I'm assuming this is the same Bob Miller. I wonder if he ever got his autobiography published!
CHELMSFORD: Ex-cop's 'Life on Mars' with Essex Police
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
This is Essex
POLICING Essex in the 1970s, if not quite like being on another planet, was very much akin to the popular TV series Life on Mars, according to former detective Bob 'Dusty' Miller.
Flowery ties, colourful characters and supergrass contacts were all part of the era for Bob who spent 30 years in the police force, including a stint on the regional crime squad.
He sees similarities between his time with the force and the BBC TV drama about detective Sam Tyler who travels back in time to 1973.
Now Bob from Springfield has written an autobiography and is hoping to secure a publisher.
The foreword to the book has been written by Leonard 'Nipper' Read, the ex-Scotland Yard detective who arrested the Kray Twins. He has praised Bob's book as being the best of its genre.
Before he retired 12 years ago, Bob was a detective inspector in Great Dunmow and ended his career in a uniformed post in Witham. He admits that his views have moved forward from his days as a young detective.
He has developed a passion for human rights and also has a deep interest in education because he believes the two subjects are inextricably linked, but are lacking within the prison system.
But he still relishes the memories of the 1970s, and says: "It was like the TV programme Life on Mars in many ways.
"A lot of my experiences dovetail with the programme, but there are aspects of the seventies that were missing from the series.
"The equal pay, sex discrimination and race relations legislation all came into effect in the 1970s and all these things affected the CID.
"The late Pam Arnold became the first woman detective in Chelmsford and there were a couple more in Essex.
"The equal pay gave them financial parity with their male colleagues but changes in attitude towards women, thinking of them other than being in the maternal role, did take longer to become embedded.
"The hard-drinking and womanising image of the police officers portrayed in Life on Mars was accurate.
"It was the era of the supergrass and a lot of criminals turned into informers.
"Some of the practices that went on at that time just wouldn't happen now.
"The CID had a lot of power and it was like being part of a very elite club. A DI (detective inspector) would literally run a police station.
"Decisions could be made about prosecutions, but these decisions are now taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.
"In the late seventies the CID was put under uniform control which was the end of an era.
"At that time, Chelmsford was a market town and there was not so much drug-related crime. Burglars were after property, not money for drugs and they all relied on having a good fence to dispose of the property.
"The cases we dealt with included murders, bullion hauls, lorry hijackings and kidnappings.
"Results were achieved correctly most of the time, but there were some travesties of justice which have been well documented."
Bob plans to recount his thoughts on major cases in his book.
He says that life-changing turning points for him were going to the South Pacific in the 1980s when he saw mistreatment of prisoners, and obtaining a degree in humanities with the Open University.
"I became much more involved in politics and really went back to my roots.
"I am a Dagenham boy and my family were socialists. I joined the Labour Party and went on to become, among other things, an Ofsted inspector.
"Life after my time in the police force has been as interesting as time in the force."
Although Bob would not want to see the return of many of the practices of the 1970s he does miss the extrovert characters of the time.
"I think the police force does reflect society and we are in much greyer times now," he said.
