Inside The Force 24/7: New Series
Inside The Force 24/7 starts Monday 26 February at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5.
This series goes behind the station doors of Middlesbrough Police station, the biggest and busiest in Cleveland, from where everything is run. It’s home to over 500 police officers who look after a town with the highest crime rates in the country. From the custody suites and the over-stretched response officers to the detectives and dispatchers in Force Control, this series takes an unflinching look at the realities of modern-day policing.
The series explores the different layers of the force as in-the-moment decisions are made and the police react to everything from drive-by shootings and attempted murders to drug dealing and mass street brawls.
In the first episode, officers from the Homicide team are investigating the shocking stabbing of a 15-year-old girl. A mother calls 999 stating that her daughter has been stabbed while walking home from school and is bleeding heavily. Police and other emergency services are called to a local school where the girl is treated by paramedics. She is taken to hospital where she spends the night in ICU recovering. Hours later a man is arrested, and it turns out that he has been harassing and threatening the girl on social media.
Detective Sergeant Denise Knox and Detective Constable Kellam Chaytor work against the clock to charge the 23-year-old man with the attempted murder of the 15-year-old girl he met online. Detectives must trawl through all the evidence, including threatening text messages and voice recordings that the suspect had sent the victim and her family. The team works tirelessly to tie up loose ends to make a case for attempted murder before going to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision.
A month after the stabbing, we return to the Homicide team to see how they are getting on with the investigation. DC Chaytor meets with the mother to update her about the trial as it’s not far off. We hear how the victim has been affected by this incident, and it spurs Chaytor and team do the best job possible for the family.
Down the corridor from the Homicide team, it’s another busy night for the response team as PCs John Walker and Dylan Keane are called out to deal with a distressed female in Middlesbrough who has called 999 saying that her ex-partner has assaulted her. The officers respond and find the male walking away from the property. Dylan stays with the man while John speaks to the victim to find out what’s happened. Sergeants Chris Phelan and Steven Bolsover arrive as back up. John reports back that the victim claims the suspect put his hands around her neck, so Dylan arrests the male on suspicion of intentional strangulation, and he is taken to custody.