Into the Valley: Strikes, Riots, Sexism, Racism, The Air Epidemic and WPC Foster ... Thatcher's Britain Had Them All!

by Chris Clement-Green

A gritty, colourful and humorous true story of a career on the thin blue line Encouraged by the sizeable pay increase and high divorce rate, Chris Clement-Green decided that answering a recruitment ad for the Thames Valley Police was just the thing for a much-needed overhaul of her life. It was 1984, a time before political correctness, at the height of the miner's strike and in the middle of five years of race riots. Perfect timing.

Expanding her police knowledge, her love life, and undeterred by sexist remarks and chauvinists she decided to make her mark, while kissing goodbye to her previous dull and conventional existence. Chris captures the colourful characters and humour in many of the situations she found herself in, but the job had it s serious side, too. She was at the centre of a riot in Oxford, during which her life was saved by a young black man she had previously stopped and questioned, and was attacked by a man with mental-health problems who was a consequence of the decision to move care into the community .

Consistently coming up against the effects of Margaret Thatcher's politics; from miner's picket-lines, covering (badly) for striking paramedics during the ambulance dispute to everyday drunken disturbances caused by the haves (Yuppies and Oxford students) and the have-nots (alcoholic homeless and unemployed youth), Chris also tackled sex crimes and abuse.

An often humorous, always candid and no-holds-barred reflection of the life of a policewoman in the 1980s, this book offers a personal account of a life in uniform, while touching on the Newbury Bypass demos, the effects of Scarman, the Hungerford Massacre, the bombing of Libya, the AIDS epidemic and working under the notorious Ali Dizaei.

Genres: Nonfiction

301 pages, Paperback

Published August 10, 2017

About the author

I retired from Thames Valley Police after sixteen years as a uniform sergeant followed by five as a civilian investigator on serious and organised crime teams IN Humberside and Wiltshire – which included working on several murder incident rooms.
My serious writing started in 2007 when I entered the National Association of Writer’s Groups annual short story competition. It was my first competition so I was astonished to win with Pebbles. This win encouraged me to undertake the Open University Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing courses, which I completed with distinction. In 2013 I was accepted onto the prestigious Bath Spa University Creative Writing MA, where I completed a humorous but gritty life-writing manuscript Into the Valley which was subsequently published by Mirror Books in 2017.
I have had several articles and letters published in national UK magazines, most notably Writing Magazine, and in September 2016 I was published in The New Guard Volume V a literary journal based in New York. I have also been short listed in the Literature Works First Page Writing Prize and in several Writing Magazine competitions. In 2016 my fantasy short story, Layla, was published in Divinity Fantasia Magazine and I won the Oriel Davis Prose Competition with Cosmic Tiger and was also a finalist in the Women in Comedy Festival with my monologue Queenie. This year my article Food for Thought was runner up in the Scribble annual article completion, and I co-wrote a piece on the subject of Mentoring with James McCreet which is due for publication on the 6th September 2018.
My recently completed debut novel She Will Rescue You is being published on the 30th May 2019 by Joffe Books and I am currently working on a new crime novel – Rage Hard which is another police procedural set in Oxford revolving around a white WPC and black criminal during the race riots of Thatcher’s Britain.

Reviews

[Nat K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like reading an extended version of an episode of The Bill. Which is a good thing. I was an absolute The Bill tragic. ”You’re nicked!” Good times. I was obsessed with the TV show and still think it’s one of the best police procedural series ever made. I remember having to video tape it (remember VCRs kids?) when I was working Thursday nights, so I could watch it later.

Chris Clement-Green was unhappily married and not earning much as a bookseller (the irony) when she came across an advert for the police force. Figuring she had nothing to lose, she applied, and ended up joining the Thames Valley Police Force as a probationer.

So what was it really like being a copper? It’s 1984. A different world. Cast your minds back, those of you who remember the days of giant shoulder pads, bubble skirts, scrunchies, aviator glasses, double denim, great music. Sony walkmans. No internet. No mobile phones. No tasers. No pepper spray. Police work was hard graft. Really hard yakka. Literally wearing out your shoe rubber pounding the pavement. Using your gut instinct. And relying on your colleagues for backup.

Times were tough. This is set in the UK, so there were the miner’s strikes, plenty of political unrest, racial unrest, and the steel rule of one Mrs. Margaret Thatcher.

