"I am sitting here now typing this, in a house which is equiped with an array of security features, which are becoming increasingly common. This is not however to primarily protect property, as in most cases, but to protect my life. I have within arms reach now a loaded handgun, as I do wherever I am in the house. This is in case of a murder bid at this location. In cases of a less direct attack, such as petrol/pipe bombing I have to have fire extinguishers placed around the house.

Before I go out I have to examine my vehicle for improvised explosive devices, an electronic sensor being provided to me by the government for this purpose, however it is not as effective as a proper visual examination.

When I travel to work, I again have my handgun with me, this time on the passenger seat, in case of ambush en route. This is more of a problem now, as until recently it was considered too dangerous to drive into my station, and I was ferried there in heavily armoured vehicles. This was an improvement on other places I have worked, where all move by road is forbidden, and everything from the officers going on duty to the rubbish going out moves by helicopter.

At no time whether on or off duty do I wear a seatbelt, as the government has exempted me as I may need to exit a vehicle in a hurry. My neighbours do not know what I do for a living, as I have constructed an elaborate cover story, to maintain this however I have to take various steps, I have nothing visible from any ground floor window that will connect me with my employment, I can never dry my uniform on a line, or travel wearing it. All official documentation, such as road tax, insurance etc are registered to my work address, so my home address is difficult to determine. I am of course ex directory. Any vehicle entering my street which I view as slightly suspicious is immediately telephoned into comms, who will carry out checks on it for me.

When I get to work, which is surrounded by a 30 foot high concrete wall, with all avenues of approach covered by sangars, containing officers with machine guns,and protected by electronic counter measures which jam certain frequencies, so radio activated devices are ineffective, I change into my uniform. This will be familiar to you, apart from the colour, however the main difference will be that I am also armed with a handgun, 30 rounds of ammo, along with on most other occasions a machine gun or assault rifle. This weights me down, but as I have to also wear full high velocity plate body armour alot of the time, which weighs about 20lbs, that is not a major factor.

If I can leave the station, which is fully fitted with bullet proof glass, I patrol in either an armoured saloon ie mondeo or similar, which is fitted with steel plating, bullet proof glass and escape exit handles, so I can quickly exit through the boot if required. More common is an armoured landrover, which is so heavy with composite armour plate that younger officers require a C licence to drive it because of weight limits. This is more spacious, comfortable and also cost effective, as almost every visit to certain areas in my station area will result in the vehicle and any police out of it being pelted with rocks, paint, wood or anything else that is handy. This would cost us a new set of windows and panels, lights etc for the mondeo every time.

This is all provided we go out at all, which on many occasions we do not, due to the level of threat. This has improved up to the level where it now only takes us 6 officers to issue a parking ticket in some estates, rather than the 6 plus 6-12 soldiers which used to accompany us. That allows us what time we do get to patrol to deal with calls from the public, apart from the time we spend defending the station and our colleagues by patrolling the main transit routes on changeover, and constantly driving around the station looking for mortar base plates. There is a lot more I could say and I have not yet begun to describe the types of calls we get on a normal day, just the background details of the way we have to live and operate. This is without going into why we have the weapons, armour etc, although I hope anyone reading this will realise that it is not for fun, it is because of the danger that these steps are taken.

I am fine with all this, doesnt worry me, but this job is consistently dangerous. That is why this job is unique, and this is why I am in more danger sitting here than he is at work, my danger does not end after 8 hours, or during teabreak, or when I drive home, or when I am asleep, or even when I leave this job.

My organisation is one that has been awarded the George Cross for bravery in the face of extreme danger.

My organisation is the PSNI."

- Abridged statement of a serving officer.