I was the Police Station Duty Solicitor for a busy East London scheme last night. My rota shift started at 11.00 pm and ran through to 7.00 am. I was expecting a flurry of phone calls and a number of interviews. Unfortunately I only received a few phone calls for fairly minor matters that did not require an attendance at the Police Station. I did phone the Duty Solicitor Call Centre to check that I was supposed to be on call, and they confirmed that I was on duty.
It seems that as Christmas is coming and the criminal element of society has decided to take a break. Christmas is generally a quiet period for crime apart from the obvious matters such as burglaries to clear out houses full of presents, or the domestic violence that ensues after a large doses of alcohol and food. Christmas for people arrested just before Christmas often involves a flurry of activity to get them out of prison either on bail or on licence so that they can be at home over Christmas.
The Christmas period is often quiet. There are always people arrested on festive days, and some are even detained over Christmas until the first available Court sits to consider bail. I spent Christmas Eve last year at the Police Station on a murder case, I was extremely happy when the Police decided not to do a pointless video identification parade that would have run up to about midnight. I managed to get home about 9 pm and start Christmas.
I was due to be the Police Station Duty Solicitor for a North London scheme between 11.00 pm on Christmas Eve and 7.00 am on Christmas Day this year. Thankfully I found a generous and very kind solicitor who agreed to swap my slot.
I am hoping that Christmas is a quiet period for me, I have probably jinxed myself now.
4 comments:
I have the pleasure of working this Christmas. Should your comment, 'flurry of activity to get them out of prison either on bail or on licence' not be continued with 'to commit more crime'?
I think Christmas may be a busy period for both of us...
In my experience Christmas is a generally quiet period as there are less arrests made during the festive period. I may be wrong on this point but I do notice that my mobile phone rings less over Christmas than any other time of year.
I think you may have jinxed both of us! See you in the custody suite!
I was on duty on xmas day and not a single call did I receive... well apart from friends saying happy xmas as I enjoyed my dinner (sober for the first time ever!)
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