Beyond The Call Of Duty: Untold Stories of Britain's Bravest Police Officers

by Ben Ando, Nick Kinsella

The book used by Thandie Newton to research her part in Line of Duty.

A lone policewoman disarms a knife-wielding schizophrenic; two officers drag a woman from a railway line seconds before an express train roars past; an undercover cop clings onto the bonnet of a drug-dealer's car as it speeds through a busy town centre.

These are just some of the ways Britain's police officers are daily called upon to demonstrate bravery in the line of duty when even the most routine call can turn into a life-or-death situation and split-second judgements can make all the difference. Sometimes officers make the ultimate sacrifice in fulfilling their duty. When PC Bill Parker was swept to his death by floodwaters in Cumbria in 2009, he had been working to save stranded motorists from the same fate.

This thrilling collection of first-person accounts of true courage celebrates the sustained bravery and presence of mind routinely displayed by so many officers in England, Wales and Scotland. The stories also reveal an insider's view of the culture, training and techniques police officers use in carrying out their duties.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2013

Reviews

[Helen Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this, despite it being a bit outdated as it was written some time ago. It's nice to get back to the police procedural books that I enjoy, after reading so many hockey romances of late!! The book is packed with lots and lots of short stories of bravery and heroism from different cops on different forces all over the country, and each story is very, very different. They're all examples of the police running towards danger when most people run away from it. Each chapter ended with an update of what happened to the baddies and, in some cases, also discussed the impact of the incident on the officer's life after the event. It's nice also to hear of the commendations the individuals received and any other awards they'd been nominated for. What shocked me was that a couple of the incidents specifically stated that the person who had been rescued (or saved or whatever) had never contacted the force to say thank you! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but to me, that's completely out of order! So back to the book,... its an easy read, nothing too graphic or scary, no excessive swearing, etc. The writing is very easy to understand, and for once, it's a Kindle book with no proofing or editing issues. Well, there was one I spotted, but that was all! Bravo on a really great book, and a huge well done and thank you to all the officers whose stories appeared and all those whose stores didn't make the pages but are just as heroic.

[Lex Hogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time reading this book. It's incredibly wordy, not so much in a "flowery prose" way but in a "dull logistics about every single thing" kind of way. The writer has a terrible habit of digressing from the point. Most of the stories are similar to each other, revolving around "crazed person on drugs with knife" or "person drowning and the cop bravely risked a lawsuit to save them." There were a few interesting stories, but not enough that really stood out.