I experienced first-hand how officers can be tied up with paperwork and checking criminals into custody after making the simplest of arrests.

I teamed up with two officers from the Basildon Local Policing Team on a busy Friday night and experienced what it’s like for Essex Police officers in the current climate.

It was enlightening to see just how much paper work is involved with an investigation into a crime as simple as shoplifting as I joined PC Giorgi Loughran and PC Matt Palmer for a core shift which runs from 2pm to 11pm.

We headed out to Poundland in Pitsea to collect some CCTV from a shoplifting offence that had taken place the previous week.

As soon as we stepped through the door of the shop, we noticed a member of staff grappling with a man who seemed to be trying to get away while alarmed shoppers looked on.

Without hesitation, both officers rushed to get control of the situation and separated the men.

PC Loughran was quick to cuff the hooded suspect before the officers began to establish what had happened.

The staff member informed PC Palmer that the man was seen shoving clothes from the shop into his bag and was heading for the door.

The man was quickly arrested and escorted by PC Palmer and PC Loughran to the car.

PC Loughran said: “It is really rare to catch someone in the act like that. It has never happened to me in my time on the force.”

What followed was a lengthy process to book the suspect in and compile the evidence before he could be charged. It began by escorting the prisoner, David Bird, 33, of no fixed address, to Southend custody - a slow journey along the A127 because Basildon custody was temporarily closed.

I sat in the front with PC Loughran while PC Palmer sat with Bird in the back.

Echo:

He said: “Sometimes I will make small talk and sometimes I won’t.

“If I think they are thinking about doing something stupid then I will talk to them to try and take their mind off it.”

On arrival at Southend, I went with PC Palmer to book Bird into custody while PC Loughran began recording the details of the arrest on the system.

PC Palmer added: “There’s a lot more paperwork involved than I thought when I first signed up for it. Night shifts are really good because you get to go out and be proactive. There tends to be less jobs coming on a night shift but if it does come in it tends to be something quite good.”

After Bird was booked in, we then had to head back along the A127 to Poundland to collect CCTV of the incident and take witness statements.

Then it was back to the station to compile everything in a handover package for officers on the night shift to interview and charge him.

PC Palmer said: “You can see just how long it takes once you’ve arrested someone to put everything together for them to be charged.

“There’s so much work to do just for a shoplifting offence and then you also have all your own investigations that are ongoing as well so it creates this never-ending cycle really.”

From making the arrest at 4.20pm the officers were occupied with the investigation until 9pm, meaning there were two fewer officers able to respond to 999 calls to the force control room. David Bird was charged with theft and jailed for four weeks.

Officers face daily balancing act on shift

On arrival at Basildon police station, I had no idea what to expect from a shift with the local policing team (LPT) and it seems the same goes for officers when beginning each shift.

Before heading out with PC Palmer and PC Loughran, I was shown the list of ongoing jobs that PC Palmer has to do.

He explained that as well as responding to 999 calls from the force control room, every officer has their own investigations to conduct during their shifts as part of the LPT.

We headed to a few routine jobs at the start including a welfare check on a family home where a private security firm had received an alarm alert.
We also headed to an address in Billericay in attempt to execute an arrest warrant but found the property unattended.

It was supposed to be another routine call at Poundland to collect some CCTV when we came across the theft in progress.

It was impressive the way PC Loughran and PC Palmer quickly took control of a potentially harmful situation.

The suspect was determined to try and leave the store and it is not inconceivable that the situation could have escalated had officers not arrived when they did and managed the situation successfully.
While I assumed officers would be out on patrol for the majority of their shift, it was enlightening to see just how long it took to then process the prisoner.

It was not simply a case of dropping him off at Southend custody and then heading back out to other jobs that were coming over the radio.
The sheer volume of work that went into collecting the evidence so that he could be charged and brought to justice was incredibly time consuming.

While I was expecting to see more of the officers out on the beat, it also felt like this was the more realistic portrayal of what they deal with on a daily basis.