Could you ask a taxi driver/ policeman to ring base to confirm identity back in the early noughties?

Cheffymcchef · 2025-06-04T18:53:02+00:00

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to ask. Was just thinking about poor Sarah Everard and various other crime cases where people have disappeared and not been found. I wondered if back in the early noughties it was possible to ask a cab driver or policeman to ring base to prove they were who they said they were. I know couzens showed ID but I believe poor Sarah wasn’t aware she could ask him to ring base - or was this a law implemented after she died?

godmum56 · 04/06/2025 20:02

I don't quite understand your question but for many many years, well before mobile phones, the advice was that if a policeman came to your door, even i uniform, and you were at all suspicious the advice was to get the warrant card number, name and base and to shut the door on him or her and phone the base to check on their ID. We were always told that genuine police would never mind you putting your own safety first. I used to walk my dogs in open country stupidly early summer and winter, like 4 or 5 am so they could have a proper run without other dogs around. Police used to patrol the rural carparks I used and would often check what i was doing there if they didn't see the dogs. I would always lock the car doors, keep the engine running and only open the window a couple of inches to speak to them and they never seemed bothered by my precautions.

Original poster

Cheffymcchef · 04/06/2025 20:04

godmum56 · 04/06/2025 20:02

I don't quite understand your question but for many many years, well before mobile phones, the advice was that if a policeman came to your door, even i uniform, and you were at all suspicious the advice was to get the warrant card number, name and base and to shut the door on him or her and phone the base to check on their ID. We were always told that genuine police would never mind you putting your own safety first. I used to walk my dogs in open country stupidly early summer and winter, like 4 or 5 am so they could have a proper run without other dogs around. Police used to patrol the rural carparks I used and would often check what i was doing there if they didn't see the dogs. I would always lock the car doors, keep the engine running and only open the window a couple of inches to speak to them and they never seemed bothered by my precautions.

Edited

That’s interesting. Thankyou. Had no idea you could ring base to confirm back then for the police.

OP posts:

Chugnut · 04/06/2025 20:06

Dp was a taxi driver - he had to be licensed by the council and wasn't a Hackney so had to be prebooked. That's not to say he always was, many people jumped in randomly and at the end of the day, a fare is a fare. It was common amoungst all drivers. He had a plate for the vehicle and an ID card but I don't think it even had a photo- it was also common for drivers to use the same car and licence to use the car 24 hours (he didnt). He could have radioed back to base but I don't think he was ever asked. As an aside he actually worked along side Christopher Halliwell and was questioned about him a couple of times.

Golidlocksandthethreeswears · 04/06/2025 20:08

You can check a police officers ID that way theoretically.

You would call 101 and go through to the force non emergency communications centre.

When I called 101 yesterday afternoon to make a non urgent report, I was on hold for almost 2 hours, so maybe not always practical.

godmum56 · 04/06/2025 20:12

Golidlocksandthethreeswears · 04/06/2025 20:08

You can check a police officers ID that way theoretically.

You would call 101 and go through to the force non emergency communications centre.

When I called 101 yesterday afternoon to make a non urgent report, I was on hold for almost 2 hours, so maybe not always practical.

according to police themselves, if its urgent you can use 999.

Original poster

Cheffymcchef · 04/06/2025 20:13

Chugnut · 04/06/2025 20:06

Dp was a taxi driver - he had to be licensed by the council and wasn't a Hackney so had to be prebooked. That's not to say he always was, many people jumped in randomly and at the end of the day, a fare is a fare. It was common amoungst all drivers. He had a plate for the vehicle and an ID card but I don't think it even had a photo- it was also common for drivers to use the same car and licence to use the car 24 hours (he didnt). He could have radioed back to base but I don't think he was ever asked. As an aside he actually worked along side Christopher Halliwell and was questioned about him a couple of times.

Did he not have to chuck people out who jumped in? Most cabs where I am are only pre bookable

OP posts:

ComtesseDeSpair · 04/06/2025 21:29

Cheffymcchef · 04/06/2025 20:13

Did he not have to chuck people out who jumped in? Most cabs where I am are only pre bookable

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Drivers weren’t and aren’t supposed to, but many did and do - as previous poster said, a fare is a fare, and many passengers struggling to find another option just weigh up the risk and take it.

When I was at sixth form in the early noughties and going out with friends in Bristol, we’d prebook a licensed minicab to take us home at the end of the night and our mums would always tell us to ring the head office and check that the cab which had arrived was the cab we’d booked / they’d sent before we got in - so yes, it was “a thing.” No experience with the police, though sadly suspect that officer training around it possibly wasn’t good enough decades ago that some officers wouldn’t have gotten annoyed at someone refusing to open the door without confirmation.

Sarah Everard possibly did “know” she could, in an abstract sort of way: but if you’ve no prior experience of dealing with the police, and like I imagine Sarah did, come from a background where you’re generally taught to be law-abiding and trust the police, challenging them isn’t the first thing on your mind - you’re just worried that you’re being told you’ve broken the law and what will happen to you for that.

godmum56 · 04/06/2025 21:52

ComtesseDeSpair · 04/06/2025 21:29

Drivers weren’t and aren’t supposed to, but many did and do - as previous poster said, a fare is a fare, and many passengers struggling to find another option just weigh up the risk and take it.

When I was at sixth form in the early noughties and going out with friends in Bristol, we’d prebook a licensed minicab to take us home at the end of the night and our mums would always tell us to ring the head office and check that the cab which had arrived was the cab we’d booked / they’d sent before we got in - so yes, it was “a thing.” No experience with the police, though sadly suspect that officer training around it possibly wasn’t good enough decades ago that some officers wouldn’t have gotten annoyed at someone refusing to open the door without confirmation.

Sarah Everard possibly did “know” she could, in an abstract sort of way: but if you’ve no prior experience of dealing with the police, and like I imagine Sarah did, come from a background where you’re generally taught to be law-abiding and trust the police, challenging them isn’t the first thing on your mind - you’re just worried that you’re being told you’ve broken the law and what will happen to you for that.

Edited

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I think still today there will be police who wouldn't cope well with their authority being challenged especially with the adrenalin running. The DDA has thrown up many examples of this. I had a community NHS job where we took personal safety incredibly seriously so it was second nature to me to not take risks.