Police Officer's Knife Showdown - Critical Incident - S01 EP07 - Documentary

999 has risk their lives every day keeping us  safe we do this job to help people but all too often they're abused and attacked the vehicle  drew me like a ragdoll it should have killed me these personal attacks on police paramedics  and firefighters are at an all-time high well admit I was absolutely terrified we don't go  in this uniform to be assaulted leaving them traumatized and unable to work the fella  I was saying goodbye to my career but while the violent criminals responsible  are hunt

ed down and brought to Justice our protectors fight to get  well and back on the job was not going to give up there was no  way it's took a heal up a lot of hard work to get back to the place I'm just now  ready to face the next critical incident today an officer is dragged into a busy road  as he tries to make an arrest those cars and there was traffic and there was buses just  driving past us you know I was wrestling struggling with this mail on the floor a plain  clothes officer is pulled alo

ng the street by a criminal in a getaway car I tried to get my  feet moving as quick as the car would go but couldn't and eventually I lose my foot in and  end up flying through the air and with huge moral support from her colleagues a paramedic  has helped back to work after a vicious assault we know you're a very good paramedic you know  you're a good paramedic and you're ready to go [Music] well Rich Farrow was a police officer for 26 years after starting his career in London he returned to w

ork in his home city of York where he  was following a proud family tradition I guess I became a police officer because  my father had done 30 years service in North Yorkshire so growing up as a child listening to my  father's stories and investigations that he'd done but Rich's police career was interrupted in 2012.  when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis it's a neurological condition it's  a condition that affects you daily it causes bearable symptoms including  fatigue cognitive dysfun

ction and Mobility some days are better than others if you're  having a good day you can do a lot more things so you can get out and spend time with the with  the pets and the family other days you're more and not stuck to your house but  you're unable to walk very far or you know you depend on your  car to get anything from A to B Rich's diagnosis meant that he was  forced to change direction at work I was taking off front line duties and I became  an officer on the neighborhood police team nei

ghborhood policing teams are designed to  make the police more visible and encourage interaction between communities and their local  offices enrich's new role he was responsible for patrolling York City Center so you're working  more with the community theater with neighborhood issues anti-social issues the move was supposed  to put Rich into a less physically demanding role but one shift in 2015 proved to be  every bit as dangerous and challenging as Frontline response work [Music]  I was on M

obile Patrol in the oxycy center I was just going to a unreleased  job when a incident came over the radio that place got my camera he's looking at  all the bikes there was a male seen by the local CCTV operator where he had seen a male  acting suspiciously around some bike racks the young man is totally unaware that every  move he makes is being caught on camera the night of the incident I was literally  parked up waiting for the traffic lights to change just down the road there on both  of the

m the CCTV operator was monitoring this offender it was stood by the bicycle  racks over there who was paying unhealthy interest into the bikes so I was no more  than 100 meters away from from the offender luckily I was around the corner I went around  the corner and I saw this male cycling away from the bicycle racks came down the road here did  a u-turn and I prevented the skate by pulling up in front of him and uh textbook roadblock really  stopped his Escape police car right in front of him

now quickly because that's my car approached  the mail and straight away he was very evasive nervous near appears to be under the influence  of dream car drugs it was a case of just speaking with a male find out what he's up to was he was  he stealing a bike was he unlocking his own bike knowledge and experience I knew something  wasn't right so that's when I searched him sets all of his pockets couldn't find bulk  croppers screwdriver or any other implements that would have been used to to stea

l a bike  or anything else so I've continued with my thorough search of him made my way around to the  um back of his trousers to search around the back at which point he then violently  threw himself forwards towards me we both ended up falling to the ground  we struggled on the ground he was trying to escape he then got to his feet and then  he began to make his Escape he was running across a busy Junction chased after  him and tackled him to the the ground as Rich struggles with the offender

in the  middle of the road they're both in serious danger of being hit by a passing vehicle  there was cars and there was traffic and those buses just driving past us you know I was  wrestling struggling with this male on the floor Rich needs help urgently but with both hands  occupied he's unable to call for backup I was unable to get to my radio and um activate  the emergency button and because the the male was struggling violently I had to keep control of  him seeing the danger he's in a pass

