Peter James: Love You Dead

Gold Group— A senior group of police, local community members, politicians and other stakeholders drawn together to manage the impact of a critical incident.

Golf 99— The call sign for the divisional duty inspector who is expected to take ground command of critical incidents, working usually for Ops-1 or the CIM.

GP —General Practitioner, a medical doctor.

HOLMES— Home Office Large Major Enquiry System. The national computer database used on all murder enquiries. It provides a repository of all messages, actions, decisions and statements, allowing the analysis of intelligence and the tracking and auditing of the whole enquiry. Can enable enquiries to be linked across force areas when necessary.

i360— British Airways i360 will be the world’s first vertical cable car, designed by the architects of the London Eye. It is under construction in Brighton, and due to be completed in 2016.

Intel Cell— Intelligence cell. A dedicated team of officers and staff who provide the intelligence research and analysis for a major crime or incident.

Interpol— International law enforcement agency. It has 190 member states and assists in cross-border investigations, especially involving terrorism, cybercrime and organized and emerging crime.

The Keep— The central records office for Brighton and Hove City and East Sussex County Councils.

LAMBS— Locals Against Mayfield Building Sprawl. A local action group in Sussex.

Letter of Request— The formal request sent by one country’s prosecution service to another asking for permission for the police to carry out enquiries and investigations within the other’s territory.

LST— Local Support Team. The standing unit of officers who provide public order, search and low-level surveillance tactics on a division.

MIR-1— Major Incident Room 1. One of the large rooms in the Major Incident Suite where most of the investigation team work and brief.

Misper— Short for ‘missing person’.

MO— Modus Operandi (method of operation). The manner by which the offender has committed the offence. Often this can reveal unique features which allow crimes to be linked or suspects to be identified.

NCA— The National Crime Agency.

NPAS 15— The call sign for the helicopter that provides air support to Sussex Police.

Ops-1— The call sign of the Force Control Duty Inspector, who has oversight and command of all critical incidents in the initial stages.

PCSO— Police Community Support Officer. These are uniformed neighbourhood officers who work in communities but do not have police powers such as arrest, search, use of force, etc.

PO Box— Post Office Box. An alternative address at which to receive mail in the UK. PO Box addresses can be used to keep your address private and post can be delivered to a forwarding address or collected.

POLSA— Police Search Advisor. A trained and accredited officer who provides advice on where to search for something or someone, and how in any given circumstance. Will often supervise the search teams used in such searches.

RPU— Roads Policing Unit. The new name for the Traffic Division.

RTC —Road Traffic Collision (commonly known as an ‘accident’ by the public, but this term is not used as it implies no one is at fault when usually someone is).

RV Point— Rendezvous Point. The designated location where emergency services meet prior to deploying to the scene of a crime or major incident. Used when it would be too dangerous or unwieldy for everyone to arrive at the scene at the same time in an uncoordinated way.

SIO— Senior Investigating Officer. Usually a Detective Chief Inspector who is in overall charge of the investigation of a major crime such as murder, kidnap or rape.

SOCO— see CSI.

SSU— Specialist Search Unit. The team who provide expert search skills such as searching underwater or in confined places at height, as well as locations where a high degree of search expertise is required, such as large or complex crime scenes.

TFU— Tactical Firearms Unit. The small, permanently armed department of the police that responds to firearms incidents. They often deploy in ARVs (see above), and also have other specialist capabilities.

UC— Undercover Officer.

ABC— Assume Nothing, Believe No one, Check Everything. The Senior Investigating Officer’s mantra for maintaining an open and enquiring mindset in investigations.

Bosher— the heavy metal handheld ram used to force open doors, allowing officers to enter a locked premises or room swiftly and with the advantage of surprise.

Bundle— a fight, or a file of documents prepared and presented at court or to CPS for advice.

Copper’s Nose— police officer’s instinct. The sixth sense which often guides an officer’s suspicions.

Golden Hour— the first hour after a crime has been committed or reported when the best chances of seizing evidence and/or identifying witnesses exist.

PC Rain— so called as a good downpour has a greater chance of clearing people, including drunks and criminals, off the street than any number of police officers can!

Q Word— short for ‘quiet’. Emergency services personnel never say the word ‘quiet’, as it invariably is a bad omen causing all chaos to reign!

Shit magnet— slang for a police officer who seems to attract trouble and around whom disaster invariably reigns.

Shout— slang for an emergency (999) call. All emergency services use this term.

Police ranks are consistent across all disciplines and the addition of prefixes such as ‘detective’ (e.g. detective constable) does not affect seniority relative to others of the same rank (e.g. police constable).