Coppering the Cannon
Author: James Cannon.
ISBN: 1420810340
Publishers: Authorhouse
Price £12.99 or from website for £10
Publication Date: 2004
What makes someone a good policeman? Is it all rushing around with blue lights flashing? What is it like to face violent and drunken people on a Saturday night? How would you cope with the carnage of a fatal accident, or interviewing a suspect for a robbery? How much have police methods changed over the last 30 years? With a light touch this book gives an anecdotal insight into all this and more. We meet murder, violence, terrorism, rape, industrial disputes, robbery and public order, and everything else you can think of. Mixing humour and pathos, life and death, success and failure we are taken on a fascinating journey through the eyes of a young policeman in the 1970’s.
Having served in the City of London Police, retiring in 1990 I
still have a feeling of pride in the achievement. Which brings me to my first point. Why write about your time in the Police and make up a false name for the constabulary in which you were a member? He tells us he 'served in the Larkshire Constabulary for some 18 years beginning in the early 1970's'. Where Pray is Larkshire? This is where I realised for the first time that this is not the normal autobiography because it is soon apparent that the author is not to reveal to
us his name, his force, where he trained, or the force he served in, which
leads me to guess it was Sussex or Hampshire, but he may have laid a false
trail.
He correctly says there
were ‘no computers, mobile phones, or any of the modern paraphernalia of
today's Police. A good number of police
officers were recruited from the armed forces and had seen war service, old
style coppers, with a mind-set to match’. (I myself joined after 12 years
in the Royal Navy, I am not sure if they had set my mind, we ex boy seamen
regard it as the best thing that happened to us.)
He recalls
that "many of them still wore the old detachable collars with studs, which I
just about remembered were used by my grandfather and father when I was a small
boy." I actually wore those
detachable collars for a number of years, in the very early 70’s, the truth is
they were good because you didn’t necessarily change the shirt every day, at
least if you were a single man you didn’t.
Spray starch was good too.
Having joined
in 1968 we would have experienced the same policing over the same years
although again I am confused because having said he served for 18 years, he
would have left without a pension unless he went with a sickness pension, the
very last page says about leaving the service, "I was 28 years old and had
six years and two month's service under my belt. I had thoroughly enjoyed my
time, seen a lot and done a lot, and I just hoped that I had learned enough. I
left Brightstone and prepared to go on to Downchester with apprehension and
excitement about all that might lay ahead, but that's another story!" Presumably this is ‘The Story Line’ and not his
story?
It was as James says in the introduction, "Police on the beat
were still the norm" - in fact it still was when I left the City of London
in 1990 and the Criminal Justice System still uses; as James says a law of
1361. He may be interested to know that
the statute to which he refers is still in use and remains very good law - it
is of course the Justice of the Peace Act 1361 by which we still bind people
over to 'Keep the Peace', the Queen’s Peace is of course 'the normal state of
society'. Under Common Law a charge
could be, 'Contrary to Common Law,
Against the Peace of Our Sovereign Lady The Queen, Her Crown and Her
Dignity'. Say that and watch the
prisoner’s face! As with James’ Force,
mine too had Officers’ Dining Rooms, or the Officers’ Mess. However I am surprised to find myself as an
Inspector referred to as part of the Officer Elite which, 'begins with Inspector and continues up
to Chief Constable'. I did my
initial training at Eynsham Hall near Oxford and I would like to know the
following?
"I
have enjoyed this book as someone who experienced many (not all) the situations
of which he writes. He writes of
colleagues, of the promotion game, drunks, gypsies, drunken Detective
Inspectors and drunk and violent prisoners.
I’m not sure which are the worst.
Much
of what he tells us is true and he covers many problems that still need to be
aired and never are. Recently somebody
said to me, referring to a particular book “as for its content, it conjures up
a picture of the author in a room with a large elephant, the presence of which,
because of political correctness they feel unable to mention. That elephant is of course,!!!!!!!!”
The
exclamation marks could represent many of the issues that James confronts in
the book, but is there anybody out there listening any more? I do not know where James lives; he does not
want us to know. However, recently when
I bowled in Torquay I was talking to a man who moved there in the 50s or 60s,
he said, referring to the time he moved to Devon "the wife and I call those
the 'gentle years', now we cannot go out at night for yobs".
What
are the Government doing, giving even longer licensing hours – they aren’t
listening are they James? I hope a lot
of people read this book. My belief is
that it should be re-written as an autobiography in hardback and published with
a nice dust jacket and photographs. In
recent years the Memoir Club has published similar books by retired and/or
Ex-Police Officers.
About
the Author
James Cannon (not his real name) lives quietly on
the south coast with his wife. He has
taken early retirement because of health problems. Retirement has given him the time to write, an ambition for
several years. James has two grown up
children and is about to become a grandfather for the first time. When he left the police he became a Church
of England Vicar until retirement. He
intends to write another book about the change from policeman to vicar. James enjoys walking by the sea, reading,
writing and time with the family. He
takes a keen interest in current affairs, the Church and Police issues. He is a sports fan and supports Brighton and
Hove Albion.
Rob Jerrard
Preview (From the Book)
Around half past
midnight, we knocked on the door. It
would be an understatement to say that the lady of the house wasn’t pleased to
see us and we were treated to a volley of abuse. We pushed past her, woke Riley, and told him we were arresting
him, all the while putting up with insults and abuse from the dear lady. Riley
said, ‘wild horses couldn’t drag me out of here, yet alone you two
bastards.’ He turned away and went back
to sleep! We tried talking to him but he ignored us.
