The headline reads: ‘PC CLOD Hit-and-run driver ‘flees country’ after cops refused to chase him into muddy field’.. The article in question, then goes on to give the account of a local witness who, no doubt excited by his 5-minutes of potential fame, goes on to regurgitate a recollection of events which, conveniently for the paper concerned, makes our Police Oppos sound like a bunch of sissies.
Allegedly, one of the Suffolk Constabulary Officers who arrived at the scene said to one of the informants: “it’s dark out there…and I don’t want to get muddy”… Now, having spent ten years (on-and-off) as a Police Officer in the Metropolitan Police, I like to think that I have a good understanding of how my Police Oppos work and operate. And that I have a good amount of ‘common sense’.
Not only this, but my uncle was a Dog Handler for 20+ years, and my two brother-in-laws are also in the Police. And, for my sins, my wife is also a Cop. So what I am about to say, is based upon a fairly good insight, as opposed to a desire to try and sensationalise events, in order to garner as many clicks as possible without due regard or thought to what is actually being written.
I am going to hazard a guess here, and make a suggestion that, rather than ‘getting muddy’ being the sole reason as to why the Cops in attendance didnt want to chase a suspect across fields in the pitch black, who had at least a 25 minute head start, then it MIGHT have instead been a comment made, as part of an overall assessment by the Police Officers.
I wonder if the reporter, a chap named ‘Rob Pattinson’ would, in the dead of night, run across a field, that he had never walked across before, with the risk of maybe falling into a frozen lake, pond or cesspit? If it was me who had arrived at that incident, then I wouldn’t run into a field, without knowing exactly what is in the field.
And Mr Pattinson (the reporter) and Mr Tokley (the ‘informant’) may not realise this, but criminals often don’t just stay hiding in a field when they are on the run. They keep on running. And running. And running. That’s why we have Police Dogs. Because Police Officers have not yet been issued with a K-9 snout that can sniff out fleeing suspects.
But, of course, reporters and members of the public deal daily with criminals and often have to put themselves in harms way to track down fleeing suspects…don’t they? So their experience and input is VITAL in these kind of situations. #LessonsWillBeLearnt
Due to it being a busy night, the Police couldn’t get to the scene for 25 minutes. I am no professor of mathematics, but even I can work out that a man running for 25 minutes at around 6 MPH can travel around 3 miles. So whilst it is great that the informant saw the suspect run into a field, what idiot would actually believe that with a 25 minute head start, and a potential search radius of 3 miles, that the suspect would actually still be in the field?
You would have to be a complete numpty to go hunting around in a dark field, with its many unknown and unseen hazards, to look for a male who had last been seen heading into the aforementioned field nearly 30 minutes ago! These people, including the reporter, are making themselves look silly.
The ‘article’ in question then goes on to state that the suspect ‘hid in a field for five hours…’. Thats great – but can Mr Tokley please confirm which of the fields below the suspect, a Marcis Blahins, was hidden in? we have attached an image taken from Google Maps, which shows the THOUSANDS of different fields in the local area:
Apparently Mr Tokley reckons all the Police needed was a “torch and some guts’…REALLY? Well, unless the Police were equipped with a 3 million lumens ‘night sun’ then no LED torch is going to light up an area of 3 square miles!
Alas, this is just another case of people commenting on situations without having ZERO experience or understanding in relation to what goes not just through a Police Officer’s mind, but what goes through the mind of ANYONE with an OUNCE of common sense, when faced with a similar situation.
Maybe the informant or the reporter would like to volunteer to take the place of a Police Dog, and go searching for a male in the dead of night, in thousands of square acres of foliage with a “torch and some guts”…Good work people….good work….
Written by ‘Cop(ex) – an Admin of Emergency Services Humour and regular contributor to our Digital Magazine – CLICK HERE to subscribe
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
