What does the officer have to do as a beat officer?

M: Now you spent, er, quite some time, er, as a beat officer or on the beat. Is that right?
W: That’s right.
M: When you were training?
W: Yes.
M: How long was that for?
W: Approximately three and a half years before I specialised as such.
M: And...and what would that involve?
W: It involves doing shift system which is early, lates, nights.
M: Early, lates and nights. Can you explain what hours they are?
W: The early shift starts at six o’clock in the morning till two o’clock in the afternoon. Then you’ve got the late shift from two o’clock in the afternoon to ten o’clock at night. And then night duty from ten pm until six am, because obviously all stations have to be manned twenty-four hours a day.
M: Is there any particular aspect of the work that you prefer?
W: Not really, er. You do have your preferences. I mean, if it’s pouring down with rain you prefer to be in a car than walking, but somebody has to do it.
M: When you’re out on the beat how often in fact, er, do incidents occur that require your, er, intervention?
W: You can’t guarantee what’s going to happen when you come on. You can come on duty thinking, oh, you know, "What a great day", and you end up with something terrible happening, er. Every day’s different.
M: Have you ever had anything terrible or dangerous or unpleasant happening to you?
W: One or two things, yes. You obviously get involved with fatal accidents even just as a police officer, as a PC.
M: Would you say that was the worst part of the job, having to attend at fatal accidents?
W: For myself, no. They’re not as bad as some things.
M: You say it’s not what you consider the most unpleasant part. But what is?
W: I think the worst things that you get involved with are the children, the elderly and the animals. You get cases of child abuse, children that have been beaten by parents, abandoned by parents. Again, you get the elderly people who are victims of robberies, snatches, where they’ve had their property literally wrenched from their hands or their necks. They’re victims of burglaries.