Don't talk to the kangaroo
Discussion
Met one of the old boys, ex-sergeant, from my first force today.
When I first joined the police we used to host a pre-Christmas entertainment for the widows/widowers and orphans of murdered police officers and police civilians in Northern Ireland. A West End show or two would put on put on a mantinee just for them and come and chat with the kids. One year one of the sold out shows came to a nick and put it on there.
Officers used to put on a pantomime for the kids, quite sophisticated and the professionals from the up town shows would help with advice, directions and hardware.
One year we had Snow White and, of course, there was a kangaroo. A real quality costume which one of the WPCs could fit into. It looked from 10' away in subdued lighting as if if just might be . . . We stored a lot of the stuff in cupboards in our 19th c charge room but the kangaroo, and some other big stuff, was just placed on a chest of drawers.
When things were quiet, when we knew a prisoner was coming in, one of the WPCs would get into the kangaroo kit and sit there, all floppy, until the prisoner came in.
You could often get a conversation going between the prisoner, if a little drunk, and the kangaroo. The WPC would often move about but most were reluctant to get too close.
We were reminiscing about the 'good old days' and the NI widows and orphans came up. The chap mentioned one time when a WPC in kanga mode put her arm around one bloke who was crying. Another time, he came into the charge room to find the arresting PC and the kangaroo having a conversation within hearing of the prisoner about what questions to put to the prisoner. The prisoner was visibly nervous and kept looking over his shoulder as the conversation between the PC and the kangaroo became more heated. The kangaroo punched/slapped the police officer who then chased the kangaroo out of the cell block. He returned and the sergeant told him in future not to discuss police matters with the kangaroo as she (it had a pouch) was friends with defence solicitors.
Another time there were a number of wigs which were used in a pantomime about Roman Britain. There were red wigs for the Scots, blonde for the English (as they were Anglo-Saxons according to the script!) and brown for the Romans. One gaoler made out he was three different people to prisoners by donning a different wig, and putting on/removing various bit of uniform: jacket, tie and such. He used different regional accents.
All this was allowed under PACE in those days.
When I first joined the police we used to host a pre-Christmas entertainment for the widows/widowers and orphans of murdered police officers and police civilians in Northern Ireland. A West End show or two would put on put on a mantinee just for them and come and chat with the kids. One year one of the sold out shows came to a nick and put it on there.
Officers used to put on a pantomime for the kids, quite sophisticated and the professionals from the up town shows would help with advice, directions and hardware.
One year we had Snow White and, of course, there was a kangaroo. A real quality costume which one of the WPCs could fit into. It looked from 10' away in subdued lighting as if if just might be . . . We stored a lot of the stuff in cupboards in our 19th c charge room but the kangaroo, and some other big stuff, was just placed on a chest of drawers.
When things were quiet, when we knew a prisoner was coming in, one of the WPCs would get into the kangaroo kit and sit there, all floppy, until the prisoner came in.
You could often get a conversation going between the prisoner, if a little drunk, and the kangaroo. The WPC would often move about but most were reluctant to get too close.
We were reminiscing about the 'good old days' and the NI widows and orphans came up. The chap mentioned one time when a WPC in kanga mode put her arm around one bloke who was crying. Another time, he came into the charge room to find the arresting PC and the kangaroo having a conversation within hearing of the prisoner about what questions to put to the prisoner. The prisoner was visibly nervous and kept looking over his shoulder as the conversation between the PC and the kangaroo became more heated. The kangaroo punched/slapped the police officer who then chased the kangaroo out of the cell block. He returned and the sergeant told him in future not to discuss police matters with the kangaroo as she (it had a pouch) was friends with defence solicitors.
Another time there were a number of wigs which were used in a pantomime about Roman Britain. There were red wigs for the Scots, blonde for the English (as they were Anglo-Saxons according to the script!) and brown for the Romans. One gaoler made out he was three different people to prisoners by donning a different wig, and putting on/removing various bit of uniform: jacket, tie and such. He used different regional accents.
All this was allowed under PACE in those days.
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