ing member of the public jumps in to help I he told me that  he was a professional cage fighter a martial arts expert so if you want someone to come  to your assistance you want a professional martial arts expert luckily the male puts a  hold on him and incapacitated the offender we restrained him got him coughed other units then  began to arrive and we got the mail to his feet um he was secured in the police vehicle Rich makes a shocking discovery they  also saw a large butcher's knife [Music]

around 17 000 assaults on NHS staff were reported  last year yet these are often the people who are first on the scene helping victims of the most  traumatic incidents like paramedic Andrea Gibbs Andrea spent most of her career working in  London where she played a major role in the rescue operation during the London bombings in  2005. I'll second ambulance dispatched to the bus farming and Tavistock Square in this footage you  can see Andrea in the midst of this horrific event treating one of t

he victims in the back of an  ambulance and the scenes that I saw there that day affected quite a lot of us we did lose a lot of  Staff over that because they obviously had PTSD a lot of people didn't realize that these  member of staff were extremely vulnerable because it's not every day that you  go to a bombing in central London when we were finished with the bus bomb and we  would then dispatched down to Russell square one particular young lady sticks in my mind she had  severe third degree

burns on both of her legs she just kept screaming at me for me to let her  mum know that she's okay let her mum but obviously the mobile network went down that day so um I  couldn't contact anybody so I just had to reassure this this lady she was amazingly Brave she was  completely in shock but she was amazingly Brave and but I do believe myself and my crewmate  at the time Charlie Lucas we were very brave because we you never nothing ever prepares you  for something that was catastrophic is tha

t one week later Andrea addressed a crowd of  thousands of people who had gathered at Trafalgar Square to remember all of those who had lost their  lives many of us have been traumatized by what we have had to deal with but we are determined to  carry on we won't be terrorized in 2015 Andrea moved to Northern Ireland where her career as a  paramedic went from strength to strength lovely girl very jolly great Karen person so we've been  looking forward to getting caught up with her having worked

through something  as harrowing as the 7-7 bombings Andrea was confident she could handle  anything her job could throw at her but in 2017 Andrea was subject to an attack that  shook even this strong woman to her very core it was my first night shift with Glenn  Rhodes and he's now my permanent crewmate and we the shift was not not exceptional  it was just quite mundane calls really and we were called to a female in County Tyrone  we were met at the door by a male and female and they said to us

that there was a female  upstairs and they think that she had had a c shot the Gary Lane on a bed she was very thin Garen  of attracted breathing and semi-conscious we thought so we started examining on our checking  a vital signs and she wouldn't speak to us even though I knew that she actually was conscious  at the time I said can you hear me you need to speak to us so we can help you it was easier  for us to help you if you can speak to us there was nothing unusual about this call until  all

of a sudden the patient's Behavior changed in a split second she jumped up from the bed  and she punched me straight in the chest I'm just having me going from the police just in  case and paper and Equipment which I did that's when things picked up kicked off next minute  I knew I was getting flung violently forward I've never been knocked out in my life only  through surgery so I don't know what it feels like the next minute all I remember was um all I could remember was when I came round was 

that um she this female was sitting on top of me and she had hands around my  neck trying to strike me [Music] Glenn was trying to get help I was too  far away to hear what was happening I went down to the ambulance leave that coming  back fund our control to ask for police assistance just in case things make it worse and apparently  Andy was calling my name which I didn't hear I looked up at her and I thought she threw her head  back and I thought she was going to head back me um so I was I ca

n't remember if I prepared  myself or anything like that I just remember her black hair going flying back and she lunged  forward and she bit into my bottom of my lip I just thought what's happened to me is this  person trying to kill me and she then started punching me around the head she learned that  her weight shifted to one side so I thought she was going to get off me but she didn't  she lunged down and she bit into my left leg um I could hear somebody screaming  but I couldn't figure out

if it was me or was it the other female I  couldn't figure out who was screaming I'm back up the stairs that's when she ran  past me on the stairwell and I realized there's a problem there surround back going  into almonds with her it's just sworn button she was a complete Panic at her days  you know and crying very very upset and I thought I was gonna die I thought why would somebody want to  kill me I've not done nothing wrong I was only there to help her I felt that bad for her I wish it was

