Hanley PC now tutoring new recruits following BBC2 documentary

A northern response PC – who featured in recent BBC2 documentary, Cops Like Us– has revealed how she’s now tutoring new recruits on a daily basis.

Lauren “Loz” Amison has taken on the additional role as part of her position within the Hanley based unit – which she has been a part of since June 2018.

This year is her seventh with Staffordshire Police and, having finished filming with the BBC crew a little over four months ago, Lauren’s been giving us an update as to how she’s been getting on – including an insight into how she’s doing in her new position.

“It’s something the Sergeants have been asking me to do for a while but I kept on saying no. However, after filming they asked again and I eventually just thought why not give it a go?

“It was really nice to be offered the chance to share my experiences with the new recruits and I know I wouldn’t have been asked had I not been capable – so it’s a good feeling.

“I’ll admit that at first it was a bit weird to be honest! I’m not a teacher and I like having banter with my colleagues but I’ve had to change from friend mode to tutor mode since taking on this added responsibility.

“I’m still working with my first student and I think it’s going well. She’s a cracking girl and we get on really well – that’s vitally important in a job like ours. I’ve been lucky enough to have a great shift at Hanley and we’re all really close. It’s always nice when new people come in and fit in well!

“Obviously I’m still doing the day to day stuff as well and I still really love my job – that much I don’t think will ever change. I just love the variety of response and I think the documentary portrayed the work we do in a really good, but realistic light. You never know what you’re going to get day to day.

“The public deserve to see what we do and that includes all the non-Gucci stuff, the jobs that may not necessarily grab the headlines but are still part and parcel of the work we undertake.

“I’ve had great feedback from the documentary, both on a force and personal level. It was important to me that my colleagues, close friends and family were all happy with how I portrayed myself – and they were. Although some of them were surprised by the kind of jobs we get called out on so I’ve had to explain why we do what we do to a few of them.

“In terms of the negative feedback – well, I’ve not seen much but you’ll always get people trying to put you down on social media. It’s important in this job to have a thick skin so it’s like water off a duck’s back for me.

“I’ve been shouted and sworn at so many times during my day to day work that you just learn to ignore it – those people that are saying horrible things about the police aren’t worth listening too. However, that’s just the very small minority and I’m glad the public have taken so well to what they’ve seen.

“In terms of the future, my future is here because the people of Stoke are great people. I’ve always lived here and have never moved. I wouldn’t want to protect anywhere else because I love the city and enjoy looking after my own community. I won’t be going anywhere else.”

Missed an episode? You can catch up with the three part series on BBC Iplayer.