David Fitzgerald on unveiling the High Sheriff, Real Ideas, and Police Perspectives

Fitz in the Community is a podcast attached to this paper and basically does what it ‘says on the tin’. I wander around the county talking to anyone about anything which encapsulates the community in which we live. I usually get wet, as well.

Launched every Monday on the website of this paper, we have already taken in celebrities and sausages, birdwatching, and beer, plus anniversaries and local history. You can listen back to all the podcasts at your leisure on Spotify.

This week we talk to a retired police officer who was at the centre of a piece of technical history. We are all familiar with police body cameras, they are now very much part of everyday life, but did you know that the very first police body camera was used in Devon nearly 20 years ago. Olly Tayler was the police officer who decided to use a very basic camera system to record an arrest in Plymouth. Shortly after the case, and a successful prosecution, the police released the footage not really expecting the tidal wave of interest and enquiries, not just from the UK but the rest of the world. Devon and Cornwall police were inundated with requests for interviews with Olly, he even appeared in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette, both in English and French. Today the devices are smaller and are standard issue, but it all started here in Devon. We will have a full feature on former Inspector Olly Taylor very soon in this paper.

The Ukraine has been receiving some direct help from the county as a group of individuals from the South Devon area have got together to collect, renovate, and deliver 4x4 vehicles to the Polish-Ukrainian border. Under the banner of the charity Ukrainian Action this local satellite group have for the past 12 months raised just under £60,000 and have completed nine convoys, delivering 27 vehicles to the people of Ukraine and the front line. This two-and-a-half-day trip will cover nearly 1300 miles.

‘The task is tough,’ said founder of the local group Dr Neil Millward. ‘But knowing what you are doing is really helping people, drives you on. It all started with me trying to donate a generator and has grown into this incredible effort with seventeen people now involved in the area.’

Finally, in the podcast, we take a look at possibly what was the very first case of identity theft? Robin Barlow, DL had the great good fortune of meeting Agatha Christie, when he was a schoolboy. After lunch, the conversation turned to his surname, and according to Robin, Agatha asked if she may take the name ‘Barlow’ and use it for a person within her books. Although not a featured character, Lady Barlow or Countess Barlow does appear in one of the many, many stories. Robin reflects on his meeting with Devon’s most famous author and one the world’s most prolific writers.

Fitz in the Community, a podcast coming to your community … why not get in
touch?