me I had  been the would have been the one that was attacked not her and just wanted to comfort her and put  me on my mind just crying just so so so upset Andrea was immediately rushed to hospital  I remember sitting in the cubicle and Glenn lovely Glenn he says  that uh he's completely distraught because he went through it  with me as well you know Andrea was discharged but the  nightmare was only just beginning she had a punctured lip and an injury to  her brain caused by a concussion but she

was also suffering from post-traumatic  stress which had the biggest impact later Andrea faces a tough battle  on the road to recovery I couldn't sleep I couldn't eat properly I  was sort of nervous anxious wreck and huge support from her teammate Glenn is  crucial to her success he's definitely helped me big time but he sort of like bounced  me back to my my normal self you know most cop cars are equipped with dash cams  which have become an extremely useful tool in capturing criminal activity

on  the roads this shocking footage shows the moment a police officer was driven at  deliberately by the driver of a stolen vehicle the dash cam recording shows police chasing  the driver at high speed on an a-road in Surrey the Tactical maneuver they managed to  bring the car to a stop but the driver tries to reverse and Escape Brave coppers  jump in and try to get him out of the car but as one officer stands in front of the car the  driver recklessly drives straight at him luckily the officer

sustained no serious injuries you're  right the driver was arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of actual bodily harm dangerous driving  driving whilst disqualified and driving whilst unfit he was sentenced to 23 months in prison and  has had his license disqualified for three years still to come a bravery award and a new role in  the community make Rich's family proud to another right shoulder check he's come out of a job that  he loved through ill health and has managed that um like a hero a

nd Andrea Battles to get  back to the job she loves I need to try and get myself back to full confidence and  to feel that I'm able to do the job again foreign in York City Center PC Rich Farrah  has apprehended a suspected bike Thief after a violent struggle which saw  him dragged into the line of passing traffic the offender is finally  safely in the back of a police van but rich is about to make a shocking discovery  I then went back to where my first initial struggle with a male was somethin

g to retrieve my  personal protective equipment that had fallen off when I went back to retrieve it picked up my  equipments but I also saw a large butcher's knife the knife is lying in the road close to where rich  first stopped the offender it was about 12 inches long in length initially I thought that definitely  wasn't there when I encountered the mail to start with was there another reason why that knife was  on the ground or had it come from him so rich turns to the eye in the sky for some

answers I  spoke to the CCTV operator he rewound the fussage replay the footage it's quite clearly seen on  the CCTV that this knife was secreted down the back of his trousers [Music] so it gives  you Shivers thinking about it now but it's it was secreted down the back of his trousers  um and when we first fell to the ground it was luckily for myself it was ejected from his  clothing it does make you think had that knife still have been on his person when I was  struggling with him would have u

sed it on me there was only one reason why  that male had a knife on him and that was to cause serious injury  to myself or a member of the public this incident brought back memories of a terrible  experience that happened early in Rich's career soccer gives me shivers thinking  back um when I worked in London back in 1997 a friend and colleague of mine  Nina MacKay she was facing stabbed on duty she was trying to arrest a male and sadly the  male was waiting behind the door um [Music] so incide

nces like that remain  with you throughout your service [Music] Rich knows he had a  lucky Escape that day [Music] it's just police Instinct you do what you  joined up to do you're there to apprehend and deal with the incident in front of you  you know you just do the best that you can nobody was seriously injured apart from a few  scrapes and bruises we all went home that evening um safe um it could have ended so much differently the offender was convicted of possession of  a blade in a public

place and obstructing a police officer he was sentenced to 12 months in  prison and was ordered to pay 280 pounds in fines foreign following the incident Rich was  forced to reassess his career [Music] having Ms you're not a strong year slower  the dragasia reaction time to situations a knife incident like that if you're slightly  delayed with your reaction time it could be um life-threatening you know it  could have ended so much differently it did affect me after the incident um  psychological

ly it sort of became a little bit too much at work I was never going to go  back to Frontline duties as a result of that they'll decide that the best decision was to  medically retire me on the ill health grounds sadly I never did get to my 30  year service I never did get to the the Finishing Line and that's the worst  feeling ever as a police officer thank you when the door closes behind you for the  last time he's stepping out into the world as a member of the public for the first time  and u

