June 18, 2022 7.00 am This story is over 21 months old

A day in the life of a North Lincolnshire Patrol Officer

PC Mason walks you through a day in the life of a Humberside Police Patrol Officer. | Photo: Humberside Police

Have you ever wondered what it is like for our response teams who are sent to the incoming calls?

They start every shift unsure of what their day may entail with no two days ever the same.

As part of Response Week 2022, PC Mason shares what a day in the life of a patrol officer can be like by giving updates from a day on shift:

07.30 – Alarm goes off. It’s a 9am start today, so I’ve got the luxury of a short lie in! Hay fever is hitting me hard this year, but I get out of bed and head downstairs.

My wife & daughter are up already getting ready for work/school respectively, so I say good morning and we spend a few minutes together. Just a coffee for breakfast for me, I’m not much of an eater early in the day.

I head into my garden, water the plants and let my dogs and chickens, yes chickens, out into the garden. We’ve been keeping a small number of chickens for a few years now and enjoy the daily fresh eggs!

07.55 – Quick shower and then into my uniform. Going into my first day shift I make sure that my boots are nice and clean and polished, this normally lasts throughout the ‘set.’ I say goodbye to my wife and daughter and it’s out the door!

08.15 – I’m in the car and away to work. I travel around 10 miles to work, listening to some radio and general news on the travel in. I arrive and fortunately there’s a car parking space available for me.

08.30 – I’m now kitted up and sat in my briefing room. I like to arrive early, check through my emails and make sure there’s nothing urgent or pressing to do. I feel that giving myself a few extra minutes gives me the opportunity to form a plan for the day of tasks I’d like to achieve.

09.00 – Briefing. I’m given a call sign for the day, single crewed, which sometimes has its benefits. I’m tasked with completing arrest attempts with another unit. The person we are looking for is known to me through previous encounters, where I’ve built a good rapport with him, so I’m happy to help.

09.45 – I head out to the yard to check my police vehicle for the day. I check over the car to make sure it’s all in order, with no clear signs of damage or other defects.

I check the rear seats to make sure previous passengers haven’t deposited anything in the vehicle and discard a couple of empty wrappers of high energy food that my overnight colleagues must have needed during a busy shift.

11.00 – Arrest made! We located the person at the 4th property checked, which was a stroke of luck. Sometimes we can spend a lot longer looking for people but, on this occasion, we received information through which gave us a significant line of enquiry.

11.30 – I have received an email from my supervision, requesting that I assist in some enquiries in relation to an investigation. I travel to the incident location and begin to conduct some house to house and CCTV enquiries in the area.

I speak to several residents and unfortunately am unable to find significant evidence relating to the alleged offence in question. I liaise with council CCTV, who on this occasion do not have the footage that I am looking for either. Unfortunately, it looks like I’m out of luck today.

I add my findings onto the investigation and speak with the officer in charge of the case. You never quite know who you’re going to be speaking with on the other end of the radio, or who you’re going to be completing tasks for, across all ranks of the force, but everybody seems to get along and be thankful for your efforts.

13.15 – I’ve got some training to attend today, so I jump back in my car and begin the journey to our training centre. I’ve got a colleague to take along with me, so I check in with her and we begin the journey together, catching up about work on the way.

I’m currently still within the 2 year probationary period completed by all officers and so far it’s going well. Whilst the much-coveted response and taser courses continue to elude me currently, I’ll take social media training as my first badge.

We cross the Humber Bridge which separates the south and north bank, reminding me of just how large our force area is.

15.30 – I am now a fully-fledged social media user, which will allow me to create and post content to the Humberside Police North Lincolnshire accounts, on behalf of the force. Not only will this help me share updates with the public about the work we are doing to keep them safe, it will also give me another channel to appeal for information relating to investigations.

I come from a background of hospitality management, where social media played a large part of our advertising and promotional work. As a child of the 80s and 90s, I’m perhaps not quite as tech savvy as some colleagues though, so a refresher is much welcomed.

15.45 – On my way out of the training centre I notice some familiar faces, some of my former tutors and now colleagues. We have a quick catch up, share some memories, laughs and then part ways, back to Scunthorpe for me!

16.45 – Back at the station and checked the logs on the system before requesting a quick break so that I can grab a bite to eat. Permission granted, excellent!
It can sometimes be difficult to have a specified break, depending on the current workload, but today it’s gone in my favour.

I try not to eat too much rubbish whilst on shift, but sometimes it can be difficult, there’s always a birthday or other celebration, where cakes are offered in abundance.

Today it’s noodles for me as they’re quick, simple and cheap! I buy these from a local Asian food store, which I’ve found to be somewhat of a cave of wonders.

17.15 – A quick conversation with Sergeant, requesting that I take over a scene guard when I can. Though as I have a pre-booked appointment to see a victim of crime in the diary, I head to their house first.

The person in question has decided that they do not wish to continue with formal action. I speak with them about their decision and document this on both my body worn video and my work mobile phone.

These intentions are confirmed with a signature and as I leave I wish them all the best. Off to the scene guard!

18.10 – I’ve arrived at a scene which must be guarded in order to maintain and preserve evidence for crime scene investigators to capture as part of an ongoing investigation. I have a quick verbal handover from a colleague on site, before taking over the scene.

It’s a residential dwelling which I would describe as a two up, two down property. There are two dogs inside of the address, so I make sure that they’ve plenty of water and then let them out into the garden before standing out front guarding the scene.

I have dogs of my own back home, so am conscious of giving these animals the correct care, whilst not disturbing any evidence at the scene. Eventually CSI arrive and do their thing.

20.30 – I’m back at the station now and colleagues due to finish at 9pm are slowly drifting in. I have some documents to upload onto investigations, so I begin to do this, when we are called up to an ongoing incident. A 9pm finish is suddenly looking very unlikely!

23.15 – Late off I’m afraid! I’d normally go home and wind down with some television and maybe a glass of wine or a beer, but it’s nearly midnight by the time I get in and time for bed. I put my electronic devices on charge and head straight to bed, ready to do it all again tomorrow. PC Mason signing off for the day!