I heard the self-important whine of a police siren so pulled back the curtains a little to see what was happening. I was in a bed and breakfast in Royston, Herts, so I assumed the rozzers were on their way to handcuff someone who had been mildly disobliging about their child’s school on a social media site. But there, just down the high street, the coppers had pulled up outside a pub. They got out of their car and stood about a bit. Then another police car pulled up and then another. Coppers got out of them too, and stood about a bit outside the pub.
There were a few drinkers also outside the pub and one bloke seemed to have fallen over. There was, so far as I could see, no trouble. Certainly not the sort of trouble that would demand three police cars and six coppers. No, sorry – make that five police cars and ten coppers, because two more cars swung by the pub and disgorged officers of the law, who also proceeded to stand about a bit, outside the pub. This all lasted for about 20 minutes, then everybody went home. No arrests, nobody hurt, so far as I could see.
So I suppose just six plod marching up the drive in their stupid yellow waistcoats to arrest a middle-aged couple for being a bit arsey about their daughter’s school was an expression of restraint by the Herts old bill, or maybe they were just understaffed that day. The coppers said later that six officers were needed in order to sequester ‘electronic devices’ and also to look after the children.
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