Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2010/January 2011 | Page 50

interview

Island Life - December 2010

Photo: Norman Mellors winning the Lincolnshire road race championships in 1977

Hampshire.”
In 1982 he gained direct entry as a
constable, and decided to work as hard

one of the youngest serving officers in

while before moving to Portsmouth

Hampshire to be promoted to sergeant,

Central police station as an Inspector.

and was soon posted to Winchester.

“It was good to get back to

as he could and seek promotion when

“It was very different to Bitterne,”

operational policing and I really enjoyed

opportunities arose. He continued: “I

he smiled. “In my first week we had a

my time there. In a way it took me back

was sent to Ashford Police training

48-hour period when not a single crime

to my roots in Grimsby, with people

school in Kent for a residential course,

was reported. So there was a different

being very down to earth. If you treated

and my first posting as a probationary

skill to learn – how to be proactive

them fairly they were fair with you,” he

officer was Bitterne in Southampton.

rather than reactive. Poaching was an

said.

Bitterne was the busiest policing area

issue there, and you didn’t get much

in the county. On average we were

of that in Bitterne, so it was a different

particularly on Friday and Saturday

suffering 10 burglaries per day – a real

type of challenge.”

nights around the nightclubs at

hot spot! Compare that to the present

After two years at Winchester, he

“However, there were still challenges,

Southsea. When the clubs closed there

situation on the Island where we

applied for a training sergeant’s job,

were thousands of people milling

typically average five burglaries a week.

and went to the force training school

around, with no night buses and very

at Bishops Waltham and then to Netley.

few taxis. You had up to 25,000

force was providing support to

“I spent five years doing every course

people spilling out of the clubs looking

Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire during

as a police trainer. That was in 1990,

for transport, so that was quite a

the miners’ strike. We were really

and even then we were very serious

challenge being in charge as the

short-staffed and on one occasion there

about the professional development

duty inspector. It was also a fantastic

were just two of us looking after an

of officers, and it was the forerunner

learning experience.

area with a 100,000 population. Five

of all advanced training that we now

years at Bitterne were worth 10 to 15 in

encourage.”

“Around that time the Hampshire

a less busy environment.”

The next step up the ladder, just 10

“I was at Portsmouth the first time the
initial six CCTV cameras were switched
on, and we calculated that in the first

years into his police career, saw him

week they were operating there were

Mr. Mellors applied for promotion to

pass the Inspector’s promotion board.

48 extra arrests. There have been

sergeant and passed first time. He was

He stayed in the training school for a

significant advances since those days to

After those five years as a constable

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