Coppers: Season 2, Episode 6

2 - 6:

This episode joins the officers of Nottinghamshire Police's Territorial Support Group (TSG) as they fight crime across the county from their van, which also serves as an office, canteen, home and cell. The TSG officers are specially trained to deal with public order - including football violence, demonstrations and anti-social behaviour - as well as warrants and searches. They can be called on to help by any branch of the force, to tackle anything from a counter-terrorist search to a political demo. Many of the officers feel that society has 'gone soft', with deference to the uniform long gone, and they sometimes offer a robust, old-school face of policing in response. The officers play a cat and mouse game with the tiny hardcore minority of football fans determined to engage in violence with rival supporters. Meanwhile, searches see the police engaged in a psychological battle of wits with criminals who are prepared to do anything to stay one step ahead, from wiring the mains to door knobs, to hiding drugs in dirty nappies. Alongside the darker moments, the TSG officers are a tight-knit team who spend hours stuck in vans waiting for a call to action, eating, farting and working on insults for one other. But when a new female sergeant arrives the officers attempt to be on their best behaviour.