h yeah it does have a a knock-on effect to to leave on a high leave with with that sort  of you know feeling inside that he was able to um to do that job that he loved and people  were saying that as well not just himself but actually or people that loved him but  actually you know members of the public and colleagues and everybody around him was  actually saying yeah you know you've done well [Music] Richard Dunn was recognized by the  police and the public after he retired [Music] as a result

of this into the knife  incident I was given accommodation and I was given a public Choice Award by voted by  members of the public of North Yorkshire [Music] there was also another nomination in store for  rich [Music] I was then nominated by Northfield police federations to go down to London to  receive another National Police bravery award we're very very proud of him and I particularly  am very proud of him I think that he has done remarkably well um not only as a police officer  and doing t

he job that he absolutely loves and was very good at but that he's come out of a job that  he loved through ill health and has managed that um like a hero he's been you  know in my eyes he has been um amazing in the way that he's dealt  with it you've just watched me to start with okay I'm going to teach you  how to get onto your bike safely even though he's left the police Rich continues  to serve his community safely okay my attention now is to move down the road there okay so I'm  gonna do an

other right shoulder check I know work for city of York Council as a road safety  instructor I go into schools and I teach kids Road Safety so it's again going back into the  community which I love to do prior to retiring good girl off a girl then so psych up up the road  I still have contact with North theater please I am a police cadet leader teaching kids age from 14  to 18 teaching them life skills teaching them law working with the community  doing fundraising events are there any questions

what have you learned I've learned how to put  my bike down properly well done betham because sometimes you've seen your friends throwing their  bikes on the floor last more than five minutes do they and if you look after your bike you'll look  after you won't I just love doing this job that I now do um it's very rewarding and Maya what  have you learned about today and I understand that you have to meet at eye contact with the  driver you do because what what would happen if you don't make eye

contact you are they could  knock you off wouldn't they I'll set them out reassure them give them confidence so they can  go out and enjoy cycling as we all should do yes Chloe also to look when there's a junction  coming on before you set off in case the car is coming so it's good exercise it's good for  myself it's a good transition from being in the police force it's about checking if you're  right shoulder you have to expect the unexpected okay teaching children gives you that  rewarding fe

eling I enjoy going home after I've taught them knowing that  I've you know made a difference foreign police officers equipped with  body-worn cameras will switch them on if they sense they're in a  dangerous situation well Knife Down in this clip officers have been called to reports  of a Man attacking cars with a baseball bat as they approach the house the suspect  lunges at the officer with a samurai sword the officer manages to fire his taser at  the ninthman before collapsing on the ground

no we need to get him in the car I  need to grab one into hospital now there's no time to waste the officer is losing  blood and needs urgent medical attention his quick thinking colleague manages to improvise  a tourniquet and takes him to hospital where doctors find that the sword is narrowly missed a  major artery both of the officers involved were given a police bravery award the offender  who was suffering from mental ill health was sentenced in court to a hospital  order without time limit

foreign months ago paramedic Andrea Gibbs was  viciously attacked by a patient in a split second she jumped up from the bed and she  punched me straight in the chest the attack had a devastating effect on Andrea I couldn't sleep I  couldn't eat properly I was nervous anxious wreck Andrea was off sick for six months but eventually  decided that she might be ready to get back in an ambulance the first shift I was a nervous  wreck didn't sleep the night before [Music] it was a disaster I just had

a bit  of a meltdown really you know it was really bad anxiety attack and I could concentrate  and I just knew that I couldn't carry on I wasn't ready to go back on the road I was a nervous  wreck so I went off sick again luckily for Andrea area manager Laura came to her rescue I  think for Andrea very early on I saw something that was terribly wrong and that I suppose from  my own experience in the past I was able to see that she was particularly hurt she was losing  her confidence she was gett

ing introverted she wasn't coping at all well so therefore at  that point I felt that there was we had to step in and we had to support her a little  bit more she needed that little bit extra together a plan that we would drop a plan whereby  we would give her some a task a project and a tough task and a tough project that her mind  was fully occupied while she was at work [Music] Andrea became the leader on a project developing  and improving infection control on ambulances therapy for me to ge