Now let’s add another layer to the mix. Imagine being a female copper back in 1984. This was quite a rarity. Yes, I love Lynda La Plante’s “Jane Tennison” series of books, she’s a great protagonist who shows the rise of a WPC up the greasy pole of rank. But this book is by a real police woman, who walked-the-walk. In fact, she was such a rarity that of her graduation class of fourteen, she was one of two WPCs*. Do the maths.

The Inspector of the first station she was assigned to refused to acknowledge her existence. She was an affront to his sensibilities. WPCs were still viewed with suspicion by the older male crew aka the “dinosaurs”. She was repeatedly asked when she was planning on having children. The assumption being that this job was just a fill in until that time.

In fact, during the 1980s the career expectancy of female officers - and also those of ethnic minorities - was only four years. This is as opposed to the twenty-six to thirty year careers of their white male counterparts, who left the force with a full pension.

Yes, there is sexism supreme. Also racism. Plenty of off colour jokes, and off the cuff comments. People were definitely treated differently according to their colour. And their gender. Also their sexual preferences. Plenty of inappropriate jokes and banter. Again, 1984 seems like aeons ago when reading a book like this.

There are the regular dossers, drunks and shoplifters. Domestic abuse. Advising next of kin of accidents. To the homeless and mentally ill who were wondering the streets as their sheltered homes were being closed. Offenders tended to be divided into one of three categories ”sad, mad, and bad”. Sometimes the (un)lucky copper who got to arrest them got the triple threat of the offender being all three.

HIV/AIDS was new and frightening. It was still a relatively unknown disease, which led to suspicion and wariness when dealing with offenders who were positive. There was a fear of how workplace injuries (such as being bitten by an offender) could potentially result in it being transmitted. Many a sleepless night was had by the writer after she suffered exactly such a fate, until her test results were returned as clear.

Something that struck me as incongruous was that part of the WPC uniform was carrying a handbag (in case one wanted to reapply the lippy when on patrol), and wearing a white shirt as opposed to the blue ones the men wore. The reasoning? So the WPCs would be easier to spot in a stoush. Equal opportunities anyone?!

This is a good humoured, interesting book. Especially seeing as some of the subject matter is far from pretty. Plenty of anecdotes, ranging from the amusing to the more serious crimes and people that police have to deal with every single day and night. Sixteen years of service is quite an amazing achievement. Maybe another book or two is in the offing?

I love this this book that has chapter headings. Such a rarity now, which is a real shame. For me, it added to the enjoyment. It’s just a little thing, but I’m easily pleased.

3.5⭐

In her epilogue, Chris Clement-Green ends with some wise words:
"Yes there were boring days, there were bad and sad days, but each one had the potential to make you realise why life is worth living. Policing taught me to handle life's grey areas with compassion and tolerance; it showed me that good people can do bad things and that the act is not necessarily the person. But best of all, it made me determined to grab hold of an enjoy each day, because life-changing and life-ending tragedy may be just around the corner."

Trigger warnings! Suicide and attempted suicide, child and sexual abuse are all discussed here in some detail.

WPCs* = Woman Police Constable (thankfully no longer used)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

l loved reading this book, what a well written book it was too. Full of anecdotes and stories.

Life in the police service warts and all. Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes were from a male perspective while Into the Valley is from a female viewpoint.

l thoroughly recommend this book, very entertaining.

[Ellie (bookmadbarlow) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful memoir into the police force in the 1980's and 90's. Each chapter was another memory moving through the authors working life. Some were amusing, some were upsetting, but overall this book has helped me to understand how far equal opportunities has come but how far it still needs to go.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

Chris Clement-Green has written a memoir about her time spent in the Thames Valley Police force in London. She tells stories about interesting cases she worked on, about the darker side of her job, plus takes us on her journey through the ranks and explains how issues like misogyny and homophobia were prevalent.

I think anyone who likes Police procedurals would like this behind-the-scenes look at life as a UK Policewoman in the 80s.

Thanks to the author and publisher for gifting me a digital copy to read.

