This story is inspired by the current crisis sweeping the nation. Names and places have been changed, but the content of it is similar to that of what has been in the news. I am ashamed of my country and the people in it. But I hope you enjoy the story. Thank you.

Saturday night, the 6th of August, the night team had just filed in for the evening's briefing. It was muggy outside, so the cool of the briefing room was a comfort to the officers. They took their seats, chatting between themselves while they awaited the arrival of the Boss.

"Evening boys and girls." Inspector Gina Gold said to her troops, striding into the room, clipboard in hand, "Right on tonight's agenda is mainly keeping up high police presence on the Jasmine Allen after last week's spate of burglaries. The main offenders are still awaiting trial, but the CPS reckon they'll get a suspended jail sentence, possibly not even that." This was met with murmurs of disgust and many shaking of the heads, "Yes alright, enough of that. We did all we could, that's just how it goes I'm afraid. So, on to your pairings for this evening. PC Roberts and PC Green, foot patrol round the Jasmine Allen. Joining them will be PC Valentine and PC Stamp. PC Brown and PC Ryder, take one of the area cars, keep an eye on the Jasmine Allen and the surrounding streets. PC Fletcher and PC Taylor you've been requested by CID to help them on a case. The rest of you report to Sergeant's Smith and Stone for your instructions tonight. That's all, off you go." Gina dismissed them with a wave of her hand, watching them all file out one after the other. She nodded to herself before taking her leave, heading down the corridor to her office where she was met by a stack of paperwork. "Ah, lucky me."


Gina was still sat in her office trying to get through paperwork when the phone call came.

"Gold." she said briskly into the receiver, hoping whoever it was would hurry up so she could plough through the mountain of paper in front of her.

"Gina, it's John." he answered, just as briskly as she had.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" she asked, putting down her pen and taking off her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Have you seen the news?" he asked her

"No, why?" she wondered, turning to grab the remote from her desk drawer and flicking on the small TV on top of the filing cabinet.

"We've got a big problem. There's riots in the city center, apparently in response to the shooting of Jackson Mann." Heaton answered. Gina turned to the television, watching with wide eyes as live feeds of the pandemonium showed on screen.

"But I thought that was a peaceful protest? Since when did it become violent?" Gina questioned.

"It was supposed to be peaceful, but it's been hijacked by people wanting to benefit from the death of a arms dealer. There's talk of unlawful killing, police brutality, you know the drill." Heaton replied.

"But the IPCC have been bought in over that, so why are these people rioting about it when things are being done to investigate it?" Gina asked, anger boiling.

"Gina, your guess is as good as mine. I've had the Commissioner on the phone, he needs officers and he needs them now. The situation is already getting out of hand, and they're severely understaffed for what's happening. Make it happen. I'll get back to you soon; I've got a meeting with Commander Kennedy." Heaton said quickly, the ring tone sounding suddenly in Gina's ear.

"Bloody hell." she muttered, rubbing her temples.


Gina got up from her chair, slipping on her vest and grabbing her hat from the coat rack. She hurried down the corridor to the Sergeant's office, relieved to find Smithy in there.

Smithy jumped as the door to his office swung open suddenly. He looked up to see Gina stood there, a frown on her face.

"Ma'am, what's happened?" he asked her quickly, standing up, taking in her vest and hat.

"You need to call everyone back to the station now. Get Callum off of custody. Briefing in ten minutes. Understood?" Gina said quickly. "Smithy? Understood?"

"Erm yes ma'am. Will you tell me what's happening?" he asked her before she sped out the door.

"A breakdown of society, that's what's happening." she said bitterly before turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her. Smithy was shocked to say the least, she was never normally that brusque with him; something big must have happened.


"Sierra Oscar 55 to all units. Everyone needs to get back to the station ASAP for an emergency briefing. I repeat, everyone return to the station for an emergency briefing. Any issues with this contact me now. Over." Smithy said into the radio. With that done, he grabbed his vest and hat from the floor and scooted out from behind the desk to take the short walk to custody. Callum was just booking in a prisoner when Smithy approached him. "Callum we've got problems."

