No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known About Becoming A Detective

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Initially, the suspect had been chatty with her, even friendly. “But then I switched the tape on, and started asking questions, and he just said, ‘No comment’.” It is a requirement of detectives, when interrogating someone, to put all questions to them irrespective of whether the suspect is prepared to answer. “I asked the next question – ‘No comment.’ And then the next – ‘No comment.’ And so on. It was just very, very awkward,” she says. People complain to the police all the time that they’re not doing enough [to secure a conviction], but what they have to understand is that our work was often frustrated by the next step in the criminal justice system. The Crown Prosecution Service isn’t really fit for purpose; they’re failing to keep people safe time and again. If the CPS doesn’t deal with it properly, then there’s only so much the police can do.”

In a statement, the Met said that after McDonald raised bullying concerns, she had been offered “substantial management guidance, advice and welfare support” and encouraged to come forward with more information; it insisted that it takes allegations of officer criminality, as in Mel’s case, “incredibly seriously”. In the summer of 2017, McDonald was between jobs, having cycled through careers in management consultancy, advertising and tech sales. She was shadowing a barrister and considering going into law when she saw a female detective testify at a child abuse trial and realised that hers was a job capable of changing lives. Roger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues, lovers and neighbours.Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts, this book tells the story of Anne Boleyn's relationship with, and influence over her daughter Elizabeth. In so doing, it sheds light on two of the most famous and influential women in history. With the devastating effects of COVID-19 still rattling the foundations of our global civilisation, we live in unprecedented times - or so we might think. But pandemics have been a constant presence throughout human history, as humans and disease live side by side. Over the centuries, our ability to react to these sweeping killers has evolved, most notably through the development of vaccines. The story of disease eradication, however, has never been one of simply science - it is political, cultural and deeply personal. A relationship ended, and now the bulk of her social circle was made up of fellow trainees. After graduating, she was posted to east London, and worked largely with domestic abuse cases. Almost 11 per cent of all crimes reported to the police concern domestic abuse but, McDonald says, these are often the hardest to get a conviction for. Jess McDonald was still on probation as a trainee police detective when she encountered her first alleged rapist. Like much else she describes in her memoir, No Comment, the interview didn’t go at all as expected. Borrow I'm Not as Well as I Thought I Was → The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Secret, by Victoria Belim

She was thrown in at the deep end after just five months’ classroom training, plus a probationary stint at Bethnal Green police station. In the book, she writes that, by the end of the job, she felt like one of the abuse victims she interviewed: one whose partner “beats me up but needs me, and I stay for the tiny glimmers of hope that I will make a difference”. All but four of her class of 15 direct entrants have left the force, she writes. (The Met says it has since made changes to the programme.)

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Ultimately, she quit. She had lasted five years. McDonald has now written a book about her experiences, No Comment: What I Wish I’d Known About Becoming a Detective, in which she lays bare the realities of life in the police force, and which the police force is unlikely to use as an advertising manual for potential new recruits. Series 12 • BAFTA-nominated breakfast show covering the latest news, sport & weather Good Morning Britain

More than twenty years on, Ronnie is still obsessed with delivering his peak performance, but success has now taken on a new meaning for the world champion. Framed around twelve lessons Ronnie has learned from his extraordinary career, with this book he takes us beyond the success and record-breaking achievements to share the reality - and brutality - of what it takes to rise to the very top, whatever your field. Jess McDonald, 36, grew up in Hartford, Cheshire, and graduated from Durham University with a degree in ancient history and French. During her twenties she combined jobs in management consulting, advertising and sales with travelling around southeast Asia and Australia. Looking for something new to read? Browse our recommendations. Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History, by Tracy Borman Jess McDonald was a true crime junkie and Line of Duty sofa sleuth with a strong sense of justice. Under a year later, thanks to a controversial new initiative, she was a detective in the London Metropolitan Police Service. And so when she saw an advert for the Met’s new detective scheme, she was intrigued, and swiftly enrolled. It proved a steep learning curve.Prince Harry sits down with Anderson Cooper from CBS' 60 Minutes 60 Minutes: Prince Harry Interview To access eLibrary content for free all you need is a library card number. If you don’t have a library card, you can apply straight away: Borrow Foreign Bodies → How Not to Be an Antique Dealer: Everything I've Learnt That Nobody Told Me, by Drew Pritchard What would she say to a friend who was considering going into policing? She doesn’t hesitate: “I’d say go for it. But don’t suffer in silence.”