STOP, POLICE!: A 1990s True‑Crime Policing Memoir - From Northern England to Portsmouth and the Battle to Survive Life‑Saving Brain Surgery

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, only to return home and take an unlikely joining the police.

On the beat in the naval city of Portsmouth through a decade of change, he 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 the Navy on shore leaveWhat it is really like on a police stakeoutWhy covert cameras can be dangerousWhat it feels like to be in a police car chaseFacing rioting mobs at football matchesThe grim realities of sudden deathPrisoner escapes and manhuntsWhy domestic arguments are so dangerous for everyoneBeing dispatched as the first officer to a murder scene, with the suspect still presentHow it feels to tackle a sword‑wielding youthDrugs busts that do not always go to planPlus 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.