Wallopers

THE WISE OLD SERGEANT DIDN’T THINK WE DESERVED CRIMINAL RECORDS, BUT WE DID NEED TO LEARN A LESSON”

- Geoff Seddon

I know a few people, some quite well, who think all coppers are bastards. Their only interactions with the police force have been negative, usually resulting in financial pain or worse. I know a few other people, not as well maybe, who actually are or were coppers. They all seem nice-enough blokes, so who’s right?

My first interaction with the wallopers was in February, 1972. My mate and I had taken our girlfriends to see the Steve McQueen movie, Le Mans, in the city. We got a bit silly on our late-night drive home, the worst of which was driving our mums’ Morris 1100s two abreast down a deserted suburban back street. Neither of us noticed the unmarked GTR Torana until it was too late.

Not only did it look like I’d just set a new school record for losing my licence (10 days!), I could only imagine my parents’ reaction. The older and senior of two cops, a big guy, read us the riot act and wrote all our details in his notebook. We could expect to receive a summons to appear in court, he said, delivered by one of his officers at the change of shifts very early in the morning. We didn’t say boo.