Against a background of budget cuts, low morale and rising crime, this acclaimed documentary series lifts the lid on what it’s really like to police 21st-century Britain and its increasingly disorderly population.
This week’s programme captures shocking scenes as Nottingham’s frontline coppers find themselves in the middle of some of the worst anti-police violence in a generation, with police cars and stations under attack from bricks and petrol bombs. Filmed during the summer when the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in London sparked the biggest civil unrest for decades, this high-octane episode offers a unique insight into the riots across England through the eyes of police as the ‘thin blue line’ is stretched to breaking point. I
n the weeks preceding the unrest the programme gets under the skin of life for some of Nottingham’s emergency response officers, who face a constant stream of abuse and hostility from a section of society who – for whatever reason – hate the police. From knife-wielding gangs in the city centre to explosive family feuds, police are engaged in a seemingly endless fight against crime: a ‘game of Cops and Robbers’. But as the summer disturbances in London spread across the country, police in Nottingham found themselves under serious attack, with two police stations firebombed and cars pelted with bricks by an angry mob. In the summer of 2011 the force were faced with some of the worst violence on the streets in a generation. The programme hears direct – and with incredible candour – what officers on the front line really think about the job they do and the events of the summer.
9PM tonight, Channel 4
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