The Funny Hat Incident
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*Ahem*
It was a dark and chilly night. The hour struck 11 and rain began to fall.
Fortunately I had been at the Sprout Awards and the theme was 'wear a funny hat', so I was protected from the vicious pitter-patter of the rain. But not, it seems, from the South Wales police. This is my story... [Note: This happened a while ago so the wording of what the policeman said probably isn't 100%]
I attended the Sprout Awards because a poem I wrote had been nominated. Although it didn't win I still had a great night: free food, music and comedy — plus the chance to meet other Sprouters in the flesh — was awesome. I asked if I could take photos at the event and they said yes, so I was especially excited as my dad let me borrow his DSLR (which is basically a big, professional camera). But my favourite thing of all about the Awards was that everyone had to wear a funny hat: there were top hats and army hats and animal hats and Pokémon hats and everything! I wore an oversized pirate hat with a skull and crossbones on it, because pirates are awesome.
So I had a great night and was feeling pretty amazing. It finished at around 9:30pm and I hung around in town for a while with some friends, then decided to walk home to save money. I was about 5 minutes from my house and dying for a pee when I noticed the police car pull up just ahead of me. I wondered whether something dodgy was happening nearby so I took my earphones out just to be on the safe side, and carried on walking. It's a good thing I did because I heard:
"Excuse me, sir."
I turned around. A policeman had got out of the car and was approaching me. I looked around to see if there was anyone else but it seemed he was definitely talking to me.
"What are you doing?" he asked me.
"I'm walking home," I answered.
He looked me up and down, then gestured to my bag. "Would you open your bag, please."
I suddenly felt like a criminal. Was he expecting my bag to be full of drugs or something? Knowing I had nothing to hide, I opened up my bag and showed him the inside.
He saw my dad's camera and bluntly asked: "Did you steal that?"
I was shocked. I know he was just doing his job, and maybe there'd been a burglary nearby or something, but I still felt quite insulted by the way he said it. I told him it was my dad's camera. He kept asking questions like "Why are you carrying around an expensive camera?" and "What are you doing out so late?", as if he were trying to catch me out and make me admit to stealing it!
I told him about the Sprout Awards and even showed him the photos on it to prove where I'd been all night. He still wasn't satisfied.
"If you're going home, why aren't you on a bus? There's a bus stop just over there you could have got off at instead of walking in the dark."
I told him the truth: I wanted to save money, and I fancied a walk as I was in quite a good mood. A good mood which was rapidly slipping.
The policeman still didn't seem to believe a word I was saying. As if that wasn't annoying enough, my bladder decided to remind me that it really needed emptying. I started to hop in that "I need a pee" dance sort of way. I needed to get home before I burst.
"I need to go."
"You're not going anywhere just yet, mate" replied the policeman. I found it interesting how I'd gone from "sir" to "mate" ever since he'd searched my bag, but frankly I didn't care because I NEEDED TO PEE.
"Why not??" I started to panic at the thought I was going to be arrested or something.
"Because you're acting suspiciously with that thing on your head."
I had completely forgotten about the pirate hat.
"Wait, you stopped me and searched my bag because I was wearing a pirate hat?"
"Well people don't normally wear pirate hats while walking around alone at night. I need to make sure you're not in this area committing a crime."
This logic made my brain hurt. "If I were stealing things, why would I wear a giant attention-seeking hat?!? I would have to be ridiculously stupid."
"Most people are" he said, as I hopped from foot to foot like I had two peg legs. Okay, maybe I did look a little suspicious...
There was an awkward moment of silence, then he asked for my name and address and spoke into his radio. He said that, if the people back at the police station could confirm I really did live in this area, he'd let me go. What passed were the longest three minutes of my life, listening to the person on the radio say "one moment..." and putting us on hold as my bladder contorted in agony. I dread to think what would have happened if I'd been on my way to a friend's house.
Finally the radio crackled back to life and said "Yes, that's correct."
The policeman didn't apologise, but said I was allowed to go. I ran home, which I'm sure didn't help his opinion of me being non-suspicious, and had the best pee of my life.
