Original subtitles

Police Scotland's Highlands and Islands Division

is Britain's biggest beat.

The geographical scope of where we police is phenomenal.

12,000 square miles of glens, islands,

deep lochs and towering mountains.

We do have some of the most dangerous terrain.

Where the hell is he? Where is he?

Even if you were a very good swimmer,

you're not coming out of there.

Patrolling this vast, wild landscape...

There are some vehicles out there,

but I don't think they're going to be...

..and answering emergency calls in the wilderness...

..the Highland cops go above and beyond to combat crime...

Clearly quite a bit of blood.

Suspicious death, same as you would get anywhere else.

..and keep people safe.

Leave me alone!

We will attend to everybody's worst day.

We need to try and make sure you're OK.

Here, traditional rural policing...

We've had a report of a satellite-tagged golden eagle

that's gone offline.

It shouts out to me that it's been killed.

..meets state-of-the-art crime-fighting.

Top drawer, there's a lot of rocks, a lot of cash.

This is cocaine, right?

So if it turns blue, then it is cocaine.

This series goes inside the UK's most unique police force...

One minute you're dealing with an avalanche... Come on!

..and the next you've got a lively Lab.

..to find out what it takes to patrol the beat...

It is a family. You are working with your brothers and sisters.

..and keep the peace... Police!

..in some of the most beautiful and challenging places in Britain.

The Highlands are quite unique in UK policing terms,

not just because they're so vast and sparsely populated,

but the terrain is quite hostile at times,

and so huge amounts of it are outwith the scope

of a conventional policing resource.

Police Scotland have always maintained a mountain rescue team,

a small, modest team of officers

equipped, kitted and capable of going anywhere,

regardless of the time of day, the weather or the terrain.

The Isle of Skye's Cuillin Mountains

attract climbers from across the world.

This is one of the most dramatic landscapes in Europe,

but its rocky peaks and treacherous ridges can be lethal.

The Cuillins on Skye are probably the most challenging

mountain environment in the UK, but yet it's beautiful.

It's just an incredible place, but it can catch you out.

It's 8pm.

PCs Cameron Hopkins and Sergeant Chris Tait

have been called to the foot of the Cuillins

in response to a report of a missing person.

Oh, here's the sheep.

HE LAUGHS Not wanting to move.

There we go.

Oh, no. I've started them all now.

That was a silly error.

Police in Dorset have asked for help tracing a man

who hasn't returned from holiday.

He's an elderly male.

He's in his mid-70s.

Climber Frank Johnson was reported missing by his neighbour

when he didn't come home as planned.

If somebody says, "I was expecting my friend home

"at a certain time, and they've not come home,"

and they don't know much about the route planning

or where they could be, it's quite a hard place to start.

I mean, the geography that we've got here is really wide,

so a starting point is quite difficult to find.

Cameron and Chris are heading to a campsite

where a car that could be Frank's has been spotted.

We believe we've found his car down at the Glenbrittle Campsite,

which is at the foot of the Cuillin Mountains.

There has been people that we think may have seen him this morning,

but nobody can kind of confirm that that was definitely him.

Here we are. Campsite.

It was a red Ford.

Yeah, that's him.

Yeah.

That's the front of the tent down there.

Francis?

It's the police.

I think an open mind is important because you don't know,

when somebody's gone missing, they could have left that morning,

they might still be OK, they might be injured.

In amongst the camping gear,

Cameron finds some prescription drugs.

Is that his med bag, yeah?

These could give some indication of when Frank was last in his tent.

So he had four aspirin left out of 28.

28, OK. Amlodipine was 28 as well. Uh-huh.

And there is one, two, three -

three atorvastatin left out of a pack of 28.

You are kind of beginning to get worried that

that person has not been in their tent for a couple of days.

You want to be able to try and find out where they've gone

and try and figure out the direction they might have taken,

because there is a potential

they're still alive out there, injured.

I can see a phone case in there, but there's no phone in it.

So it could be that he's got his phone with him.

I'm going to ask the sergeant what she wants us to do next.

From the location of the tent,

it seems likely that Frank was walking in the southern Cuillins.

You want to get out on the hill.

You want to make sure everybody's searching as quickly as possible.

But you're always worried about safety and risk.