[Paul Landon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having served at the same police station, at the same time, as Chris Clement-Green I bought the book to see if I was mentioned. Phew - I wasn't, but I had great fun trying to work out who she was describing when some of the names had been changed. This book is full of accurate stories recounting policing and attitudes in the 1970s/1980s. It is written with humour. I hope that Chris Clement-Green has not exhausted her stock of policing stories because I'd like to read a subsequent book by her.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1984 Chris made the choice to join the Thames Valley Police Force.  This book covers the 16 years she spent in the force, telling of experiences, training and how things have changed over the time, both in a procedural sense as well as from a female police officer and the prejudices that were shown towards her.

Chris has had to deal with many things over the years in the force, but her dogged perseverance has served her well.  She gives a very candid account of things she has witnessed and  experienced, with stories that are a mix of various crimes she has been called to attend. Some are serious in nature, some are humorous.  It has been laid out in a very readable style, and charts her rise and her reasons for some of her decisions.  As she tells this account, she also adds what was happening in other police forces, especially notable things that made national news headlines.  It adds a good timeline perspective and helps to jog memories of where you were at the time, or what you were doing.  The book is set out in various chapters, and reads like short stories as well as continuing Chris's story.

I really enjoyed this book, I found it quite educational at times, and it was nice to see what changes have been made within the force.  A book that I think will appeal to readers of Biography, True Crime, Politics and Society.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was a policewoman in Thatcher's Britain. Her descriptions of incidents at work are gripping and gritty but her dry sense of humour also made me chuckle quite a lot.

[Jinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I have no links to the police force but maybe because I grew up in the 1970s/ 1980s I found I could identify with a lot of the incidents mentioned.

I would suggest that you don't need to be connected with the Police Force to enjoy reading this book, Just like reading Memoirs or Biographies.

[Ellesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chris Clement-Green became a police officer with Thames Valley Police in the '80s, after passing the training school she was out on the streets of Oxford patrolling, while there she met some interesting characters and learned quickly how to deal with a range of situations. 

She was involved in riots, stabbings, and child neglect case to name a few. We get to see Chris progress through her career gaining higher ranks while being blocked by her male superiors, always asking the question 'are you planning to have children?' the very question that still holds millions of women back today, while no longer spoken it still exists. 

I think one of the things missing was the lack of opinion or real effect the change from WPC had on the police forces and the public as a whole. Equal opportunities has come on a lot from when Chris was in the police but from reading other people's stories it still has a way to go.  

I didn't like the language referring to the LGBT community, we are at an interesting time with books. People wouldn't think to include explicit racist language, they state people where racist and the effects but rarely the actual language used, in comparison homophobic language is freely printed unfortunately this was another of those books containing the language.

Overall it was a good book, one to pick up if you like a police memoir. 

3/5  

[Lara A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars rounded up to three.

The dedication page thanks Mirror books for their belief in "non-celebratory memoirs". This isn't a gripping expose. It's more a detailed warts and all account of one woman's career. Some chapters of which are definitely more interesting than others and some judicious editing would have been beneficial in some parts.

This is a frequently wince-inducing book and not always intentionally. While the chapter about working with victims of child sexual abuse is interesting, especially in terms of how policing has changed, there was a case involving a young girl which seems to have been completely mishandled, with minimal subsequent insight as to why. The discussion of race both in terms or police recruitment and wider society isn't ideal either. It however, what happened and how people thought and still think, so arguably has some value.

The most interesting aspect of the book, which deserved greater exploration, was how things have changed for female police officers. So much past sexual inequality has almost become forgotten history. It's good to see it brought into the light so that we can see exactly how far we have come, even if more needs to change.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book by a friend who was having a clear out. I can understand why you wouldn't keep hold of the book for a second read in a few years time but I did read it from start to finish and found it to be informative, amusing in places and sometimes surprising with regards to how a woman was treated in a Male dominated profession. I'm a woman in a similar situation and have only had positive experiences. I did enjoy the book and it sounds like she had a great career but I don't feel the need to re read the story.

[Ian Betteridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK read

[Barry Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great read, with a woman's view of sexism in the police in the 80's/90's.

[Bob Hilliar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book of anecdotes from life in the police force. Some humorous, some rather disturbing. The author sounds like someone you wouldn't want to argue with so no direct criticisms here!

However, it does suffer from poor proof reading in the first part of the book. For example, unless this is a new way to store Micras, I have never heard of a Nissan hut (I think it should be Nissen hut). Also, if someone shouts at you, they have bawled at you (not balled). I also picked up on a transposition of a couple of words as well.