The Enforcer by Graeme Pearson

Author:Graeme Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845025762
Publisher: Black & White Publishing
Published: 2012-11-26T05:00:00+00:00

20

Divine Intervention and the Height of Criminal Activity

It’s not every day that a police officer tackles big-time crimes and for much of my service I dealt with bread and butter incidents on the streets of Glasgow. It is always important to remember that, though they might have been routine cases to a police officer, crime can have a life-changing impact on the victims.

Back in these old days a criminal investigation department was run essentially by a clerk. Usually he, and in those days it was always a he, was a senior constable who managed the incoming crime reports from uniform officers and incoming telephone calls. He then used a control sheet which was designed to share out the work fairly between the detectives. The clerk was someone you needed to keep on the right side of. If you upset the CID clerk then you could suddenly find yourself inundated with a series of difficult reports or the serial problematic complainers. Equally, if he knew you were working hard, he could ensure you received the straightforward crime reports, giving you the chance to clear your feet.

Most days the huge volume of reports meant there were too many to investigate them all properly. Thankfully many of the reports only required a little time to clear up. Most of the time they had been reported ‘for insurance purposes only’ or the complainer would not co-operate with the police. So, on many occasions I would find myself sent to interview a patient in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, usually a man who had been stabbed, shot or battered the night before, to be told that I wasn’t welcome nor would he give me any statement. I would always insist the patient sign my notebook. Thereafter I would investigate the matter no further although the report would still be logged in our system for future reference.

One Friday in October 1978, I was given my usual varied allocation of reports by old Neil, the CID clerk, including the theft of a large sum of cash from a pawnbroker’s shop in Bath Street. The Glasgow Pawnbroking Company was on the first floor on the corner with Buchanan Street, and with my colleague Bob Lauder I made my way to investigate this mysterious theft. We arrived to find the shop owner had three trusted staff who had worked with him for a number of years. The four staff dispensed loans from behind a counter and stored the pawned goods out of the public’s view.

The public had no access to the rear shop area as there was a sealed door and screens adjacent to the serving counter to prevent any robberies. The sole public access was the pawn booth, a small cupboard-sized room very like a confessional box. People pledging items would enter the room, close a door behind them and wait for the assistant to open a window to serve them. If a deal had been agreed the customer was given a pawn ticket explaining the terms but at no time did they have access to the pawnshop’s back shop.

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