An important part in the search for Frank is gathering information

to narrow the search,

and it needs an awful lot of conventional police inquiry.

With the hills in complete darkness,

there's nothing more Cameron and Chris can do tonight.

First thing tomorrow, more officers will join the search

and do whatever it takes to find Frank before it's too late.

Almost 250 miles north-east of Skye,

off the north coast of mainland Scotland, lies Orkney...

..an archipelago of over 70 islands, mainly rural and sparsely populated.

This is one of Scotland's safest places,

with the lowest crime rate in the country.

But despite its far-flung location,

the community here is not immune to the scourge of illegal drugs.

Today, local police are preparing to raid the home

of a suspected local drug dealer.

OK, so we have a misuse of drugs warrant.

So there's been significant intelligence

that she has been dealing both cocaine and heroin from said flat.

I'm not sure if yous have met her before.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, so you know what she looks like? Yeah.

They also believe that a man previously known to the police

is at the flat.

So the intelligence is that he may be in this address.

So he's one to look out for. He's known for violence.

He has been charged with police assault in the past.

Obviously, when we go in, keep that in mind.

PCs Dylan Mackenzie and Ewan McCurrach

are not taking any chances.

You got the van keys? Yeah, I hope so!

Yeah, me too.

Also on the team are other officers and detectives from CID

who will all assist in a raid.

It's important to stop drugs coming into Orkney because

it feeds into antisocial behaviour.

It can increase violent crime.

Generally, with drug use comes associated offending.

If we don't find any drugs or anything, it's still the disruption

of these persons that may be dealing drugs.

Personally, before we affect entry for a search warrant,

I'm not really thinking about anything other than

what I need to do when I get to the other side of that door.

And generally, I think in my head, because it helps me,

what are possible scenarios?

And what am I going to do if I come across them?

And that'll go through your head in a matter of seconds.

Ready? Yeah?

Police! Police with a warrant.

Hi. We've got a misuse of drugs warrant to search the place, OK?

Do you want to take her into a separate room?

The female suspect is inside the flat,

along with her male companion.

Police with a drugs search warrant, pal.

What I need you to do, mate, I need you to stand up for us.

Yeah. Cuffs on just now.

OK. See, once he's been searched? Bring him through.

He's all good.

If there's intelligence or information to suggest that

people in there could have a violent disposition,

timing is absolutely crucial.

We will get in, and we will secure them by placing them in handcuffs

and making sure that they are not going to present a threat to us,

themselves or anyone else.

Well, you've... Well, you've...

..on multiple occasions, just since we've been speaking to you...

Certainly there's a faint smell of cannabis.

I think it's a one-bedroom apartment,

so it shouldn't take us too long to search.

Doof, doof, doof, doof, doof, doof, doof!

Yeah, that's what...

BLEEP

Now the team needs to systematically search the place

for evidence of drug dealing.

Can you grab that pole? That side.

It can feel a bit strange searching someone's house.

A lot of the time, you're going through it with a fine-tooth comb,

because the things you're looking for can be as small as a SIM card.

It can sometimes feel like a bit of an invasion

into someone's privacy.

You are always conscious that you are looking through someone's stuff,

but more importantly, you've got a job to do.

It's quite a common thing for them to say that

you'll not find any drugs here.

It might be to sort of get in our heads

that we won't find anything in there,

maybe hoping that we won't search as hard for any drugs.

Where should we look?

On Skye, it's day two of the search

for the missing hill walker Frank Johnson.

PC Steve Harry Young is looking after the case.

We get calls every week to people on the hills.

Every week, every set of shifts,

there's at least one mountain rescue call where someone needs help.

Sometimes it's because they're ill-prepared.

They're trying to climb something in flip-flops

which they shouldn't be climbing.

But sometimes it's the experienced mountaineer.

The weather comes in too quick

and they get a bit stuck and caught out.

Steve has gathered more information

by speaking to Frank's friends and family.

He does have siblings who we've been in touch with,

even this morning, and they haven't had any contact with him.

Um... And they are equally concerned

that this is out of character for him.

Frank's sister, Dawn, last saw him when he stayed with her in Blackpool

on his way up to Scotland.

The first I heard, two police ladies arrived,

saying that Frank had gone missing.

