During David Woodlands 19 years service with the Metropolitan Police, the thin blue line came under intense pressure. In addition to the routine caseload of gang crime, murder and armed robbery, Irish terrorist groups launched a vicious and prolonged terror campaign.The author, a Detective Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Branch at New Scotland Yard, witnessed a series of major scandals. He reveals why many otherwise honest detectives strove to rectify defects in the law that allowed professional criminals to evade justice. When Sir Robert Marks, the newly appointed Police Commissioner, described the CID as the most routinely corrupt organization in London, there may have been more than an element of truth in his extraordinary claim but it devastated the publics credibility in the CID.Using his own cases and experience, he demonstrates the difficulties faced by a depleted, demoralized Police Force not least the enemy within. is a gripping, shocking and instructive insiders account of sharp end police work. Salutary lessons are learnt about the effect of PC and human rights on the preservation of law and order.