t my cells back into the  working environment I agreed to give it a go see how I felt and it was basically one of  the best things I did to try and get myself and ease myself back into work I was in charge  of the whole project in the Western Division it gave me a purpose again slowly step by step Andrea is preparing  herself to get back on the road as a paramedic and with this aim in mind she's keeping her  skills up to date for when the time comes [Music] when you want to look again and what 

they're trying to do will you tell me what are you trying to do he's trying  to see the vocal cause I've been doing it a long time but you know obviously you do  get rusty about the the tiny little things when something like this happens to somebody  in the emergency service the biggest thing that gets a knock is the confidence so  practicing these procedures definitely gets you back into how you're going to actually  provide those skills out on the on the road Andrea's manager Laura is  pleased

with her progress well so you've done your training and  we know you're a very good paramedic you know you're a good paramedic and you're  ready to go and if there's any problems and we'll sort of it as wiggle but you've done  everything you need to do to get this far and I'm hopeful I'm hopefully I know we'll get back  because what is the alternative for someone like Andrea we could lose a valued member of  staff she could have to walk away from a job that she's fantastic at and the fact that

her  colleagues love her and think she's brilliant dad but she could lose all that because of  the actions of one person on one night later perseverance the love of her family and support  from peers prepare Andrea for life back on the road she had to be a strong person to get here and  I just feel really proud she was able to do that [Music] thank you [Music] Great Yarmouth is one of norfolk's  best-known Seaside resorts but although it's a favorite holiday  destination for many it also has a d

arker side this plainclothed policeman whose identity  is protected due to the sensitive nature of his work is based with Norfolk constabulary he's  with the neighborhood policing team which tackles drug crime in the town it's going out without  uniform on um it's patrolling areas that have the most likelihood of dog dealing taking place  um identifying people who we believe might be waiting to deal drugs or people waiting  to receive drugs and then when the time is right stopping that person wh

o we think  is going to deal searching them finding the drugs arresting them and then going through  the court processes getting them prosecuted Britain is plagued by county lines  drug dealing this refers to criminal gangs from big cities using children  teenagers and vulnerable adults to traffic drugs to towns and rural areas  and Great Yarmouth is no exception it was September 2017 we were out on patrol in an unmarked vehicle when we spotted a  vehicle linked to county lines daily and the dri

ver of the vehicle we're identified as  also been involved or linked to County Line's team this is the same route that the police took on  that day as they tried to track down the suspects so the car's in front we're following it here  and my colleagues asking for further resources to help with the stop whilst that's been requested  the car pulls left where that silver car is now going so we followed the car behind as it drove up  this road it pulled over to the left and stopped and waiting to g

et in was to juveniles  one with links to dealing drugs for him another was a female with links to  child sexual exploitation at the time [Music] the car pulls up right on this corner and  the children get in I swing the vehicle around and we go around the car and in front and I wedge  myself in like that at an angle I jumped out put my hands up and said police at that point the  driver of the vehicle has put the car into reverse now I ran around to the driver's side of the door  gone to open th

e door and said police again and at that point he's put his foot down on the  pedal and the cars started to go backwards the incident was captured on a nearby CCTV  camera so because of where I was standing in the door open I was stuck behind the open door as  the car started to reverse at quite high speeds um I tried to get my feet moving as quick as the  car will go but couldn't and eventually I lose my foot in and end up flying through the air at  that point I thought this is it as in I'm in

trouble here um I've then hit the floor and hit  my head and the car is carried on reversing I've ended up laying with the tire on my right side  of the back of the car so my legs are underneath the car with my head looking out with the tires  here my coat is underneath the tire so I can't move my body armor is underneath the tire so  I can't move and I'm looking towards the car the sergeant who was with him runs  towards the car to try to stop the driver luckily for me the car went forwards  ra

ther than backwards and drove off then I've kind of got some a fee stumbled out into  the middle of the rows rubbed my head and then not collapsed but realized that I made quite hard and  sat down on the floor colleagues have arrived and started to look after me and look for the person  who's driving the vehicle because it was so quick because I tried to get away and couldn't by  that point they'd already gone forwards to leave because the sergeant who was in the car with  me had already gone ov

