Stop, Police‪!‬

Stop, Police! is a gripping, true‑to‑life memoir that takes you from the backstreets of 1970s–80s Rochdale to the front line of British policing in the 1990s.

Richard's story begins with a wild(ish) youth spent skirting danger and trouble – close encounters with stolen property, dodgy motors, drugs, robbery and naïve decisions that could easily have landed him on the wrong side of the law.

Seeking a fresh start, he heads to the USA to grab a piece of his own American dream, driving an old Dodge Diplomat car across America only to return home and take an unlikely turn: joining the police.

On the beat in the naval city of Portsmouth through a decade of change, Richard meets every shade of humanity – funny, tragic, absurd and brave. Stop, Police!  is an exposé of life on and off duty, facing real criminals and real danger, and recounting unreported events that form part of the social history of Pompey – not forgetting the many practical jokes played between officers to keep up morale! Told with the eye of someone who has seen both sides of the thin blue line.

Read about the author's policing experiences as a uniformed cop, walking the beat or racing to 999 calls as an area car driver, including incidents such as:

•Policing the Navy on shore leave
•What it is really like on a police stakeout
•Why covert cameras can be dangerous
•What it feels like to be in a police car chase
•Facing rioting mobs at football matches
•The grim realities of sudden death
•Prisoner escapes and manhunts
•Why domestic arguments are so dangerous for everyone
•Being dispatched as the first officer to a murder scene, with the suspect still present
•How it feels to tackle a sword‑wielding youth
•Drugs busts that do not always go to plan
•Plus many, many more

When a sudden brain haemorrhage strikes while he is on duty, the author is forced to confront the biggest battle of his life – his own survival.

Everything changes when Richard collapses at work, the result of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) on the brain. Extensive brain surgery becomes his only chance of survival, forcing a man used to saving others to confront his own fragility. The memoir also charts his recovery and the quiet reckonings that follow a career spent managing other people's crises.

An immensely moving and deeply personal insight into what it is to be a police officer in Britain – and what it feels like to survive a brain haemorrhage and subsequent brain surgery – this is a story told with raw honesty and dark humour. Stop, Police! is more than a policing memoir; it is a story of resilience, second chances and what it truly means to wear the uniform.