POLICING PERSPECTIVES
Riding with Heroes
In a thought-provoking blog, sports commentator Tom Gaymor shares his experiences of how joining his local officers on ride- alongs challenged him to see policing from a different perspective
P
olicing is a remarkable job delivered by remarkable people. But until eight years ago, I am sad to
admit I knew little about policing or the wonderful people under the uniforms. The job is almost a closed book for most and, unless we have lived experience as members of the public, we only have the mainstream media and news to inform our understanding. Policing has its own voice, it just needs to find it and be courageous enough to showcase the wonderful work that goes on up and down the country, day in and day out. I have been fortunate enough to be exposed to this unique work, having been invited out on a number of ride-alongs over the years. Having known so little about policing before these experiences, I felt compelled to share my journey and use social media to deliver an insight into the world that I have been lucky enough to be invited into. Policing is fascinating – it truly is a job
like no other, and it operates in the cracks of society that most of us know little about. Policing is chaotic and beyond
28 | POLICE | FEBRUARY 2022
challenging. It is often fast-paced and instinctive. Policing is imperfect because of its very nature. I feel privileged to have met injured officers, who put their lives on the line without hesitation to protect others. I have connected with officers whom I’m proud to now call friends. I have been invited to be a trustee at Flint House and most recently, the Chair of BTP’s inaugural SIAG. I am proud to support police officers up and down the country as there is so much good in policing. When I started this journey, I had no
idea where it would take me, let alone the understanding and insights I would gain. I genuinely thought police officers turned up to a police station, paraded and were tasked for that day. I never knew there were siloed specialist units to cover the scope of policing deliverables, such as Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Safer Transport Teams, Town Centre Teams, Territorial Support Groups, Response Teams, Proactive Teams and so on. My first policing experience was an early turn at Kingston Police Station.
Tom Gaymor
The yard was still dark, and the briefing room full of tired, suspicious police officers wondering who I was. Travelling on blue lights and sirens filled my body with adrenaline. On scene, my hands were shaking and my mouth was dry. I experienced so many emotions during that 10 hours. I remember looking to see if I could see what I was experiencing in the officers’ behaviour, but I couldn’t. The officers were so serene
and seemingly untouched by the
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