The Medway custody suite in Gillingham, Kent is one of the busiest in the country. The first programme in the series joins its staff, who process 40 suspected criminals every day. From burglary to shop-lifting and assault to drugs possession, Custody Officer Sergeant Sean O'Conner and his team have seen generations progress through their criminal careers and witness a never-ending cycle of deprivation, drugs, crime, violence, and - for some of the women they meet - prostitution. With frustration, resignation and sometimes anger - as well as flashes of frequently dark humour - ordinary police officers offer a raw insight into the harsh realities of policing modern Britain.
The series takes to the fast lane with Cambridgeshire's traffic cops: the petrolheads who are happiest racing to the rescue, or nicking drink drivers, and like nothing better than 'giving out love' (issuing speed tickets) with their 'love scope' (speed gun). 'I love nicking people,' says PC Leigh Fenton. 'I'd lock everybody up all day if I could.' The film reveals the close bonds that develop between the officers, and the banter they use as a shield against the part of the job they all dread: informing the next of kin when someone dies as a result of a traffic accident. PCs Terry Sharpe and Stuart Appleton have spent three years sharing driving duties in their Volvo V70: 'People have said we're like an old married couple. We bicker and we argue. We have a laugh,' says PC Sharp. But, despite the training and camaraderie, informing the next of kin after accidents never gets any easier: 'Saying the words that 'I've just been to an accident and it's my duty to tell you that your wife has died.' And there's no beating around the bush. You've got to tell them in no uncertain terms, that 'your wife has died.' And the reaction you get after that... that's the thing you think about,' says PC Appleton.
mergency calls to the police have risen by 50 per cent over the last 15 years, although recorded crime has dropped by a third over the same period. The series follows the police responding to emergency calls and reveals the incredible things people choose to call 999 about: from mobile phones running out of credit to arguments about whose turn it is to have a go on the Nintendo Wii. Kent constabulary receive a quarter of a million 999 calls every year, with 80% classed as non-emergencies and many seen as 'nuisance calls'. 'We're seeing a generation divide,' says Chief Inspector Nicola Faulconbridge of Kent's Force Communications Centre. 'Whereas the older generation won¿t call us for almost anything, even in an emergency, the younger generation are much more willing and ready to call us about almost any issue.' Police officers are spending much of their time acting as counselors, settling petty squabbles and relationship problems. 'Sometimes you just want to bang people's heads together and go 'Come on, look at you - you're 40 and you're acting like you're 12!'' says PC Neil Cronin. Another issue prompting an increasing number of calls to 999 calls is Facebook. When virtual threats get out of hand, the police have no choice but to treat it as a real emergency, sending cars racing to the scene.
The series joins police officers on the Saturday night beat, where drunks, abuse and violence - as well as marriage proposals and requests to urinate in your helmet - are all part of the job.
The final programme in the series takes viewers to the heart of a riot. With exclusive access to Greater Manchester Police's Tactical Aid Unit, cameras accompany officers as they police violent clashes between thousands of opposing demonstrators.
Detectives from Mansfield CID and are struggling with a burglary epidemic, with over 6000 homes in Nottingham targeted in 2011. Meanwhile officers launch a manhunt that ends with the discovery of a dead body in a wood, and arrest a convicted pedophile after the attempted rape of a young boy.
Episode two examines the shocking scenes as Nottingham's frontline officers find themselves in the middle of some of the worst anti-police violence in a generation, with police cars and stations under sustained attack from bricks and petrol bombs.