"Why what's happened?" Callum asked, not looking up from the paperwork he was doing.

"I'm not exactly sure but whatever it is, it's bad. The Inspector has requested an emergency briefing in 10 minutes. She asked me to call everyone back to the station and to get you from custody." Smithy said in an undertone.

Callum finally looked up at his fellow Sergeant, confusion marring his face, "She didn't say what it was?" Callum asked.

"No, and I didn't dare ask after seeing the look in her face." Smithy said with a grimace.

"Er right ok, let me get someone to cover me and I'll be through." Callum said distractedly, putting away the last prisoner's items.

"Right, see you in there." Smithy said with a nod, heading back up the corridor, informing any officers he saw of the imminent briefing.


Most of the officers who had been out of the station returned in time for briefing. There was a buzz of noise in the room as the officers tried to guess what was so urgent to call them in for. Gina swept into the room looking a lot more frazzled than she had done two hours prior. Stood being her like sentries were the two Sergeants.

"Right, sorry to call you all back, I know you've got work to do but this is more important. From this moment you are all suspended from current duties." Gina said quickly but clearly. There was a rise of noise at this statement as her officers looked at her in puzzlement, "Quiet please, this briefing needs to be done as soon as possible." As she said that, Superintendent Heaton and Commander Kennedy entered the room, standing at the side, "As you all know, Jackson Mann was shot dead yesterday by an officer from Operation Trident. As you may also know, there was a protest today about the shooting, with many shouting about brutality and the likes. But the protest has turned violent quickly. There are reports of rioting in the city center, and we've started getting reports of fires in shops and vehicles being set alight. The officers who were out there maintaining the protest are low in numbers; they cannot handle this alone. The Commissioner has been in contact with us, as well as Barton Street and Stafford Row, and requested all officers to get to the town center and help deal with the riots. You've been split into two teams, half of you are assigned to Sergeant Smith, and the other half are with Sergeant Stone. They'll read out the teams in a minute. Once you've been assigned your team you need to gear up in full riot gear. Now most of you have never been involved in something this big, and I just need to warn you that it's going to be messy. I also need to stress the importance of personal safety. You do everything you can to avoid being injured. You do everything by the book. Any concerns or queries, see your team leader, myself, or the Superintendant. Right that's it. Be safe. Look out for each other." Gina said with a nod at her officers. She knew they would do their duty as they should. But she was worried. There was obviously going to be police casualties, it was pretty much unavoidable. She just hoped nothing serious would arise. As the Sergeants began calling out their teams, Gina made her way over to the Superintendant and the Commander.

"Inspector Gold." the Commander said with a small smile.

"Commander Kennedy." Gina replied, sans smile.

"Gina, we need more officers." Heaton said immediately.

"Sir, I can't produce officers out of thin air. This is all I've got." Gina said, holding the anger.

"Well you need to call people in. I've been told that all leave has to be cancelled as well for the foreseeable future." Heaton added.

"You couldn't have told me that before the briefing? And how can I call people in who have just finished their shift? They'll be sleeping off the day, how can you expect me to call them back in?" Gina demanded.

"Inspector Gold, we know that they've worked hard during the day, but they're needed now. That's final. You also need to see if any officers on sick leave or maternity leave can come in and help." the Commander said.

"Yes ma'am. I'll get right on it ma'am." Gina said bitingly, her jaw set in a hard line as she set off for her office.


"Sally? It's Inspector Gold. How're you feeling?" Gina asked, listening to how croaky Sally's voice was.

"I'm getting better, I should be back at work on Monday, I just need to shake this headache." Sally said tiredly.

"I need to ask you a favour. If it was up to me I wouldn't be ringing you, but this has come from above me. There's mass rioting in the city centre. They're bringing in officers from all around London, but it's still not enough. I've been asked to call in officers on sick leave and maternity leave to boost numbers. I hate to ask, but would you be able to come in?" Gina asked.

Sally paused, rubbing her tired eyes. She wasn't really in any state to work, let alone to get geared up to help with the riots, but what could she do? "Um, of course. Give me ten minutes to grab a shower and I'll be in."

