Reasons why I joined up - no1

This week I have, along with my partner, potentially saved the lives of three people. All of them were elderly, all of them had collapsed behind doors. I'm not sure why I've had three in three days, there's no reason for it other than the fact that it is still fairly mild weather and the infirm are probably feeling a little more mobile than normal. They all had certain things in common; elderly, dementia, family that were not local. All of them were fiercely independent, they did not want families bothered, their neighbours to have a key or a fuss made. Of the three, two went to hospital. Family members were informed but it all seemed a lot of effort for them to visit a needy parent (probably why the victims didn't want them bothered).

Entering a property under section 17 of PACE to save life is one of our number one principles. Of course I take all necessary steps to ascertain if I can get get into the property without damaging it I will but minutes count so I generally don't mess about. We carry a RAMMIT in the boot of the car to make good our entry. Yesterday I put a back door UPVC kick panel in as Marie had fallen against the front door and the key in the keysafe could not be used. As I battered my way in with the RAMMIT Marie wasn't too impressed, shouting out to me to stop whilst my colleague consoled her. After a minute I was in and rushed to Marie. I could see she was in lot of pain, had sustained a head injury in the fall and was bleeding from her lip. I consoled her further, telling her ambulance were on their way. Marie scolded me for making a mess and indicated that she wanted to get up. Of course, she couldn't and fortunately within a few minutes the paramedic turned up. Leaving her in his capable hands I updated control and requested boarding up for the door, much to the annoyance of the duty inspector.

Marie is 93 and is suffering from Dementia. On her fireplace are photos of her and her husband in RAF fatigues, Marie had been in the WRAF. There were photos of her children and great grand children and her husband had clearly passed away recently. Marie appeared to be fairly self sufficient, although the lack of food in the fridge was a concern. I could see that Marie had a daily carer visit (who hadn't yet turned up). Marie was taken to hospital to get checked over and monitored whilst we contacted next of kin and waited for boarding up to arrive. An interesting conversation to the NOK that finished with me getting a little obtuse.

Upon my return to the station I was greeted by an email from the control room asking me a number of questions regarding the use of force to enter the premises. They were;

1. Had I exhausted all lines of enquiry before executing section 17?
2. Is the property rented or private? Please pass on details of the landlord / home owner.
3. Is the occupant on benefits?
4. Are you RAMMIT trained?
5. Please explain the extent of the damage. Did you take photographs?
6. Is the occupant still alive?
7. If so, do they, in your opinion, have sufficient funds to repay the cost of boarding up?

I was pretty tempted to answer no to question 6, and yes to number 3, but a suitably curt reply was sent back forthwith. Had Marie been a scumbag then the job would have not bothered to try and recoup costs directly but I sense that Marie will be receiving a letter demanding the cost of boarding up from the constabulary within a very short time. That'll help her recovery no end, eh?


-- Post From My iPhone