Whenever I see police cars zoom past me as I walk around London I always think to myself ‘I wonder where they’re going’ or ‘which crime has been committed round here today?’
But, of course I also always wonder what it must be like to be inside an emergency vehicle racing down roads and zig zagging through lines of traffic.
This week, I was lucky enough to finally get to see what that feels like during a ride along through Greenwich with the Metropolitan Police.
I was invited on the late shift which meant I needed to be at the patrol base in Warspite Road at 1.30pm to be prepped to head out at 2pm.
When I got to the base, I got to look inside the offices and meet the response team who would be going out that day.
We would be responding to 999 calls as they came in across Greenwich and potentially Bexley as well.
Soon enough, it was time to head down to the car park and hop inside a marked police car.
It was very cool to see all of the police vehicles lined up outside the base and I was itching to find out which one I would be a passenger in for the day.
I was assigned to one of the Met Police’s constables who would be taking me with him on his shift and answering all of my questions throughout the day – usually there would have been two constables, but they were short staffed on this particular day.
So, I settled into the passenger seat of the car and off we went.
The first call we needed to respond to came in, and it was a domestic incident nearby so, the blue lights went on and I got my first taste of being in a police car as it races through the streets.
To say I was terrified would be a bit of an understatement – I was absolutely awe-struck as the constable artfully zipped through lines of traffic at top speed.
While I did feel my foot reaching for the break (I can now understand how my parents must have felt teaching me to drive) I simultaneously felt very safe in the knowledge that I was with a professional.
As soon as the blue lights went on, I dropped into silence so that the constable could concentrate, but admirable he continued to chat as though we weren’t travelling at I-don’t-even-know-how-many-mph before stopping at the incident.
Still blown away from the drive, I stayed by the car as the incident was dealt with and then got the chance to debrief with the constable when he came back to the car.
He explained that in this case, the call was from a woman’s employer who was worried after she’d had a fight with her husband.
But, the woman assured him that she was alright and he concluded that no arrests needed to be made.
I asked if that happens often, and he said that they do get domestic calls a lot from family members who are concerned for their loved ones, but not typically from work colleagues.
Then, we headed off again, driving at the speed limit until another call came up.
I learned that while police are waiting for the next call they need to respond to, they are patrolling the area keeping an eye out for any other incidents that may need to be responded to.
Soon enough, we were called to a road rage incident gone-wrong, which allegedly involved a man with a shovel and a man with a knife.
We zoomed off again with an experience that feels just as thrilling as being on a roller coaster.
I was surprised to find out that inside a police vehicle, the sirens are actually quite quiet – nothing like the noise you hear when you are in your own car as the drive past.
However, by the time we reached the location the people involved had scarpered, which I was told does happen sometimes.
But there was never a dull moment as we were soon called to an address in Plumstead with the hope of arresting a rape suspect.
I was feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement as myself and the group of police I was with headed up to the door.
However, unfortunately the person was not home and this was one police would need to return to later.
As I continued to be amazed by how skilfully police can weave through traffic on their way to incidents, I asked how much training goes into being able to drive like that.
The constable I was shadowing told me it takes around three weeks to become certified to drive with blue lights on as a responder.
He said that once you are used to it, it becomes quite straight forward but that there is a lot to learn about stopping distances and how cars respond to having police behind them.
He added that people often panic when they need to move for a police vehicle and might find themselves making simple driving mistakes that they wouldn’t make normally.
So, what he looks for is a “positive response” such as someone indicating to the outside of the road, showing the police vehicle that they are moving for them.
Soon afterwards, we were called to Metrogas Amateur Sports Association where someone had called about some juveniles threatening them.
A host of police rushed to the scene to check it out.
This was around rush hour which was definitely the most thrilling, but somewhat scary, time to be in the response car.
It was fascinating to see how we made it through the hoards of rush hour traffic quickly without so much as nudging a single other car - I was amazed.
When we arrived, no arrests were made as the youths had left the caller alone at the sight of police.
But we continued to patrol the area for a short while afterwards to make sure they had got the message.
It was around this time that there was a quick stop to grab some food and a much-needed coffee.
This had been a quieter shift, the constable I was paired with told me, so they were able to stop and get some rest.
He explained that sometimes the shifts are so busy that there is no time to stop for food, coffee or even to use the toilet.
Later on, we were given the location of a Costcutter and rushed there at high speeds.
This was because there had been a sighting of a high-risk, missing person.
Fortunately, when we arrived there were other police already on the scene and the person had been found and was safely inside a police van.
For the final incident of the night that we responded to, we were called to a crash in Eltham.
We raced there, but it seemed that there was no crash to be found at the specific location we had been given,
However, I spotted some blue lights one street over so we headed there instead.
It was at Granby Road that we found a Range Rover crashed into someone’s garden.
There was already a police van at the scene and two suspects, a man and a woman, had been arrested.
After spending some time at the scene, I was told that the car had been reported as stolen.
While all of the police around me were very laid back and unbothered, seeing as they tackle incidents like this day in and day out, I was buzzing with excitement to get to be at the scene with them.
Once the suspects were put into the van and taken to the police station, we went to return the stolen car to a location in Bexley where stolen cars are stored until they can be returned to their owners.
I was absolutely gutted for the shift to be coming to an end – it was so much fun and I truly learned so much about how response teams work that I didn’t want to leave.
I don’t think anything will beat the adrenaline rush of being in a police car with blue lights on ever again – not even a roller coaster.
It felt as though I was in a GTA simulation, but it was very, very real.
But I could not have felt safer and more assured by the amazing constable I was shadowing who patiently answered all of my questions big or small throughout the shift.
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