"Thank you so much Sally. You'll get full pay as well as overtime. I'm very grateful. When you get here come straight to my office. Thanks again Sally." Gina said gratefully.

"No problem. I'll be there as soon as I can." Sally promised, putting the phone down. She unwrapped the blanket from her body, drained the last of her lemon and honey and moved as quickly as possible into the kitchen. She rummaged in the cupboard for some paracetemol and nuerofen. She took two of each, stashing the rest in her handbag before hurrying to the bathroom and climbing in the shower. If she could shake the headache then she would be fine. She needed to be fine.


Jess was singing her nine month old son to sleep, well trying to anyway. She was pacing the nursery with him in her arms. He was screaming and flailing and wouldn't stop. She'd fed him, she'd changed him, she bathed him, nothing was working. She was running out of songs to sing and she was stressed and tired. Suddenly the flailing stopped. She risked a quick glance at him and saw that his eyes were slowly dropping, the crying subsiding. She was just about to lay him in his crib when the phone rang. His eyes snapped open, the wailing starting immediately.

"For crying out loud." Jess growled, storming down the hall to the phone in her bedroom. "This better be important!"

"Jess? It's Inspector Gold." Gina said tentatively.

"Sorry ma'am, didn't mean to snap. What can I do for you?" Jess asked, pausing before asking, "Is Callum ok?"

"Yes he's fine, don't worry. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but I need a favour." Gina began slowly.

"Go on?" Jess urged, wanting to get back to Jamie.

"I don't know if you've seen the news but there's mass rioting in the city centre." Gina said.

"Is this to do with the protest about Jackson Mann?" Jess wondered.

"Yes, well it started out as a protest, but now it's turned to riots. There's fires being lit, shops being looted, it's really bad. Now, if it was up to me I wouldn't be ringing you. I know that you're on maternity leave, but I've had orders from the Super and above to ring everyone out on sick leave or maternity leave. We need more officers. We're calling in everyone we can to try and come in and help us. I know you've got Jamie and I know you've been out of the station for nearly a year, and I wouldn't ask if I didn't have to, but would you be able to come in? We need your help." Gina said softly.

"Oh God, are you that understaffed that you need me?" Jess asked.

"It's not that us at Sun Hill are understaffed, it's the fact that the rioters outnumber us vastly, and we need to reduce the gap substantially. All the stations in London have been contacted to get officers into the city centre." Gina explained.

Jess sighed loudly, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "Ok, I suppose I can't really say no. I need to see if my mum can have Jamie, if she can't I'll have to call my brother. If I can't get anyone to look after him then I can't come in. Can I ring you back in five minutes?" Jess asked.

"Of course. And I'll tell you know that on top of your maternity pay, you'll get full pay plus overtime. Thanks Jess for considering it." Gina said gratefully.

"No problem. I'll ring you back as soon as." Jess said, putting the phone down. She rubbed her forehead before picking up the phone again. "Mum? It's me, could you do me a big favour?"...


Half an hour after calling in extra officers, Jess and Sally entered Gina's office.

"Thank you so much you two, this means a lot. Now, there are two teams from the station out in the city already. Jess you're with Sergeant Stone, Sally you're with Sergeant Smith. I've radioed them and informed them both what's happening. Other officers have just headed out in a van, and there's more coming in about five minutes. You both need to get your riot gear on and be out in the yard in five minutes. You'll be briefed further by your respective Sergeants once you get into the city. I shouldn't have to say this but your safety is of upmost importance. Do not put yourself in unnecessary danger, understand?" Gina urged, looking especially at Jess, how had the grace to blush.

"Yes ma'am. Is there anything else we need to know?" Sally asked.

"As I said, Sergeants Smith and Stone will brief you further. Stay safe. Good luck." Gina said with a nod, dismissing them. The two officers hurried down to the changing rooms, changing into their uniforms before going to collect their riot gear. They sped out to the van, putting the riot gear on with the other officers. Once they were all suited up, they clambered into the van, heading into the fray.