Exit The Legend

 

I once worked as a police constable for Kent Police.

While I was there I met only 2 senior officers who had my complete respect. One was my chief inspector for training, Alexandra Harrington and the other was a duty inspector called Simon Davy.

He’d made inspector in just 6 years and had been a captain in the British army previously. He was a fairly imposing figure, looking like a retired rugby player with a full head of white hair and an intimidating stare.

He was one of the rare guvnors that got stuck in to work with the rest of us and the first time I met him was when my and my partner had arrested a drunken, violent man and called for a cage van to transport him.

A few minutes later the van arrived with Inspector Davy at the wheel, as all the other officers were tied up.

“Good afternoon lads” He glanced at the drunk we were sitting on and got out his notebook. “What’s your name then?”

 “COULDN’T GIVE A FUCK!”

“That’s a long name” he replied, writing it down. “Can we get Mr Fuck in the back of the van please lads? Or can I call you Couldn’t?”

Another time I took a drunk man to the station and while booking him in he was being uncooperative. Just my luck that Inspector Davy was stood next to the custody sergeant filling out some paperwork. The lad had tried to talk his way out of getting arrested and now that he realised he'd passed the point of no return he was kicking up a din, crying about how unfair it was and waving his hands about aggressively. His cuffs had been removed and the skipper was making no attempt to stop his behaviour. Inspector Davy stood there watching me and the lad in silence.

He continued to whinge loudly so I got the cuffs out, put one on his left wrist and was about to put his hands behind his back when the skipper said

“It's ok”.

The suspect remained calm for the rest of the procedure and after I’d put him in a cell I walked past the guv, fairly embarrassed that this had happened while he had been watching me. He smiled, nodded and said “I think you handled that really well”.

If working Sunday early shifts, we would sometimes chip in for a fry up and cook it about 8am if things were quiet. One day a constable popped his head round the kitchen door. “Guv wants in, says only one egg”.

A female officer in an apron and holding a spatula frowned and then replied “He hasn't chipped in, there won't be enough!”

The cop chuckled. “Guv wants in. Can't not give the Guv breakfast. See who doesn't want what and give him what they're not having”.

He joined us and he did have something to say worth listening to and was refreshingly direct. He regaled us with one tale of when he was on the beat as a constable. Two officers had asked their sergeant for his notebook so they could photocopy the relevant pages for an arrest they'd made. The skipper had apparently forgotten that he'd spent the last few months noting down everything any other officer said that was even remotely controversial with dates, times and who was present. The two officers told their colleagues but managed to keep it quiet from the sergeant who from that day on was noted as a sneaky little tit.

Simon told us that now he was an inspector and this bloke was still a skipper he would love to meet him again so he could tell him exactly what he thought of him.

However, the point when I realised just how good Simon Davy was as a leader was an incident he told us about from a few days prior.

A call had gone out that officers were required to attend to help an off duty constable who had been involved in a road rage incident. Apparently the driver of the other car had been brandishing a gun but the officer identified himself, realised the pistol was a replica and snatched it off the man.

He arrested the guy, called 999 and officers from our section were despatched to bring him in.

All fine and dandy.

Then an inspector in the control room had piped up that the officers were to back off until firearms officers arrived on scene, which would take at least another twenty minutes.

 The guv was listening to the situation on his radio as it happened and cut in, telling his officers to ignore the last order and to continue to the scene. A few moments later his mobile phone rang and it was his counterpart in the control room, demanding to know what the hell he was playing at.

The guv told him to shove it.

He also told him that the incident did NOT warrant Firearms' attendance as the gun was a fake AND the officer had control of it. Furthermore the cop (not to mention his wife and infant son) were at risk the longer it took a patrol to arrive. He added to his opposite number that he felt he was being overcautious and putting civilians, not to mention a very brave off duty officer in jeopardy.

He had then hung up and repeated his original order over the radio.

He’d technically been in the wrong as the control room inspector had veto in the situation but he wasn't prepared to sit back on such a stupid principle of etiquette and put people at risk. He was fully expecting a bollocking from the chief inspector due to having stepped outside his remit.

It was nice to know that there was someone of rank who was willing to put their neck on the line to do the right thing. Even more so that he was prepared to be honest with his staff about his motives and just what he believed in.

After I resigned from Kent Police I had an exit interview with an Assistant Chief Constable and made my feelings very clear about how bad the experience had been. I did however sing some officers’ praises and made a point of saying how inspirational and awesome Simon Davy had been.

A few months later I published a book called Stab Proof Scarecrows about my time as a cop; including 2004 to 2006 as a volunteer Special Constable with the City of London Police. I had very few good memories of my time with Kent but I devoted a whole chapter to Simon and offered him a free copy of the book when it came out.

He accepted it and told me a short while later that he’d read the stories about him to his 3 young sons. He also told me that he couldn’t sleep for a week after finishing the book, ashamed of the things I’d said had happened. Things that happened right under his nose and he never knew.

On 31^st July 2025 Simon Davy retired from the police. While it’s 17 years since I left and I only worked with Kent Police for 19 months, I still remember how inspirational and steadfast he was. Reassuring to probationers like me, leading by example and having his colleagues’ backs.

Simon, thank you for being a diamond in the rough.