It was my only real run-in with the police and it lasted less than 15 minutes, but it left a lasting impression on me. On one hand it's a funny story: did he think I was an actual pirate? Did he stop his car because he suspected me of smuggling gold doubloons and contraband parrot feed?
But on the other hand it completely changed my attitude to the police: will the police stop and search me the next time I wear something silly? Does clothing regularly play a role in whether a police officer stops you? While I can laugh about it now, at the time I felt shaken by the experience; I'd never been put on the spot and made to prove my innocence before, and if I'd been on my way to a friend's house when it happened then I have no idea what would have happened: the voice on the radio says "Nope, he doesn't live around here. Bag him!" and I get thrown in the back of a police car while screaming "NOOOOO. I NEED TO PEEEEE"? More to the point: shouldn't a patrolling policeman have better things to do than stop and search young people/pirates without good reason?
Anyway, that's my police experience. Leave a comment or submit an article and share your relationship with the police!
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5 Comments – Postiwch sylw
Dan (Sub-Editor)
Rhoddwyd sylw 30 mis yn ôl - 27th November 2013 - 15:41pm
If you wish to share an experience without sharing your username, just write *anonymous* at the top of your comment and we'll hide your username for you.
Also any comments which contain personal information won't be made public on the site, although we will still pass them along to your local PCC (who may respond to you privately if it's not something you feel comfortable discussing on CLIC).
simdude101 (correspondent)
Rhoddwyd sylw 30 mis yn ôl - 29th November 2013 - 06:59am
Does.the South Wales police have an action plan in case of a zombie apocalypse?
LilyScribbles
Rhoddwyd sylw 29 mis yn ôl - 29th November 2013 - 12:44pm
I remember a "run-in" I had with the police last month. It was a week before Halloween and I was on my way home from a social at university and dressed as a cat (it was a fancy dress event). It wasn't that late, maybe 9pm, but the trains had gone to every hour so I caught a different train and got off one stop before my house (where the train switched directions). I had a taxi home booked but it was 55 minutes late so I was stood outside the train station waiting for it. During this time a policewoman approached me and started talking about how cold it was. I could see she was looking at my outfit suspiciously but after a few minutes she left. Her words were perfectly polite but I felt quite offended that she approached me because i was stood on the corner by the train station and I felt uneasy with how she looked at my costume, even though it was very close to Halloween.
On another note, I'd like to know what the police guidelines are on stop-searching people. What reasons do they need to stop someone or are they allowed to stop anyone they want?
HRHurley
Rhoddwyd sylw 29 mis yn ôl - 1st December 2013 - 20:51pm
Once someone dared me to go and shake hands with two policemen. We were on a youth weekend away, and one of the minibuses had broken down on the way back, so we had to stay in the services for over an hour, whereas normally we'd only stay there for a quarter of an hour. Whilst in the services, we were hanging around in a burger king, and two policemen walked in. They seemed to be in a relatively good mood, so one of my friends dared me to randomly walk up to them and shake their hands in turn. When I refused, they said that I had to do it, and otherwise I would have to tell them who I fancied, even though I DIDN'T FANCY ANYONE. And then it all turned into a big "Truth or Dare" game, and none of us noticed the two policemen had gone until it was too late.
So I was saved from THAT dare.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Dyfed-Powys
Rhoddwyd sylw 29 mis yn ôl - 2nd December 2013 - 14:40pm
@Pasternak
I wouldn’t wish to comment on a specific operational matter, especially something from off my patch – that’s not my role. However, I can say that the Dyfed-Powys Police ethos is to put the public first in every action taken and that officers are being encouraged to improve communication with the public; if there’s a perception of a police officer acting in an unprofessional manner or with a lack of dignity there is a well-defined complaints system that we’re looking at improving.
Interestingly, in an – admittedly unscientific – snap poll last week (Nov 28) my staff asked young visitors to a Carmarthen event:
“Do the police understand the needs of young people?”
Voters’ Answers: Yes 31, No 25.
At another event, for young people across Powys, visitors were asked:
“How can police best communicate with young people?”
Voters’ top answers were: Face-to-face, through school and college and at events.
Such feedback is important to me in my role and will help as I inform the Chief Constable of the public’s thoughts and wishes.