Crown Jewels. By United Kingdom Government – Illustrated magazine. Creative Commons
A Waipa police officer has proven once again that an officer is never off-duty, even during an overseas holiday, after he intervened when protesters targeted the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.
Senior Constable Mark Strongman, who has been in the police for over 29 years, was visiting the tourist attraction on Saturday morning with his wife and family when four individuals defaced the display case holding the Imperial State Crown.
Strongman, who has previous experience as a police negotiator said he heard a commotion going on ahead of him before seeing that a substance had been thrown all over a display case.
The incident, which has attracted global media interest, has seen four people arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service for the politically motivated vandalism and the substance is being reported to have been custard and fruit crumble.
“I walked up to the two female suspects and introduced myself, informing them that I was arresting them for criminal behaviour and advised them of their rights,” says Strongman.
“I took an oath to the Crown so I figured my arrests procedures would stick.
One was in possession of a backpack so I was concerned about what could be in there so quickly removed that and waited with the females until the Metropolitan Police officers arrived.”
“As you can imagine, the whole place shuts down when the Crown Jewels are at risk, some very thick steel doors slammed closed.
My wife Carmen and my brother and sister-in-law were ahead of me and had no idea what was happening.
I just dropped straight back into work mode and felt I represented New Zealand Police well and in line with our values.”
Metropolitan Police have already sent thanks to Strongman for a job well done.
They acknowledged his timely intervention and use of his police skills in detaining the suspects, which assisted in ensuring there was no further damage to the Crown Jewels and the Tower of London was able to remain open to the public.
Strongman has been travelling around Europe for almost a month and is due to return to New Zealand before Christmas to his role as member of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Team.
Entrance to the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Photo: Samuel Taylor Geer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