And I straight away said, "That's not like Frank."

You know, "Something's wrong. That's not like him."

He wouldn't just have upped and offed without telling somebody.

Frank's friends have also told police that he enjoyed Munro-bagging,

a popular hill walking challenge

where people aim to climb every Scottish mountain over 3,000ft.

From what I can tell and what I've been told,

he's doing all the Munros.

He's only got about 20 to 30 left of the 280-odd that are there,

and he's meticulous in his planning.

So this is really out of character.

We know he's got good navigational skills.

He used to be in the Territorial Army.

He's an extremely experienced walker

who never goes beyond his limits.

Despite finding Frank's tent and car

at a campsite at the foot of the mountains,

the police still don't know what route he might have taken.

Five Munros are accessible from here.

He could have been climbing any of them.

Frank had a three-night stay at this campsite,

which he's now overstayed by some days.

A local mechanic has been called in to arrange access to Frank's car.

We get given a very narrow timeframe to be sent into a location

to find out as much information as possible.

As police, I think we need to be very discerning.

We have to determine a lot in a very short amount of time.

There's a pressure on that.

Thanks very much. No bother.

So all I'm going to do now is

just do a quick, systematic little check of the car,

just to see if there's anything that immediately alerts us

to his route or his whereabouts.

And we'll see where we get to.

Dorset Police have now confirmed that Frank owned

a satellite navigation device.

Our hope was that, obviously,

if he had a certain piece of technology, we could track him.

But this is the Garmin device here in his glove box.

I'm just looking for anything we can use to help us

work out his route.

Here we go.

So here, look, I've got some pages here with highlighted Munros.

Everything is extremely organised.

I've got what looks like a list of...

..Munros he's been crossing off.

The question in the back of my mind is, where can I get information

that's going to help me work out what's going on here?

Where is this person likely to be and why?

The guidebook in Frank's car could help pinpoint

which peak he was aiming for.

That was found on this particular page,

so I'll keep that exactly as it is.

And that might give us, again, just that bit of an edge...

..to know what he was thinking, where he was planning on going.

You're desperate for clues.

You're desperate for that one nugget of information

that will help focus search activity.

And when you find it and you get it, it's great

because you can give the family, potentially, some hope.

OK. Thanks. That's me.

In Orkney,

PCs Dylan Mackenzie and Ewan McCurrach

are searching the flat of a suspected drug dealer.

A female suspect and her male companion have been cuffed

while the search is in progress, but not yet arrested.

So a tick list would be names of persons that buy drugs from them.

Usually gone are the days when they actually have physical tick lists.

Normally they're on people's phones and whatnot.

So that's why we'd rather concentrate on people's phones.

Needle.

As the team turns the flat over,

more evidence of drug use mounts up.

So we've got a needle kit here.

This is obviously another suggestion of heroin use as well.

What appears to be herbal cannabis,

a very small amount of herbal cannabis.

I think that excessive drug problems and drug habits,

people in crisis will use it as a crutch.

Unfortunately, what they're doing is they're looking to do it

for an escape, but it just provides another rabbit hole to go down

that a lot of the time, unfortunately, they can't get out.

Your mum? Yeah.

Did she?

Sorry to hear that anyway.

It's all right. It's just the way it is, isn't it? Yeah.

It's not a nice life for anyone.

There's loads of drug paraphernalia within the bedroom,

which would indicate that they're taking drugs.

Nothing to suggest any drug dealing as of yet.

However, we have seized one of their phones.

Obviously, we can do various things with that, which would, um...

..help us prove a case of drug dealing.

Then Ewan finds something.

Another phone, the guys have found under the bed.

And shortly after, they have more luck.

Again, another phone.

If you go in a house and you find loads of phones,

stereotypically you could be thinking,

are they burner phones, used purely for the purposes

of buying, selling and supplying drugs?

It could indicate that maybe they are involved in drug supply,

or it could indicate that maybe they just have a chaotic lifestyle.

There's really no way of knowing until those devices are examined.

So that's why they're taken, because we can't assume anything.

It is a really positive result getting the phones.

Any warrant we do, we always seize phones

because phones have the most amount of data on them.

The team discovers four phones in total.

