MY police service started in February 1955 as a police cadet at the tender age of 17.

The then York Chief Constable, Cyril T E Carter, required the police cadets under his command to attend and witness a full post-mortem to harden us for what we were about to encounter on the beat.

Needless to say we were somewhat reluctant. However, orders were orders and the experience was traumatic.

However, transferring to the Metropolitan Police in London two years later and pounding the beat gave me the courage and confidence, albeit with some trepidation, to handle situations of the most gruesome kind, without financial inducements or stress counselling.

It was considered part of the job.

The only police officers who were entitled to extra money then were Thames Division when dealing with decomposed bodies.

The beat bobby is normally first on the scene, dealing with murder, suicides, grevious bodily harm, assaults of all descriptions and sudden deaths, on the streets or in people's homes, traffic accidents of the worse kind and women going into labour.

There is nothing in this world that prepares you for attending these incidents, armed only with humour and compassion. The compensation culture these days knows no bounds.

K Bowker,

Vesper Walk,

Huntington, York.

Updated: 12:10 Thursday, May 26, 2005