Don't ask Giles...he hasn't figured out the difference between petrol and diesel yet 


with colleagues responding to incidents miles away![]()

Like the coffee and biscuit run to hein gerrike? Bryn![]()


After a trip out in the car with me, a female friend who's a Sergeant in Poilce Scotland said, "You'd fail your Police driving course. You spend too much time on the wrong side of the road." That's what it's for, isn't it? Bleeding Police and their "systems".![]()

After a trip out in the car with me, a female friend who's a Sergeant in Poilce Scotland said, "You'd fail your Police driving course. You spend too much time on the wrong side of the road." That's what it's for, isn't it? Bleeding Police and their "systems".![]()

Errm.....
.........what oil?![]()
It was a subliminal dig at the slippery buggers. You weren't supposed to notice....![]()


Ahhhhh ... tossers ... all of you ......
Scotboxer .... my personal experience ..
One week basic car course
Three week standard car course
Three week advanced car course
One week T-pac course (bashing villains off the road .. )
Three week standard bike course (you won't get this unless yer class 1 car ... )
Three week Advanced bike course.
One week escort course
One week off road bike course
Refreshers amongst all that.
But ... but ....
It's fair to say, that within reason, you're either a biker and it's in your blood, or you're not. It's fair to say that amongst my team, there are hard core petrol heads (IAM examiners, out or hours instructors (me!) ) and there are some bods that have a standard, they've completed the courses, but they aint what I would call bloody good motorcyclists.
So I (some what gingerly, and ready to run and hide) say that not all class one bods are riding Gods. Some are really quite average. (There's one or two I know that are class one ... and are fucking useless ... and I wouldn't have given them their ticket .. !!!!) But the guys that have steered their career that way 'cos it's their passion, that have immersed themselves into the world of two wheeled petrol heaven .... they normally know their onions when it comes to biking.
More than that though, is the daily job. Day in, day out, life on a bike / traffic car. You get more experience, a thicker varnish and patina, by just good old time in the saddle. 12 hour day today for me, as it was yesterday, and as it will be tomorrow. Urgent dispatch runs to forensic labs, maybe a high profile escort, maybe a day on a wr450 catching shit bags on nicked bikes, maybe 14 hours of Op stack at the port (!!), maybe chasing the ANPR hits on an RT .....
It's more than the courses .... it's the daily life ...
![]()
Hi
I sat down with the training sergeant at Hendon once, and this was about ten years ago, and we calculated that all the training I received would cost well over £100,000..
The driving includes 3 week standard, 2 day van, 6 week advance. 3 week solo. Then a week each for HGV 1&2, PSV and driver assessor. Plus various days for off road driving, towing, a load escorts and SEG aid.
There's over 12 weeks different vehicle exams, 4 weeks of various tacho training, 10 weeks collision investigation blah..
Whilst it great for me now retired being able to use the skills, the cost nowadays is clearly prohibitive to train to these standards. This is witnessed by Hendon driving school turning the skid pans into a car park.
my personal experience ..
NO course for basic car
No standard course, never was a police car driver
No advanced course
No tpac
Best fun in the world!!! - Three week standard bike course, and no I was not a class 1 car driver
Best fun in the world!!! - Three week Advanced bike course.
No course for escort, but did several including Dodi Fayed body from arrival to cemetery
Included with bike course - One week off road bike course
spent 3 years straight with every working day on a bike, 4 months 12 on and 12 off (no days off) now that was hardwork.
Best day on a job bike (unmarked ZZR12), take this package from London to somewhere near Brum, as fast as you can possibly get it there!!!! 5am summer, M1 no traffic, no speed cameras to worry about and all traffic patrols on route told I am coming through and not to get in my way, oh those were the days.



1965 a three week course on LE 200cc Velocette 'Noddy Bikes' for normal beat patrol JWR 13C where are you now?
Road Traffic hadn't been invented in them thar days, we had the 999 Zed cars, Ford Zodiacs and Zephyr's
Later came a four week car course for general beat duties, 'cos by this time we got BMC Mini Vans and ford Cortinas![]()
WWW 604G where are you now?
Six weeks advanced course for cars, four for motorcycles. Six weeks course for police Class One instructor and Examiner, in house training for Royal and VIP Escorting for which I was involved. Four week course for Regional Crime Squad Serveillance Motorcyclist ... arguably one of THE most dangerous and demanding jobs within the police service
Hendon turning the skid pan into a car park? Ha ha ...
Here's me on the skid pan at Crofton (Wakefield) .... and long before H&S it was stopped because of a few broken ankles
Miserable buggers![]()
