Title
Crime and Punishment
Subject
Police
Description
A compilation sound clip about policing Leicester.
Creator
Samantha Smith
Source
EMOHA
Publisher
EMOHA
Rights
You may use this item in accordance with the licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Format
.mp3
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Transcription
You had violence, but it was a different type. Your drunk ... drink was the biggest factor there, and more open, there was no, no knife business, anything like that at all in those days. That seemed to come with the early part of the war.
We had a lot of very poor areas in Leicester. We also quite a bit of violence, not to the same extent as it is today, but policemen worked the beats on a Friday and Saturday night. You could guarantee a punch up every Friday and Saturday night, helmets flying and fists flying.
There was certainly no muggings or anything of that description. People, of course, walked about in perfect safety and at any time of the day or night. In fact, they did have a much greater respect for law and order then.
The comradeship in the police force in those days was really tip top, absolutely great. It's so very, very different from later years because we went out and say on night duty, at 10:00 at night, and at 2:00 in the morning, you had your tea brought to you, if you were on the early outside, and you sat in somebody's doorway and had your snack, had 1/2 an hour off, then you got up and got on again. And sometimes you win the whole night through with that, speaking to either one or two or three of your own colleagues or your inspectors and sergeants when they came.
And in spite of all their problems today, the detection rate is quite good, because they're faced with far greater problems than we were. Today the police forces is very specialised, they've got so many different departments. We didn't have that in my early days. We pretty well dealt with the lot – drugs, vice, what, you name it.
We had a lot of very poor areas in Leicester. We also quite a bit of violence, not to the same extent as it is today, but policemen worked the beats on a Friday and Saturday night. You could guarantee a punch up every Friday and Saturday night, helmets flying and fists flying.
There was certainly no muggings or anything of that description. People, of course, walked about in perfect safety and at any time of the day or night. In fact, they did have a much greater respect for law and order then.
The comradeship in the police force in those days was really tip top, absolutely great. It's so very, very different from later years because we went out and say on night duty, at 10:00 at night, and at 2:00 in the morning, you had your tea brought to you, if you were on the early outside, and you sat in somebody's doorway and had your snack, had 1/2 an hour off, then you got up and got on again. And sometimes you win the whole night through with that, speaking to either one or two or three of your own colleagues or your inspectors and sergeants when they came.
And in spite of all their problems today, the detection rate is quite good, because they're faced with far greater problems than we were. Today the police forces is very specialised, they've got so many different departments. We didn't have that in my early days. We pretty well dealt with the lot – drugs, vice, what, you name it.
Interviewer
Various
Interviewee
Various
Location
Various
Feedback