Detective Inspector Robert Cousen
I was volunteered for filming by my ever so considerate Boss who was enthusiastic to get the Serious and Organised Crime Group involved in the production of The Wanted. He then took a strategic backward step when it came to being on film. Privilege of rank they call it.
I was a bit apprehensive about having a camera crew filming me and my team but I needn't have been. Phil and Harry were really down to earth and despite Phil being a West Ham fan, he was a really sound lad. They put us at ease immediately although it was a bit strange at first, having a camera crew on briefings and really living and breathing our work, including some 20 hour shifts.
The programme was capturing manhunts and lots of different investigations as they happened, which in SOCG, as in all police work, is interesting and varies from day to day. During the series you'll see first-hand how we track down absconders, take hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs off the streets, identify and catch armed robbers, all of which ultimately leads to organised crime members being put behind bars for a long time.
I thought that after the filming was finished that my part was done, how wrong I was! I had endless calls, emails and meetings providing updates on investigations which in some cases take months to get to trial with lots of twists and turns along the way.
Having seen the finished product it is fair to say that the production team, Sam, Carrie and crew, have done a really outstanding job of pulling everything together to really capture the complexity of our day to day work.
Hopefully the programme will give a really good insight into the work we do to make the public safer, ultimately that's why we get out of bed every day and do the jobs we do, to make a difference.