This episode meets beat bobbies tackling shoplifters, burglars, drunks, anti-social behaviour and intractable disputes between neighbours in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The police find themselves dealing with the same people time and again. Like most officers, straight-talking Inspector Steve Cartwright is fed up with career criminals with no respect for the police or society and is sick of dealing with neighbourly disputes. 'Since when has dog poo outside your house been a police matter? We all joined to be cops, not social workers.' But upbeat PC Steve Porter, who came to policing after a career as a factory manager, feels he has found his calling dealing with people's problems: 'We spend our time sorting people's lives out and if I can make a difference, it's a job well done to me.' No-nonsense PC Christian Hurley has been on the beat team for three years and admits it was a culture shock when he first joined: 'Seeing needles and spoons with heroin in people's houses used to be shocking, but you get used to it... it's a case of wipe your feet on the way out.' Meanwhile, 26-year-old PC Dan Cooper, the youngest officer on Worksop's Neighbourhood Team, has had to adapt quickly to the reality of modern policing: 'Society's gone a bit by the wayside ain't it? We all get called offensive names, being spat at is the worst... you just have to detach yourself from it.'
This episode joins Tayside police's newest recruits as they hit the streets for the first time. Unlike most English forces, police in Scotland are still taking on new recruits. After training at the Scottish Police College, the next step to becoming a copper is 15 weeks out on the streets under the watchful eye of a more experienced officer. The rookies face the realities of life on the beat and it's a far cry from their sanitised training classrooms. The tutors expect them to be shocked - and not all of them will make it through the tough assessment. PC Heather Milne thinks they'll be unprepared: 'It is an eye opener. You don't have "probationer" stamped on your head. The public just see a police officer and expect you to know what to do.' The programme follows the new recruits as they arrive for their first day as a police officer; their first arrest, first drugs raid and first experience of a sudden death. Rookie PC Iona McIntyre has left a job as an auditor to become a police officer: 'You're just trying to appear confident with the public with a calm and comforting exterior even if you're in complete turmoil inside.' Tutor PC Willie Hughes has a friendly warning for the new recruits: 'The reality more often than not is you're just trying to hold what's left of society together before it finally implodes and kills itself.'
With exclusive access to Nottinghamshire police's Armed Response Unit, this episode reveals what it's like carrying a lethal weapon on the British streets, 'The Gucci end of the job'. Whether armed with 9mm pistols, semi-automatic carbines or tasers, the Armed Response Unit officers are highly trained and always ready for action, but praying they never have to pull the trigger and possibly take someone's life. The programme follows the officers as they stop a car they believe contains a weapon, detain a man accused of threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend and arrest a woman for confronting a former friend with a pistol. PC Dan Butler is philosophical about having to take a fatal shot: 'If they put themselves in a position where I have no choice but to take a shot at them, I will take that shot at them; but it's their choice and their life choices and actions which has led me to take that shot.' While Nottinghamshire police attend an average of 243 firearms incidents annually, there are on average 1500 occasions a year when tasers are deployed. Their use by British police is controversial, but many of the armed officers believe that all frontline police should have access to tasers. 'It's the best thing we've got,' says one. One officer describes being tasered: 'I've never experienced pain like it,' while another says: 'It's like holding an electric fence, but times that by 10,000.'
Following members of Nottinghamshire police's Territorial Support Group as they travel around the county, specialising in the handling of public order incidents, including football violence, demonstrations and anti-social behaviour. Working out of a van that serves as their office, canteen, home and cell, the male officers are forced to be on their best behaviour when a female sergeant arrives.
The relationship between police dogs and their handlers in Nottinghamshire, revealing the wide range of skills taught to the animals during their training. As well as handling dogs, the officers are trained high-speed drivers, and are often the first to arrive at the scene of a crime, with little idea of what lies ahead.
Police officers in Tayside discuss working in such a vast yet sparsely populated area, where traffic accidents are the main concern. Former Glasgow PC Ronnie Deuchar reveals how his first week in Pitlochry was so quiet he suspected his radio was broken, and as Sergeant John Watson approaches retirement, his colleagues explain how he can walk into a pub and sort out a situation just with a look. PC Peter Lorrain-Smith explains his belief that the best way to fight crime is to get youngsters on the straight-and-narrow early. Last in the series.