UK`s longest serving police officer retires
The countrys longest serving police officer has retired.
The countrys longest serving police officer has retired.
PC Robert `Bob` Brown,65, officially left the Metropolitan Police Service on Friday February 13, after serving as a constable for 47 years.
Officers and colleagues formed a guard of honour outside Croydon police station as PC Brown arrived in a Morris Minor patrol car, which was in service during his first years as a police officer.
After starting his service as a cadet, PC Brown signed up as a trainee police constable in February 1969. His first posting was to West Hampstead, where he spent 15 years on the local beat and crime squad.
Over the years he has served in Brent, Norbury, Addington and Sutton, before joining Croydon borough in the late 1990s, where he has remained since.
PC Brown has been involved in some of London`s most well-known incidents; in 1973 he was one of the first officers on the scene when assassin `Carlos the Jackal` shot former Marks and Spencer boss, Joseph Sieff.
He also supported the MPS Special Branch during the arrest of Astrid Proll in 1978, who was a member of revolutionary terrorist group the Baader-Meinhoff gang.
In 1981, PC Brown was one of the thousands of officers responsible for policing the Brixton riots and has been on duty during nearly every edition of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Earlier in the month he received the Queen`s Police Medal for the dedication he has shown during his service.
Croydon Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Andy Tarrant, said: “Bob Brown has dedicated 47 years to public service and deserves all the recognition that goes with being the country`s longest serving police officer.
“It is only fitting that Bob should complete his career in the area that he was born in. An operational officer virtually to the end of his career, Bob will be missed by all his friends and colleagues.