Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation

POLICING CHALLENGES
Operation Bulwark
Sue Sim reports on the operation
to apprehend Raoul Moat in 2010
Sue Sim is Chief Constable
of the Northumbria Police
Raoul Moat was released from
prison on 1 July 2010, having
served 18 weeks for assaulting
one of his five children. Two days prior to
his release he made a disclosure that his
intention on release was to cause harm to
his ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbard and her
new boyfriend Christopher Brown.
On 2 July, Brown was shot and killed
and Stobbard shot and injured. A
murder investigation began with Moat
as the prime suspect. Late in the evening
of Saturday 3 uly Moat rang the police
control room. He admitted killing
Brown and attempting to kill Stobbard,
he also went on to say that he had two
hostages. It later transpired they were
his accomplices Karl Ness and huram
Awan (reports of hostage taking will
always require a carefully considered
and meticulous police response). He also
stated that his next victim would be a
police officer.
Shortly after Moat made that
telephone call he walked up to a police
vehicle, in which PC David athband
was sitting, and shot the officer twice.
Following the shooting of PC athband,
Moat rang the police stating that he was
responsible for the shooting of the officer
and that he was “hunting for more
officers, and was never going to stop.
On Tuesday 6 uly, a vehicle
suspected of being used by Moat and
his accomplices was spotted in the
othbury area. Moat had already made
good his escape, but the two ‘hostages’,
accomplices Awan and Ness were
arrested. In a tent they had been using,
a dictaphone was found on which Moat
stated that due to the negative publicity
he was receiving in the press he was
now also going to shoot members of the
public.
This operation had now become the
biggest manhunt experienced by any UK
police force in 44 years, with the focus
of the search for him in the vast rural
area around othbury. Key to this was
the ongoing need to protect and reassure
the rural community of othbury and
Northumberland. At its peak more
than 200 sightings a day were reported
covering the length and breadth of the
country all of these had to be dealt
with. These included a report of Moat
moving across open country to a school
in othbury, which required a strong
visible response to prevent a sense of
panic from striking this small but resolute
community.
The vast terrain surrounding
othbury proved extremely challenging
to search and required large numbers
92 | POLICING UK