Retired cop on a different beat

By FIONA RAE

Crime: we like to watch it, but more than that, we really want to help to solve it.

"That's one of the things I've always known is that people do want to help," says Graham Bell, retired detective inspector and presenter of the crime segment of Police Ten-7.

"The public are pretty fed up and very intolerant of criminal behaviour, more than the courts reflect really."

As an expert crime and homicide investigator and a one-time media officer for the police, Bell is well-placed to communicate between police and viewers. And, frankly, it's a great way to start his retirement.

"I was nearly 33 years in the job and I think there are some people who struggle with it [retirement], but I was lucky because I had this thing to go to so I didn't struggle so much.

"It's a pleasant change for me. It gives me the ability to stay in touch with all my old colleagues. I retain an interest in what's going on."

More importantly, as the show goes into its third episode on TV2 at 8pm, crimes are being highlighted and solved. After the first programme, a guy wanted for ramming three police cars near Tokoroa was arrested in Northland following phone calls from the public.

This success is also the result of the crime segment being short, punchy and current, says Bell, a point of difference to the old version of crime-solving TV, Crimewatch.

"Crimewatch was a bit of dance of the desperate really, a vehicle of last resort for the investigators. When things started to get a few months old and no results, it would go to Crimewatch. But this is current. And we think it will be of more value because of that and it's going out every week so we can keep updating things."

Tonight's segment, for example, covers the fatal stabbing of a man at a public toilet in Tauranga.

The rest of the show concerns the everyday doings of the police, from deaths to car accidents.

"The programme is firmly focused on the police officers and how they go about doing their job as opposed to a lot of other reality shows which are really just a vehicle to get into the scene of the action," says Bell.

"I think people are reassured by the professionalism that they see. It gives people a feeling of confidence in the police, which is good. The main aim of the show is to demystify what the police do."

And that name - what does it mean? It's the police radio code for "I'm on the scene".