True Crime with Richard Foster and his new book ‘STOP, POLICE!’
Southern England
| Event Type: | Author Interview, Audience Q&A and book signing |
|---|---|
| Event Organiser: | The Book Shop, Lee on Solent, Hampshire |
| Booking Link: | https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QPGVSFBG or phone The Book Shop on +44 7771 410074 |
| Ticket Price: | 5 |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/richardfosterauthor |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/richardfoster_author/ |
| Bluesky: | https://bsky.app/profile/richardfosterbooks.bsky.social |
| Other Links: | https://www.facebook.com/events/1303966077883598?locale=en_GB https://www.richard-foster.net |
| Venue: | 142 High Street, |
| Venue accessibility: | One level from the street. |

Join CWA member, former police officer and now real crime writer Richard Foster at The Book Shop, Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire for an evening to remember. A talk about his experiences of true crime and policing in the 90s.
Tickets are £5 each including drinks and nibbles
Enjoy while we chat for approx 60 minutes, followed by an audience Q&A and then after he will Meet and Greet and sign books.
The £5 is redeemable against the purchase of a copy of this brilliant new book
Enjoy while we chat for approx 60 minutes, followed by an audience Q&A and then after he will Meet and Greet and sign books.
The £5 is redeemable against the purchase of a copy of this brilliant new book
Tickets 👉🏻https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QPGVSFBG or phone The Book Shop on +44 7771 410074
STOP, POLICE! is a gripping, true‑to‑life memoir that takes you from the backstreets of 1970s–80s Rochdale to the front line of British policing in the 1990s.
Richard’s story begins with a wild(ish) youth spent skirting danger and trouble – close encounters with stolen property, dodgy motors, drugs, robbery and naïve decisions that could easily have landed him on the wrong side of the law.
Seeking a fresh start, he heads to the USA to grab a piece of his own American dream, only to return home and take an unlikely turn: joining the police.
Seeking a fresh start, he heads to the USA to grab a piece of his own American dream, only to return home and take an unlikely turn: joining the police.
On the beat in the naval city of Portsmouth through a decade of change, he meets every shade of humanity – funny, tragic, absurd and brave. STOP, POLICE! is an exposé of life on and off duty, facing real criminals and real danger, and recounting unreported events that form part of the social history of Pompey – not forgetting the many practical jokes played between officers to keep up morale! Told with the eye of someone who has seen both sides of the thin blue line.
Read about the author’s policing experiences as a uniformed cop, walking the beat or racing to 999 calls as an area car driver, including incidents such as:
Policing the Navy on shore leave
What it is really like on a police stakeout
Why covert cameras can be dangerous
What it feels like to be in a police car chase
Facing rioting mobs at football matches
The grim realities of sudden death
Prisoner escapes and manhunts
Why domestic arguments are so dangerous for everyone
Being dispatched as the first officer to a murder scene, with the suspect still present
How it feels to tackle a sword‑wielding youth
Drugs busts that do not always go to plan
Plus many, many more.
When a sudden brain haemorrhage strikes while he is on duty, the author is forced to confront the biggest battle of his life – his own survival. Everything changes when Richard collapses at work, the result of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) on the brain. Extensive brain surgery becomes his only chance of survival, forcing a man used to saving others to confront his own fragility. The memoir also charts his recovery and the quiet reckonings that follow a career spent managing other people’s crises.
An immensely moving and deeply personal insight into what it is to be a police officer in Britain – and what it feels like to survive a brain haemorrhage and subsequent brain surgery – this is a story told with raw honesty and dark humour. STOP, POLICE! is more than a policing memoir; it is a story of resilience, second chances and what it truly means to wear the uniform
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