𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝗳 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝘆 It's International Control Room Week. Here's to the people on the job before anyone else knows there is one. International Control Room Week runs from Monday 26 October to Sunday 1 November, and forces across the country are opening up the room most people never see. Warwickshire Police picked one day this October and counted: 943 calls. 588 came in on 101 and 355 on 999. Not every call needs an officer sent out. Plenty are appointments, advice, signposting or updates on something already reported. Every single one still has to be answered, assessed and sent to the right place. In Cumbria, the control room runs on 46 police officer call handlers and 53 police staff dispatchers, backed by sergeants, inspectors and a CCTV team. Their Deputy Chief Constable put it plainly: "When they answer a 999 call, they have no idea what to expect and may be speaking to someone in crisis or experiencing the worst day of their life." Officers get the blue lights, the sirens and the stories in the canteen. The control room gets the next call. Then the one after that. Usually without ever hearing how the last one ended. So next time someone says real policing happens on the street, ask them who told the street where to go. [Credit: @DC_Police, @warkspolice and @Cumbriapolice] #ICRW #HeroesInHeadsets

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗣𝗧 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗻-𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 Sparks fly as PC Sparky's first find lights him up Sparks flew when Thames Valley Police's Slough East Neighbourhood team introduced their newest member: PC Sparky. During a stop and search, he found what looked like a torch and volunteered to give it a closer look. It wasn't lighting up like a torch. That's because it wasn't one. It was a stun device, and it gave him a live demonstration of exactly what it does. Talk about an illuminating experience. The important bit: the force says he was completely unharmed. The less comfortable bit, for him: his own team has posted the whole thing, nickname included. Quite the electrifying arrival. Puns aside, that is SHOCKING. Every new starter wants to make an impression. Most stop short of stunning themselves to do it. Welcome to the team, PC Sparky. That nickname is yours until retirement, and probably well beyond it. ⚡🤦🏻‍♂️ [Credit: @ThamesVP] #PCSparky #PoliceLife

𝗦𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆 🏍️ 14 warrants, 11 arrests and 12 bikes seized for destruction across South Wales in a single day. South Wales Police carried out the warrants on Friday (23 October) in Cardiff, Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea. They're part of Op Grebe, the force's operation against bikes being ridden illegally, from e-bikes to motorbikes and off-road bikes. Twelve bikes were seized for destruction. Eleven arrests were made, and the force says these included arrests for drug offences in connection with the operation. Assistant Chief Constable Tom Williams said: "We’ve heard the community’s concerns and these warrants are the first of many that will be happening across the force as we look to tackle this issue." He said the arrests and seizures were "a direct result" of tip-offs from the public through the force's "Spot it. Report it. We're on it." campaign, launched last month. Superintendent Emma Fox said the force is using drone teams, plain clothes officers and its "new Sur-Ron team", and had a simple message for anyone riding illegally: "We’re coming for you." The first of many, says the force. They've got their own Sur-Ron team now, so outrunning them on one isn't quite the plan it used to be. 🏍️ [Credit: @swpolice] #OpGrebe #SouthWales

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 Officers find a teenager in a bin after a foot chase in Bolton Collection day came early in Farnworth. At 3.50am on Saturday 24 October, Greater Manchester Police's Bolton Neighbourhood Team were called to reports of a disturbance in Farnworth. When they arrived, officers found that a group of people had attempted to break into a garden shed and steal items, the force says. After a foot chase and searches of surrounding gardens, officers found a teenage boy hiding inside a wheelie bin. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary and has been bailed. Police say enquiries are ongoing. GMP's body-worn footage shows the moment the game was up: "He is inside... Out you come now!" Sergeant Emily Fogg gave the hiding spot a frank review: "The boy clearly did a rubbish job of hiding from our neighbourhood officers." Of all the places to wait out a search, something that gets wheeled to the kerb every week was never going to stay unchecked for long. We'll put a lid on the puns there. [Credit: @gmpolice] #Bolton #PoliceLife

"𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀, 𝗜'𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻." On 21 September, police in Darlington were called after a man walking his dog was threatened with a machete. The suspect made off on a Sur-Ron e-bike and refused to stop, riding around the town at high speed and narrowly missing pedestrians and other traffic, according to Durham Constabulary. A pursuit was authorised. Officers from the Durham Roads and Armed Policing Unit and response were on the ground, and the National Police Air Service tracked him from above, guiding officers to where he was. The bike was stung and stopped on Tornado Way. Officers seized a large machete, cocaine and £1,320 in cash. The 21-year-old admitted offences including possession of cocaine with intent to supply, dangerous driving, carrying an offensive weapon in public and failing to stop for police. On 22 October at Teesside Crown Court he was jailed for three years and banned from driving for three years. The headline? That was one officer's verdict at the roadside, after the man asked if he was going to prison. Safe to say the mortgage is fine. The e-bike didn't get a sentence. It got crushed, under Durham's Operation ORB, which crushes off-road bikes and illegal e-scooters ridden antisocially or used in crime. Chief Inspector Sarah Hindmarsh said his riding was "absolutely appalling" and that "it is only by chance that nobody was seriously injured, or worse, killed". Or, in the force's words again: "One in prison, and one bike in the crusher." Machete, cocaine and a getaway plan built on outrunning the eye in the sky... on an e-bike. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Three years inside to work out where it all went wrong, and his pride and joy has been turned into scrap. [Credit: @DurhamPolice @NPAShq] #Darlington #UKPolice

𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆 Empty house near Ollerton. A man leaps from a second-floor window into officers' arms. Sgt Steve Pridmore says the officers "quite literally" caught a suspect. Man, 38, arrested on suspicion of burglary. [Credit: @nottspolice] #Nottinghamshire

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁 🐑 Insurance claims for 650 'stolen' sheep, a fraud investigation, and a flock found alive and well City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) has arrested a 24-year-old man as part of an investigation into suspected fraudulent insurance claims over the alleged theft of more than 650 live sheep. He allegedly tried to fleece the insurance company. The investigation covers three claims made within 12 months on one policy, for sheep said to have been stolen from fields the suspect rented. £28,220 was paid out on two of them. The third, for £64,800, was never paid, because IFED and the insurance industry soon herd about it. Police say it is believed the reported thefts did not take place and that documents submitted with the claims may have been fraudulent. On 13 October, IFED officers carried out a warrant with the local neighbourhood policing team, the local authority and the Rural Crime Agency. Two residential addresses, a garage and two vehicles were searched, and documents and a mobile phone were seized. Then came the headcount. Officers and vets checked the number of sheep against official records, and the flock was all there, alive and well. We can only assume it took ages, because the vets and the cops kept nodding off halfway through. 😴 The man was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and of making or supplying articles for use in fraud. He has been released under investigation and has not been charged. The sheep, meanwhile, aren't feeling remotely sheepish. Tempted to try the same? Ewe could end up behind baa-s. 🐑 [Credit: @citypolice] #RuralCrime #InsuranceFraud

𝗧𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 Burglars caught digging through a wall into a Tooting jewellers are jailed At 03:12 on Friday 17 July, Met officers were called to reports of a suspected burglary on Mitcham Road in Tooting, south London. They arrived within minutes. One man was arrested straight away in a nearby alleyway. After a search of the area, officers found a second man hiding on a rooftop and put him in handcuffs. Then they looked inside. The pair had broken into a massage parlour next door to a jewellery shop, and the plan was to tunnel through the wall into the jewellers. Bags of tools and digging equipment were found inside. A third member of the group was arrested later that day at Stansted Airport as he tried to flee the country. The Met's Flying Squad linked the group to a series of burglaries across London between May and July, mainly at jewellers, worth more than £700,000 in total. Their method: tunnel in overnight and get round the security systems. All three pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit burglary. On Friday 23 October at Kingston Crown Court they were sentenced to a combined ten years and two months in prison. A whole summer spent tunnelling into jewellers across London, and the grand finale was one bloke hiding on a roof, one in an alley and one trying to leg it to Ireland. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Ten years between them to plan the next one, and this time the walls are a lot thicker. [Credit: @Metpoliceuk] #MetPolice #Tooting

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 Officer borrows a teenager's bike mid-chase, catches the suspect in 54 seconds, then brings it straight back Two Cambridgeshire officers were chasing a man on foot down Coldhams Lane in Cambridge, after spotting him on an e-bike. He ditched the e-bike, ran off down a track and started to pull away. So one officer spotted a teenager with a bicycle and asked, very politely, to borrow it. Just to catch the guy, quickly. A quick "we'll be back", and off he went. It took 54 seconds of pedalling to catch up. The suspect was stopped near Norman Way, and an 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs, failing to stop and dangerous driving. He has been bailed until 16 January. And then the best bit. The bike went straight back to its owner, with a "thank you very much". Asked politely, borrowed for under a minute, returned in one piece with a thank you. Better manners than most people who borrow your lawnmower. [Credit: @CambsCops] #Cambridge #UKPolice

𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝘁𝘀 Over £10 million of cocaine found under a layer of frozen meat in the PSNI's largest ever drug seizure On 11 December 2023, police in Northern Ireland stopped a van as it pulled away from a Dutch-registered articulated lorry in Jonesborough, South Armagh. They searched the lorry. At the back was a purpose-built hide: packing crates "lined with frozen meat products". Under that top layer sat a hidden compartment stashed with packages of cocaine. Estimated street value: over £10 million. The PSNI calls it the "largest ever drug seizure by the Police Service of Northern Ireland". The van driver, a 41-year-old man from Armagh, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply. Today, 23 October, at Newry Crown Court, he was sentenced to six years, half in custody and half on licence. Detective Inspector Conor Sweeney said "a massive amount of cocaine was prevented from reaching Northern Ireland’s streets and neighbourhoods." Over £10 million of cocaine, and the criminal masterplan was... a layer of frozen meat. 🥩 Not so much a cunning disguise as a mixed grill with extras! Six years to cook up something better. 🤦🏻‍♂️ [Credit: @policeserviceni] #PSNI #NorthernIreland

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿-𝗥𝗼𝗻-𝗱𝗲𝗱 🚔 South Wales Police has launched its own fleet of electric motorbikes to tackle crime. Usually, when a Sur-Ron turns up in a police story, it's disappearing down an alleyway with an officer on foot somewhere behind it. A standard Sur-Ron Light Bee X can reach 50mph, which doesn't help. Not this time. South Wales Police now has its own fleet of the lightweight electric motorcycles, to tackle the crimes the public raise, such as drug offences and theft. They can cut through busy, congested areas and get down the narrow roads that police cars can't. Assistant Chief Constable Tom Williams said: "This new investment is our latest tactic development to tackle criminal activity in our community." The force has also trained drone pilots and bought six new drones with Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Wools, with more tech to come. Note that anything The Met do, everyone else seems to catch on fairly quickly. So, dear Met, if you're watching this, robot dogs with laser beams for eyes please 🙏🏻 [Credit: @swpolice] #SouthWalesPolice #UKPolice

𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻? 🦢 South Wales Police officers in Neath give one very unimpressed swan a lift. Is there a College Learn package for this, or is it passed down cop to cop? 🚔 #HotFuzz #SouthWalesPolice

The badgers remain at large. He does not. 🦡

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 Audi, lamp and dog seized after poaching calls near Faversham. Whoever ran off left one blue shoe behind. Even Cinderella only lost a slipper. This one lost the lot! 🤦🏻‍♂️ [Credit: @KentPoliceRural] #RuralCrime

Monster / other, lesser energy drinks / coffee Which team are you?

𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Biker goaded Kent officers into a chase, hit a stinger, and detectives used months of his own GoPro footage. 4 years, then a 10-year ban. There's stupid, and then there's STUPID. 🤦🏻‍♂️ [Credit: @kent_police] #RoadSafety

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 We saw the Tesla flying-car video and assumed AI. Apparently it's real. Or not. Hard to tell which side of the looking glass we're on. Coppers have always fought over the new car keys. Add thrusters and briefing's over in seconds. #PoliceHumour #UKPolice

The Dog Was The Only One Fit To Drive A motorist saw a car weaving on the M5 and called the police. The driver blew 142 (limit 35) and got a 23-month ban and a fine. Calmest in the car? The passenger with four legs. Video and source: Avon and Somerset Police #DrinkDriving

Boston's Most Wanted PC Joshua Fulker has won Lincolnshire Police's Copper's Copper Award. His citation says suspects are known to hand themselves in to him on duty. Trust like that is earned. Well done, Joshua. 💙 📸 @lincspolice / Martin Birks #UKPolice #CoppersCopper

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗔 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 🚁 Banned 19-year-old in a Porsche Cayenne, a stinger, then a helicopter that kept tracking him from above. Video and source: @EssexPoliceUK. NPAS footage © NPAS c/o West Yorkshire Combined Authority 2026 @NPAShq #Basildon