the times | Thursday August 6 2020 2GM 3
News
A police recruitment
advert featuring car
chases and explosions
has been ridiculed,
writes Fiona Hamilton
Explosions detonate, tyres screech and
tough-guy cops lock and load in foot-
age of armed raids and high-speed
action reminiscent of a Hollywood
action movie.
Guernsey police claim that the
scenes represent a typical week.
The sleepy holiday island, best
known for plump tomatoes and tran-
quil beaches, is depicted as a hotbed of
crime and high-octane excitement in a
one-minute video clip for the force’s lat-
est recruitment campaign.
Officers spark Tasers, go on raids
armed with Heckler and Koch carbines
and set off explosives in a “usual week”,
an apparent attempt to entice recruits
to join the thin blue line.
Residents are unimpressed. Last year
there were no murders, only one rob-
bery and fewer than 2,300 total report-
ed crimes. The video was ridiculed by
some on social media who compared it
to Hot Fuzz, a police spoof movie where
two officers in a village with the lowest
crime rate in Britain smell foul play
when a series of bodies turn up.
One wag commented that the force
must have deleted scenes of police plac-
ing parking tickets on cars at the island’s
reservoir. Another said they were more
likely to be showing tourists to beauty
spots.
In the clip, potential recruits are told
to “redefine your usual” as officers strap
on weapons, detonate explosives on the
beach and embark on a car chase before
throwing down stingers and pulling a
suspect from a car, all to a backing track
of high-energy rock music.
The more likely reality is glimpsed in
the middle of the clip, when a smiling
community officer appears to give di-
rections to a member of the public.
According to the force’s annual
report, police discharged Tasers on two
occasions last year and a firearm was
discharged once in 12 months.
Reported crimes included five offen-
ces of firearms possession, 84 burgla-
ries, 130 drug offences, 45 fraud reports
and 69 cases of shoplifting. There wereThey were getting along like a house on
fire. And so, naturally. Albert Ndreu, 26,
planned to propose by spelling out
“marry me?” in candles.
After spending two weeks meticu-
lously planning the proposal, Mr
Ndreu, who works as a waiter, filled the
living room of the flat he shares with
Valerija Madevic with 100 tealights and
about 60 balloons.
He then left to pick up Ms Madevic to
bring her home from work for the sur-
Employing unusual tactics
6 GCHQ, the intelligence agency, set
up an online treasure hunt involving
a series of brain teasers to try to
attract recruits. Another campaign
broadcast a puzzle on Radio 4
aimed at school-age girls.
6 A British Army poster last year
called for “snowflakes”, “selfie
addicts” and “me me me millennials”
to enlist. The campaign, which some
found insulting, led to the most
applications for five years.
6 Lego holds an annual Brick Factor
event, in which people compete in
building challenges to become the
master model builder, who designs
displays at Legoland Discovery
Centre in the US.
6 Parents on the Hebridean island
of Muck took matters into their own
hands to recruit a head teacher.
Their online campaign, which was
honest about the remoteness of the
island but also its beauty, led to
interest from around the world and
the position was filled.Guernsey’s action-packed careers clip of a “typical” week was compared to the spoof police buddy movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, right
just under 900 reports of violence in-
cluding assaults, but no murders.
Recent reports in the local news-
paper include the revelation that two
flares were set alight in rubbish bins,
and the announcement of a review into
whether cannabis should be decrimi-
nalised.
In a statement the force appeared to
acknowledge that it had left out more
mundane aspects of an officer’s role: “It
is common practice in recruitment vid-
eos to demonstrate elements of an
organisation people are most interest-
ed in, and when the video can only be 75
seconds long a choice has to be made
about what to leave out.”
The force said that its officers dealt
with a wide range of crime through the
year and that no two days were the
same: “There is no telling when one of
our specialist teams will need to be de-
ployed but rest assured, they are ready
24 hours a day to keep our community
safe and secure.
“This short promotional video is a
condensed version of local policing,
highlighting the various options
available to those who join – from
walking the beat, firearms, response
driving and bomb disposal.” Guernseypolice are seeking nine recruits who
will join as frontline shift officers before
specialising.
Ruari Hardy, the head of law enforce-
ment, transferred there from Scotland
Yard and the day-to-day challenges
were “similar if not identical”, ranging
from domestic abuse to drug-related
crime and public order.
Because there were only 150 of them,
officers had to be “highly trained across
a range of specialisms”.
Some islanders questioned whether
recruits would be disappointed, and
whether the campaign would attract
the right calibre of candidate by
“glorifying” the use of Taser and guns.
The force was nonplussed: “As
evidenced by the positive and negative
comments on Facebook and Twitter,
we are not seeking to sanitise debate
and frankly any notion a video can be
produced which only gains positive
comments is fanciful.
“Conversation has been created, the
recruitment campaign highlighted,
and we want to thank everyone for
their interest — our first application
was received hours after the video was
released.”The gun-toting Hot Fuzz... of Guernsey
iolenceiiiin-
ekingninerecruitswhoThe island’s
recorded crimesMurders 0
Robberies 1
Firearm offences 5
Public order 24
Shoplifting 69BAILIWICK LAW ENFORCEMENT; FOCUS/KOBAL/REX/SHUTTERSTOCKLover with burning question destroys flat but gets the girl
prise. When they returned, the proper-
ty was ablaze. Three fire crews rushed
to the scene after Ms Madevic saw
clouds of dark smoke coming from the
door of their flat in Sheffield.
The fire gutted their studio flat, with
a laptop, a speaker and some books
burnt. Mr Ndreu, however, went ahead
with his proposal by getting down on
one knee. Undeterred by the pyrotech-
nics, Ms Madevic said yes.
Mr Ndreu admitted that the proposal
did not go as planned. “It didn’t go ex-
actly as I thought it would but she saidyes, so I think the day took an unex-
pected turn but ended up exactly how I
wanted it to,” he said.
“I was so worried about everything
going wrong I never imagined I could
set the house on fire. But it will always
be an unforgettable day for us and a
story which will be amazing to tell our
children.”
Ms Madevic said that she was “in
total shock” when they arrived back at
the flat. She said: “When I got the flow-
ers, I thought he must have broken
something or destroyed something inthe house. Little did I know he had de-
stroyed our entire living room.
“We walked up the stairs to the flat
and there was smoke everywhere, I told
him to call the firefighters because our
house was on fire.”
The pair are now staying with Mr
Ndreu’s cousin and waiting to hear
from their insurers.
They are not sure when it will be safe
for them to return to their flat but they
said that the most important thing was
that they were together after the “most
beautiful” day of their lives.Arthi Nachiappan
Albert Ndreu lit 100 tealights before
leaving to collect Valerija Madevic