Night of the living dead... as seen from a police patrol car

Published: 4th November, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

THE air is heavy with menace, bloodthirsty ghouls stalk the streets and the grim reaper will almost certainly call more than once. It can only be Halloween, an evening where the definition of trick or treat is increasingly stretched to threat and pelt, and, if you happen to be a police officer, one of the busiest shifts of the year.

Crime is on average three times the rate of an ordinary Sunday, and the force had already been stretched (they lost a car and an officer) by Saturday’s all-night rave in Holborn.

The New Journal joined sergeants Adam Westall and Lydia Gepp from the borough’s task force – members of an unmarked unit who patrol the streets in a zippy Ford saloon nicknamed Fazer. They flush out drug dealers, respond to robberies and try to make sure fright night isn’t marred by serious violence.

Just 20 minutes in, and crackling reports of 30 youths chasing a boy along York Way “armed with hammers and knives” come in over the radio –  a call that makes me grateful for the stab-proof vest. Another patrol car finds the victim (allegedly of an attempted robbery) hiding in a petrol station, but he was not prepared to say anything (“frustratingly, often the case”, say police).

A reconnaissance mission to Queen’s Crescent looking for gangs saw us “egged”by a mischievous group of 11-year-olds. They were sent on their way with 10 “stop-and-account” slips and a ticking-off.

For most of the night it felt like Bugsy Malone but instead of splurge guns we faced eggs, flour, fireworks and some pretty audacious cover stories ­– “I thought it was Shrove Tuesday” and “I’m baking a cake”. 

Another less innocent call came in on the radio:  “20 youths with bats” in a chase in Ingestre Road, Tufnell Park. As we crept onto a railway bridge, a boy came sprinting into  the officers’ clutches. He was stopped and searched on the grounds that he could be carrying a weapon (he was found with a splint of wood), but, as was becoming customary, only spoke to say his name and address (“To them we are the enemy. It is a game they play”). It turned out he was 13, and with no previous police history. He was taken home to his father and given a scolding that left Sgt Westall and his partner satisfied he wouldn’t be out after dark for a while.

It came as no surprise to be told that troublemakers in Queen’s Crescent know all the unmarked cars by their number-plates. At the Archway Kebab House, my escorts told me they chose to live outside of the borough to “save hassle”.

Also on the agenda over dinner were the looming cuts – and fears for the task force itself. Apparently “word from on high” is that keeping as many uniformed officers on the streets is the priority, and other units may be seen as a luxury. It comes as Camden’s 800 officers brace themselves for a shake-up, with the arrival of a new borough commander, John Sutherland, from Islington.

The rest of the night was spent looking for a 91-year-old man with Alzheimer’s who was wandering on Hampstead Heath, and getting a statement from a French tourist fleeced by a minicab driver in Kentish Town. Despite the absence of a helicopter and dogs, the man turned up, and with the help of a French translator, officers were able to drop the tourist at Paddington station around 2am. 

This is just a snapshot of the evening, which felt chaotic but was statistically successful. Overall, crime was down, with no serious incidents and just nine arrests for theft, burglary, assault and possession of drugs – making it an improvement on last year.