I took hold of his
head and shoulders and Tim got his feet, we lifted him up and made towards the
door. Riley turned his head and sunk his teeth into my thigh. He bit down hard and painfully and would not
let go. I dropped him, but he refused
to let go and bit down harder. I
punched him in the head to persuade him to let go. Still shouting and swearing,
the woman came up behind me, grabbed the ends of my tie, pulled them either
side of my neck and set about strangling me.
I managed to throw her across the room, but she didn’t let go. Being a
very heavy woman I was pulled off my feet, she landed on the sofa and I landed
on top of her!
Just at that moment
the door burst open and the rest of the family flew in. Their dog immediately
attacked me, Tim struggled with Riley, and the woman’s husband and daughters
attacked me, incensed, not only that we had invaded their house in the early
hours, but because I had made sexual advances to their mum, evidenced by my
laying on her on the sofa!
I forced the woman’s
hands off my tie, trying to ignore the dog biting my ankles and the husband and
daughters pummelling my back and head, and I managed to stagger to my
feet. I was just in time for one of the
daughters to swing a pram carriage at me, which hit me on the side of the
head. There is a time to advance and a
time to retreat and we knew when we were beaten, Tim and I retired in disorder,
pursued by the dog and another volley of abuse and shouts of triumph!
Title: dunno
An Adult Novel For Teenagers, A Teenage Novel For Adults.
Author: Peter Inson
ISBN: 0954761405
Publishers: Charles
Kimpton Publishers, 15 Priory Crescent, Wembley, Middlesex. HAO 2QQ Tel: 0208904-7074.
Price £6
Publication Date: September 2004
Jon is 15 and life is hard. Money is tight and Jon is trapped in a hopeless, miserable existence. Then by chance, he meets someone who helps him to see things differently. Despite girls, bullies, teachers, policemen, his mother and her violent boyfriend, Jon wants to survive. Once he finds Jimmy and Paul, he begins to take control of his life. He becomes an apprentice adult.
Reviews to date
A more credible account
than most of how things are in a stratum of Britain it's more comfortable to
ignore. You have to admire Inson's willingness to get into this hostile world
full-on. The core of the book is an ambitious and compassionate fictional case
study of Jon's life at the bottom of the stack on a featureless city estate.
Geoff Fox, Books for Keeps, Nov 04.
Peter Inson has
constructed and modelled his own teenager: a boy who finds school and his
mother's new boyfriend utterly repulsive, and steals to pay back a never-ending
loan to enterprising young shark Dean and his older brother. Inson's insight into the mind of this
character is greatly convincing and has been written in a style as far from
patronising as possible, which makes this portrait of a dysfunctional teenager
a worthwhile read. Independent on
Sunday, Nov 28th 04.
Other responses.
The knowledge of, and
insight into, the lives of problematic adolescents makes this a very
thought-provoking book. Lesley Toll in The Daily Mail.
Vivid stuff! Libby
Purves,
You obviously have
talent: there is some really good writing.
SM. Literary Agent. Some
excellent themes and an effective way of examining them. JR.
Literary agent. An original and
ingenious idea. SG Literary agent. You
write very fluently and articulately.
JT. Literary agent. Very readable and realistic. LJ.
Literary agent. Very well written. JJ Literary agent.
Hard to put down! I just wanted to give this tear-away
teenager a motherly hug. Karen,
Brittany.
You know what a teenager
feels like and understand his point of view!
Nick, All Saints' School. A very
sympathetic portrait of a lost soul.
Peter Palliser, film and tv script writer.
A moving insight into the
hostile, unloving world inhabited by too many young people. I found the story quite compelling. Angela Forsyth, educational consultant.
We love your book. London Institute of Education Bookshop.
We are convinced that it
will find its place on the young adult fiction shelves. Barbara Humm, OLF S.A. [Wholesalers for
English language books in Switzerland.]
The start is very
dramatic - it got me straight into it.
It is real life. I'd recommend it. You might know people in the same
position as Jon and this book could help them understand their problems.
Students at Ripley St. Thomas School. Broadcast on BBC Radio Lancashire.
I have read and enjoyed
"dunno" and hope to help it to be read more widely by passing it on to our
two local senior schools. It deserves a
wide readership. Sue Waddell. Silver Dell Bookshop, Kirkham, Lancs.
Well crafted; the
language and speech patterns are realistic. For the adolescent market I think
it would go well. Graham Caley, English
teacher.
Head Librarian Dot Ledger
has been reading it and gives it a thumbs up, adding that it moves along
nicely. She'll be recommending it to
readers in future. The response has been enthusiastic. Another student in the
group has been up to my room to ask for a copy to read on the strength of
grapevine comment. John Radford, Head
of English. All Saints; School, Dagenham
The book took me from not
caring what happened to a worthless loser to a better understanding of how
difficult it is for some to escape from a life of poverty and
hopelessness. Don Maynard.
Have a go at radio or tv,
anything so that your knowledge doesn't get lost. JD. Reader.
I'm glad dunno seems to
be going so well. I finished it over the summer and was truly impressed. I
enjoyed the story-line and the characters. I passed it on to Dave, who also
thought it was great. I don't think he
could quite believe it was a first novel of someone he knew! Jenny Roe. Institut
du Rosey, Switzerland.
Brilliant, recommended by my English teacher. Timothy, Barry Comprehensive School, S. Wales.