HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS
Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents. Community officer Andy Pope has been dubbed West Midlands Police's 'Memory Man' for his astonishing ability to spot criminals simply by memorising their faces. He spends hours every week poring over stills taken from CCTV and images from police briefing systems before hitting the streets of Birmingham to seek out troublemakers. So far, Andy's unique crime-tackling technique has led to the arrest and conviction of thieves, sex offenders and people wanted for violent crimes. In one remarkable case he even recognised a serial robber who walked past him in the city centre a whole year after his image had appeared on BBC's Crimewatch programme. The 34-year-old, who works with the Safer Travel team policing public transport routes, is now to be honoured with an award for police staff member of the year. Andy said: "With Safer Travel I spend a lot of time in Birmingham and on arterial routes into the centre. A lot of offenders do pass through city at some point and, when they do, I want to be able to recognise them.
Other great stories
HOLE LOT OF TROUBLE: BADGERS BORE UNDER TRAIN TRACK
Commuters were put in a HOLE lot of trouble after trains were cancelled by a hole created by BADGERS .
WOMAN LOSES 13ST AFTER BEATING HALF-TON POTATO ADDICTION
A woman has lost over 13st after beating her addiction to POTATOES .
ADORABLE SHELTER DOGS STRIKE A ‘PAWS’ TO FIND FOREVER HOMES
A group of shelter dogs showcase their loveable personalities in a series of passport-style photographs - in the hope of finding their forever homes .
WOMAN TOLD BY EMIRATES STAFF SHE’D BE ‘BANGED UP ABROAD’ OVER DIAZEPAM
A woman with a fear of flying claims she was humiliated after an Emirates airline staff member told her she could ‘go to prison for four years’ for possessing diazepam medication .
ADORABLE OWLS SHELTER FROM THE RAIN
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
SHOCKING CCTV OF WOMEN AND CHILD HIT AND RUN
THIS astonishing film shows the moment a hit-and-run driver ploughed into a woman and a toddler on a Coventry street .
LAST MILITARY HOSPITAL TIME CAPSULE
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
PARTNERS IN GRIME
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
MESMERIZING STAR TRAILS
MESMERIZING night sky photographs offer a spellbinding look at the stars .
MUM SPENDS £17K ON HER REBORN BABIES
When mum-of-three Becky Tully was told she couldn’t have any more children due to health reasons, she refused to give up on having the little girl she had always wanted .
OH DEER: MOMENT DEER CRASHES THROUGH WINDSCREEN OF BUS
With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .