Officer inspects suspect's 'torch' for hidden drugs – it's a stun gun, and now everyone calls him PC Sparky
A Slough police officer took a closer look at a 'torch' found during a stop and search. It turned out to be a stun device, and it gave him a live demonstration.
Every new job comes with a nickname eventually. One Slough police officer earned his in about three seconds flat.
The officer had only recently moved to Thames Valley Police’s Slough East neighbourhood team. Out on patrol, he detained a man and, during a search, found what looked like an ordinary torch.
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A hollow torch is a classic hiding place for drugs, so, in the words of his own team, he “bravely volunteered to conduct a more thorough examination”.
It was not a torch. It was an electrical stun device, and it delivered what the team called “an unexpected practical demonstration of its capabilities directly to the officer”.
Happily, he wasn’t hurt. The man he’d detained was arrested.
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His colleagues, being police officers, did what any British workplace would do: they gave him a new name. He is now, officially and permanently, PC Sparky.
The team also shared the story online, adding: “We’re confident the nickname will be around considerably longer than any physical effects.”
Reported by the Slough Observer, quoting Slough East Neighbourhood Policing (Thames Valley Police).
