Ryedale police to star in TV series (From Gazette & Herald)

Ryedale police to star in TV series

POLICE who pound a rural beat next to North Yorkshire's Heartbeat country are set to star in a fly-on-the-wall documentary series to be screened nationally.

The programmes, provisionally titled Country Cops, will show how officers in different roles, from community beat officers to the road policing group, work in Ryedale's towns, villages and countryside.

Kensington-based Diverse Productions Ltd hopes to win a commission from BBC2 to make the series on policing in Ryedale, probably for family viewing and aired on daytime television. A firm date for filming has yet to be set.

Ryedale area commander Inspector Neil Burnett said: "Researchers have spent quite a lot of time with us already, working side by side with the officers while they carry out their duties.

"They're looking to run a series of programmes on rural policing, particularly in Malton and Ryedale specifically as an area. There are lots of programmes about road policing, city cops and serious crime, but not so many about rural police."

Inspector Burnett said he was confident that the programmes would show the force in a positive way and not have any of the damning effects of a documentary about the Thames Valley Police in the early 1980s that led to radical changes in police procedures, particularly how victims of sexual crimes were treated.

"Any comparisons with the Thames Valley documentary that was made 20 years plus ago simply don't exist anymore - policing has changed dramatically in the ensuing period of time," said Inspector Burnett.

"I fully expect the series will portray North Yorkshire Police in a professional capacity and as providing a professional service.

"The programme will be about the community as much as it is about policing. I think Ryedale has a lot to offer. If the area gets this kind of national television coverage, the district as a whole will benefit, not just policing."

Diverse Productions Ltd has made a number of programmes for Channel 4, including Heather Mills - The Real Mrs McCartney; James Hewitt: Confessions Of A Cad; Charles: The Bachelor Years; Musicality; and Operatunity.

Updated: 10:46 Thursday, June 17, 2004