WRITER ALICE VINTEN WANTED TO CHAMPION THE WOMEN WHO PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE AT THE SHARP END OF MODERN POLICING
There are few fictional characters who have made as big an impression on the collective consciousness as Happy Valley’s Sergeant Catherine Cawood. Sarah Lancashire memorably portrayed the tough but emotional, respected but feared officer, who often placed herself in danger to serve her community.
Series creator Sally Wainwright is said to have based her on areal Yorkshire cop, a woman with a no-nonsense attitude, who always just got on with the job. And –as former Met officer and author Alice Vinten found out –there are many other women out there who have spent their entire careers dealing with everything from domestic abuse and gang crime to murder, putting their own lives on the line to bring criminals to justice. She’s written a book about them, The Real Happy Valley, and here, she tells us more…
What made you want to write this book?
I was a huge Happy Valley fan and, like the rest of the nation, I was glued to my screen when it was on TV. The character of Catherine Cawood really inspired me. She’s tough and determined, but has a complicated personal life. There’s a lot of real police women like that and I thought it would be great to cover their stories and the amazing things they’ve done. So, my book combines my love of the programme with my passion for championing female police officers. I’ve always wanted to write this type of book, ever since I wrote my memoir On The Line about being in the police force. It’s so important to show that women can do and achieve just as much as men.
How did you track down the female officers whose stories you tell?
I put the feelers out on social media and LinkedIn to ask people to direct me to women they knew. As I listened to their stories, I was blown away by their insights. I had served ten years in the Met Police, which is just one third of the time many of these women had served, and I gained a huge amount of respect for them. They were brave, unstoppable, honourable and 100 per cent dedicated to improving the communities they policed in Yorkshire. Their stories really opened my eyes. Policing rural areas such as Yorkshire can be tough if you come from that area and live there. I commuted into London when I was in the police, so I could leave work behind at the end of the day. But if you’re from a rural region, there can be ties and loyalties that go back along way. It’s advantageous to know the area, the personal vendettas, the back alleys and the social structure, but you can feel exposed because people know you from when you were little. It can be beneficial, but it’s a fine line.
Most of the officers in your book aren’t identified. Why is that?
Some were happy to go public, but I
