Passing Out Parade

Well today it was the 'Passing Out Parade'. Mr Bill and his colleagues were made to stand still for so long that I did begin to wonder if they were waiting for them to literally pass out. During the long and it has to be said boring speeches Miss Bill and I avoided eye contact with Mr Bill, especially at certain moments in the speeches as I was aware a fit of the giggles would not go down well. However, PC Smirky lived up to his nickname as he observed his younger son almost exploding with the effort of stifling his giggles - his mother telling him to stop laughing or his Dad would get into loads of trouble did not seem to have any effect.

Mr Bill and his colleagues looked very smart.



Finally the speeches were over and the prize for the most improved recruit was awarded. Fortunately the recruits did not all throw their hats in the air at the end of the speeches - those helmets would cause a nasty injury if they landed on you!

There was a meal in the evening where Mr Bill, as the class liaison representative, was required to make a speech. In true Bill-family form Mr Bill took the opportunity to remind everyone of all the humorous incidents that had occurred and had everyone in stitches and/or with red faces!

Mr Bill is more than a little disappointed that he has as yet has not had an opportunity to go in the helicopter. But he is hoping he will be able to get to have a flight sometime.

Well after all the excitement Mr Bill has a week off to ready himself for his eight week stint on shifts, starting with nights in just over a week.

Hurrah!

Yes Mr Bill passed (and so did all the other recruits) - they have all gone out to celebrate....

I Hate Mondays....

Well not generally - just tomorrow as it is the BIG ONE. Yes the final 3-hour, 120 question exam.

All the very best for tomorrow, Mr Bill!

The Real Deal

Today Mr Bill was on a real raid. None of that role model stuff they have had so much of over the last few months.
They were out looking for drugs.
Perhaps not quite as 'tooled up' as the Met on their recent searches of properties.

The Llanffuglen crew had the big red door key,



sniffer dogs and lots of bodies to assist in the searches.

Mr Bill did very well and, although he did not find £6million worth of drugs, he did find drug paraphernalia and small quantities of illegal substances.
He thoroughly enjoyed himself today and is now quite worn out and has gone to bed. (He did leave the house at 4am this morning!)

Entirely by coincidence the police have approached Mrs Bill to see if they can 'borrow' some empty Llanffulgen Council properties for a few hours to use as training for their drugs dogs and handlers. I did mention that they might not need to bring their own drug samples to hide in some of our properties. There is one particular estate where the dogs would probably alert the handlers to the presence of illegal drugs immediately on exiting the dog van.

If It Ain’t Raining, It Ain’t Training…

.....or so says Sergeant Shiny Shoes.
So I guess as the sun was beating down from the clear blue sky it was not training in his mind.

The recruits were on an exercise for the day. They were split into two teams and given the task of finding a misper – that is a missing person for those of you who do not watch TV. They were shown how to section up their area and search it thoroughly. However not everything went according to plan – a passing dog, or a naughty school child on half term holiday, had found the trainer the unfortunate misper had lost and deposited it into thick bramble undergrowth. Mr Bill is more than a little unhappy that his shoe shine has been ruined by intimate contact with dead brambles. He also sustained scratches to his hands.
They eventually found their misper (a dummy) and had to carry it back on a stretcher.
Mr Bill was commended on his foresight on stocking up on food when it was presented to them – those pockets come in pretty handy. The Serg had also thoughtfully provided hot sausage rolls and pasties. One recruit put his under his police helmet.
Mr Bill said it was a good day and took his mind off the forthcoming end exam next week.
He estimates he walked about 10 miles today and his legs are aching. Needless to say we are not out on a romantic evening celebrating Valentines.