er to grab hold of him out of the car and he's drove off before my sergeant  could get a hold of him so I think it happened so quickly I didn't have time to process it at the  time it was just I can't get away and then he's gone after getting the old clear from the hospital  the officer realizes he's had a narrow Escape I had a cut to my head where I hit the concrete  I had marks time marks on my stomach as well I had muscle strains in my neck here and  was very sore to move neck and shoulders e

xcept for being a bit battered and bruised  I was quite lucky to suffer quite low level injury for effectively what could have been  potentially life-ending or life altering injuries but it wasn't the injuries that played on the  officer's mind as much as the decisions that he had made in that moment people were asking me in  the following weeks you know are you okay how are you feeling and I was more embarrassed by the fact  that actually I didn't have to do that you know there were other optio

ns available to me I could  have waited a bit longer if we'd have waited then this would have been the rose it would have been  better to stop them on and wait for my colleagues because there would have been no way for the  car to go we could have come down both ends and come to a safer conclusion and that would have  been a better call to make but you learn from your experiences don't you um it's definitely  something I won't be doing again [Music] thank you they didn't find him that day he wen

t  and parked the car somewhere else and ran off I think a week maybe two weeks later  a couple of my colleagues were sitting on a bench having lunch and they spotted  him going to boots in the middle of town so they call for backup and approached him  and he started fighting with them as well and at the time was arrested for an assault  on one of the officers there as well [Music] the offender pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm  he was sentenced to 10 months in prison [Music] I think the emba

rrassment has gone away  it's probably one of the reasons why I want to keep catching bad guys if that  makes sense because that one went you know I don't like it when someone gets away  um consequently I want to make sure other people are afforded that opportunity  if they are committing a crime [Music] the dangers of police work aren't  always associated with crime in this clip police have been called to reports  of a woman who's fallen off a Canal Bridge seeing that the woman is struggling to

stay  afloat the officer wastes no time taking off his jacket and plunging into the freezing cold  water he quickly swims over to the woman and pulls her safely to the Towpath where his  colleague helps them both out of the water a senior officer credited the PC with saving  the woman's life and at no small risk to his own while the woman was taken to be checked out the  heroic officer continued his shift for the day ha foreign tough months in recovery after a vicious attack  Andrea is finally

back on the road I started off by doing like third man through three of us in an  ambulance just so I observe clear left very good then after that then it was just myself and Glenn  it's including yeah yeah I don't have her back and getting to know each other again get the you  know how she works how I work so it's been nice we have a laugh another laugh boy you think  it's not going to stop we are good friends we just bounce off each other don't we that's it the  work of the joy complete Joy yo

u know it doesn't feel the work some days does stuff you look  work it looks like rapid responses on its way he's definitely helped me big time if you can't  move on real life with sort of like Glenn beside you then I don't know you know there's not much  to say really but as I say like it's been massive massive help to my confidence and you know and  bringing my personality back out again [Music] Andrea's future is looking bright her  Newfound confidence has allowed her to take steps towards mo

ving up the career  ladder I also applied to become a station officer and I was successful so I'm just  waiting for a position to become available [Music] to get the promotion so happy you know she  deserves it I thought she'd been through for years of service to go to London and Northern  Ireland so let's move on but I'll see her a lot I'll still see you determination perseverance  and help from her family and workmates have helped Andrea to turn a huge Corner this  is Trevor Campbell he helped

me through my recovery period with his colleague Cecil King  I nicknamed you the chuckle Brothers didn't I this is uh Martin Ferguson he's one of the  cleaning operatives that I managed since March didn't I yeah we've been together from the  beginning and trained them up and we're now one of the best performing divisions in the Northern  Ireland outlets right this is Desi Bell he's one of one of my cleaning operatives as well from out  the Galvin this is John he's another one oh my God this is

our John he's another one of our cleaning  boys it just proves that you know with support from your colleagues um time it is a great healer  you know so I'm proud to say I'm still wearing the uniform and I've still got my epaulettes on so  I have my come on Leaps and Bounds it's been a long long journey but overall we are so pleased  I just feel really Pride that Andrea has been able to do this I mean I know she's had help from  her colleagues and everything else but she had to be a strong perso

n to get here and I just feel  really proud she was able to do that big hugs [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music]