\n After receiving a date to participate with the ridealong scheme, I arrived at Barkingside Police Station ready for the day ahead.\n<\/p>\n
\n But nothing could prepare me for what I was about to witness – including a car pursuit,\u00a0being at an arrest scene with armed police and watching a man be held on suspicion of raping a child.\n<\/p>\n
\n I was shadowing officers from\u00a0the East Area Command, an intelligence-led team which\u00a0tackles crime across\u00a0Barking & Dagenham, Havering, and Redbridge.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The shift started at 1pm, and I was met by Sgt Jo Peters who showed me into the office room.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n I was immediately taken aback by how many officers were in the small space, and was told that I had caught them on a good day in terms of their numbers for the shift.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n They\u00a0gathered around a screen for a briefing, catching each other up with previous incidents they responded to that week and aims for the day.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We were soon on our way out, piling into an undercover police car parked in the courtyard of the station.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We hopped in one of the undercover cars (Image: Newsquest) Our first call of the day came in just minutes after we set off, with the radios crackling to life with static chatter.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Sgt Peters kindly helped translate\u00a0the message for me – a car had failed to stop for officers and we were now making our way towards them.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n With a quick press of a button, the sirens and blue flashing lights came on and the car surged forward with surprising speed.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Sgt Peters was behind the wheel, skilfully weaving the car between traffic whilst being guided by her colleague who was in charge of directions.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n She revealed that driving courses for the Met can at times only last a matter of weeks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We made our way towards the A13, reaching speeds of more than 60mph\u00a0on tight streets and roads dotted with speed bumps.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n I have never experienced anything like it and will admit that at times the quick motion made me feel slightly car sick.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Sgt Peters at the wheel\u00a0(Image: Newsquest) To my relief, I was later assured this was normal for everyone’s first few times.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n I quickly snapped out of it when I began to spot colleagues in marked police cars joining us from all directions.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n It was like something out of a movie – with blue flashing lights suddenly pulling into view behind and in front of us.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We made it onto the A13, approaching the Wennington and Rainham junction, with a plan being devised over the radios.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n I watched as the sirens and lights were switched off and the undercover cars containing other East Area Command colleagues began to pull into formation.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Before I knew it, we were behind the suspect vehicle and performing a manoeuvre to safely bring it to a stop.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A man was arrested after an A13 pursuit\u00a0(Image: Newsquest) Before our car had even stopped moving, the seatbelts were off and a man was soon in handcuffs after being arrested on suspicion of blackmail.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n He was also detained for a search after intel mentioned the possibility of threats of a knife.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n After a search was conducted, we left the other officers at the scene and hopped back on the A13.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n It wasn’t long again before the lights came back on and we were bombing it down Ripple Road\u00a0at speeds of around 99 miles per hour in lane three.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Sgt Peters was alerted to reports of a car triggering an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera in Barking on suspicion of being cloned.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n In the background, Eternal Flame by The Bangles played on the radio.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Frustratingly, we got caught up in traffic and had to pull out of responding.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We were one of five East Area Command cars to be out on shift, so colleagues closer to the incident went on their way.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Whilst stuck in the queues\u00a0I learned that the team feels their shifts can be busier and more unpredictable during the school holidays.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We also responded to reports of a large fight in Dagenham (Image: Newsquest) The policing cuts seen by the Met have also had a knock-on impact on the number of East Area staff on patrol, I was told, sometimes seeing only two cars covering the three boroughs.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A machete fight in Dagenham was reported over the radio, with other colleagues sent on their way to handle it whilst we were still battling standstill traffic.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The next call that came through was related to another car that had pinged on ANPR cameras, this time on the Thames View Estate in Barking.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Intel revealed that the Porsche was suspected to have been involved in a road rage incident where a firearm had been reported just days before.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n We made our way towards the estate, lying in wait for the car behind a corner.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Sgt Peters explained that the police helicopter had gone up, and they were waiting to see if it would be declared a firearms incident.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, colleagues in other cars had been pursuing the Porsche for 14\u00a0minutes without going detected.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A man was arrested in Barking on suspicion of possession of a firearm (Image: Newsquest) We finally got the confirmation that it was being dealt with as a firearms incident, so armed officers took control, blocking in the car as we pulled up at the rear.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n I watched from the backseat as the man was removed from his car by officers with guns, before he was searched and arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Up next on the agenda was a search at a property in Bow.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The team was looking to find a man who could be at one of two properties.\n<\/p>\n
\n After a five car convoy to the first property in Bow Road, officers located the property and knocked on the door.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The police presence was noticeable to other residents in the area and it was great to see the way the Met were interacting and reassuring members of the public.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Feeling confident there was no one inside the property, Sgt Peters moved the teams on to the second address where a man was arrested on suspicion of string of offences.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A third man was arrested in Bow and police searched a car (Image: Newsquest) These included human trafficking, attempted child abduction, possession and distribution of indecent images, rape of a child, drugging of a child, common assault and more.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n