, drunk to much alcohol and began taking lots of recreational drugs and developed psychosis and schizophrenia, which when controlled with medication he was lovely, however the local community didn't want someone like that living on their doorstep. So the keyboard warriors set out against him, posting photos of him in crisis, blaming him for anything and everything. It was sickening. Especially when a lot of his odd behaviour was down to medical issues which they were unaware of. At one point Lloyd had to under go chemotherapy and was very poorly. I would check in on him every week, ensure he had food and that he was ok. He was a sweetheart really.
The fatal RTCs
The first fatal RTC I attended was unimaginable. Colleagues were travelling over to the station i was at when a car in the opposite direction misjudged the road and crashed into a grandmother putting her grandson into the car outside of her house. When I arrived at scene she was lay out on the floor, paramedics working on her, family looking on with the offending vehicle and occupants still at the scene. The paramedics asked me to assist them getting fluids into her so I stood over her squeezing the fluid line as hard as I could as they worked on her. I could see the colour of her hands draining away, her body lifeless and fragile like a new born baby. He husband stood watching over. I said a prayer, I had a feeling she wouldn't make it and wanted to ensure she got to the next life safely. The image still haunts me. They managed to get her stable and into an ambulance. I then had to escort traffic away from the scene and close the road. Whilst there family arrived. A lad I had gone to college with was a relation and I stopped and spoke with him. I advised to not go to the scene and wait for further instruction. It was awful. As the road closures were made secure for investigations, I returned to the station to prepare for the afternoon assisting with local council with a Waste management operation. However we received the news that the female had died. It broke me. My first fatal. My Sarg pulled me off the op and sent me home. I still have such vivid memories of the day I relive it everytime I drive on that stretch of road. A few weeks later I saw the lad on a night out. He thanked me, he said he was grateful for my professionalism and the advice to not go to scene, he said he could see from the look on my face that it was bad and he didn't want his wife to see what I had. It meant she had a nice memory of the last time she saw her mum which meant alot to him.
Community impact
When I was working at the local secondary school before joining the police there was a student in year 7 who hadn't been in school for a few days. It transpired that he had been taken away by his father with his two younger sisters following a family breakdown. What then happened was horrific. The school were informed that the police were looking for them concerned for the mental wellbeing of the father and the safety of the children. The police in Shropshire found the car and consequently the bodies of the 3 children and their dad. It was horrific. I had to break the news to my tutor group as to what had happened. It really was unimaginable, the school had press outside, we had 700 students all struggling to come to terms with it, the students laid flowers around the flagstaff. The way we came together was amazing. Little did I realise what the long term impact would be.
In the police we were regularly called to deal with anti-social behaviour and I worked closely with the secondary school i had worked at. The was regular concern about a young girl and her mental health. She had been the best friend of one of the girls who had been murdered. They were at primary school together and she had been the last one in communication with her over an ipad. At the age of 8 she was heavily involved in the investigation, the guilt as she was growing up was difficult to comprehend and she blamed the loss on her parents. Referrals to CYPs and CAMHs had not helped, thrown into the mix of new life experiences and hormones, this had only enraged the girl more causing her to inflict emotional and sometimes physical abuse towards her mother. The parents were hardworking and had a lovely home. They were often in tears explaining to me the difficulties their daughter faced in dealing with what had happened. Powerless to change any of it. They were surviving. It was heartbreaking. I put lots of referrals in for them to get support, they wanted to get their daughter to 18 when they hoped she would join one of the armed forces to give her structure, routine and stability. It would be good to revisit the family to see how they are getting on now their daughter has reached adult hood
The brighter side
There were also plenty of times we dealt with very odd situations, ridiculous complaints, and sights that can never be erased. But on the whole working as a PCSO was enjoyable. They are the structure that enables response officers to do their job properly. The eyes and ears to gather information, signposting people to get the help they need. walking for miles in all elements of weathers to deal with all ages, swans, sheep, boar in the Forest of Dean at least!! PCSOs do an amazing job, a lot of which goes unnoticed and which the public don't realise. The shifts vary between each constabulary and at the time mine were ok. If you are keen to find out more have a look at your local constabulary's website and see if they are recruiting. I am certainly a lot mentally stronger now and my experiences have made me who I am today.
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