May 13, 2022 9.00 am This story is over 22 months old

Inside the Force 24/7 episode 7: Lack of custody space stresses and fights on CCTV

On Channel 5 at 9PM Monday, May 16
Sergeant Mike Templeman features on the latest episode of Inside the Force: 24/7, based at Lincoln station on South Park. | Photo: Mentorn Media
By Local Democracy Reporter

The next episode of Channel 5’s Inside the Force: 24/7, which follows Lincolnshire Police on their bid to tackle crime in Lincoln, looks at fights on CCTV and officer arguments over cell space in custody.

Episode seven of the eight-part series, produced by Mentorn Media, will air at 9pm on Monday, May 16. The show is based inside the busiest police station in Lincolnshire, South Park in Lincoln, looking at the different layers of policing and high-pressure decisions that are made in the force.

In this episode, Lincoln’s response team deal with weekend revellers who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

One incident on a Saturday night shows officers Sophie Gibson and James Tranmer head out on patrol after a call comes in about a fight caught on CCTV in Lincoln city centre.

A man has been knocked unconscious and crowds begin to gather, so officers deal with the assaulted male as a second urgent call comes in about somebody being harassed at a taxi rank.

This involves a physical altercation and footchase between the suspect and duty sergeant Dan Cooper, as he seeks to detain the man in question – but he needs to activate his emergency backup button to do so.

Elsewhere in the city, the custody cells are rapidly filling up and there are growing fears that police may run out of space to keep arrested individuals.

Sergeant Mike Templeman races to the scene of a fight in town, arresting four men and bringing them back to custody, which results in Mike and sergeant Steven Parker going head-to-head about whether the men should be detained or released to be dealt with later.

Busy Saturday night commotions are flavour of the month for this Inside the Force episode, as detective sergeant George Wynn is drafted in from CID to lead the response team on city centre patrols.

The team are called to an incident between a man and bouncers at a bar after the person in question refused to move on from the venue. He is subsequently arrested as Sgt Wynn calls for a van to take him into custody.

However, a large fight erupts at a nearby nightclub as he finishes dealing with the man, and pava spray was deployed to break up the fight after a man resisted arrest.

All this and more can be seen on Channel 5’s latest episode of Inside the Force: 24/7. Filming took place as lockdown restrictions eased in summer 2021 and crime rates surged, leaving the country’s lowest funded police force stretched like never before.