Search complete, Dylan shows the suspect all the items seized.

We've got this, which was herbal cannabis.

You've already said that's yours. It's a tiny amount, OK?

Likely... We'll obviously test it.

You can't take my phones. Yeah, we can.

So... So, as there's a warrant, we can take anything

that's deemed documentation. Anything.

I really need to get ahold of people today, like. OK.

Are these all yours?

No, but some of them are broken.

But they all were yours at one point?

Yeah. We're taking it, OK?

You found BLEEP nothing!

How do you have the right to take my phone?

Because we have a warrant. So? I've done nothing wrong!

So, why BLEEP should you be able to take my BLEEP phone?

I've just explained that.

It's a BLEEP joke. OK.

It's a BLEEP joke.

OK. That's fine.

If there's nothing else for me, then we'll leave.

What is important when people's demeanour change is that...

What we're taught is that they are losing an element of control,

so they're kind of going into a crisis.

That's why they maybe become upset, become agitated.

So you need to be able to be on your toes,

to anticipate what's going to happen next.

What reason are you taking the phone?

Because, as I've explained, under the warrant...

I have BLEEP been decent with you, right?

Watch your language. Watch my language?!

Watch your language.

I'm telling you, right, that is my phone!

I paid for it! Not you!

That is my family contact!

So don't you BLEEP dare try to take my phone.

Do you want to calm down? Calm down.

Well, how do you expect me to do it if...?

My mum's just died!

What the BLEEP? I need to call...?

That's the last message on my phone from my mum before she died!

At the end of the day, we are people as well,

and we appreciate that our actions can have sometimes

a massively detrimental effect.

I've got a lot of my life on my phone that

I would feel very affronted if my phone was taken off me.

But secondly, maybe they've got something to hide

and that's why they're going to have their back up about it.

I do understand how this impacts you. You don't.

I do. I do. Because everyone's lives are on their phones.

I do understand.

And that's your way of contacting your family. I understand that.

Although they're not being charged today,

the suspects will now need to wait

until their phones are analysed for evidence of drug dealing.

While looking after communities is a crucial aspect of policing,

the Highlands' majestic natural landscape

also needs protecting.

It even has its own dedicated police officer,

PC Dan Sutherland.

I'm really passionate about protecting the environment.

I think we all are entitled to live in such a diverse landscape.

We have to try our best to protect what we have.

I've been a police officer here in the Highlands

for over 14 years now.

It'll be coming up 15 years.

I love it here. It's a fantastic place to live.

Great environment, great place to work, great people.

Yeah, I've no reason to go home, back to the north of England,

that's for sure.

Today, Dan and PC Kevin Taylor are heading out to investigate

a complaint of damage

to a Site of Special Scientific Interest,

or SSSI.

Some SSSIs have certain features that are protected

in terms of the landscape.

So, whether that's geology,

the environment in terms of woodland or native species within an area.

The suspected damage is on private land

near the Glen Roy Nature Reserve,

a place that's earned its SSSI status

for its world renowned geological features

formed by glaciers during the last Ice Age.

The information we have is someone's been undertaking

a lot of work without authority to landscape his land,

which forms part of the SSSI.

So to do that without authority is criminal

under the Nature Conservation Act 2004.

So today our purpose is just to visit the land and see...

Make an assessment of what damage has happened.

For those in violation of SSSI regulations,

the consequences are severe -

with fines up to £40,000.

Dan has been trying to contact the local landowner.

Well, I've left two or three messages on a voicemail

with my office and mobile number,

and he's not called me back.

I don't know the reason why.

He'll not be expecting this, I'm sure.

We need to establish the seriousness of what he's done.

We'll be looking for signs of excavation

by heavy machinery and movement of the soil.

So I would expect that would be fairly obvious to us.

That's it there, isn't it?

So I'll turn and go back.

I'm not the professional in geology.

So we'll be utilising our NatureScot partners,

the complainer in this case.

Well, they're going to be taking the lead, aren't they? Yeah.

They're going to be taking the lead, like.

I'll just leave it here, Dan, I think.

Just take a walk down?

Dan's meeting members of NatureScot,

an organisation that monitors SSSI sites across Scotland.

They've filed a complaint against the landowner

and have requested police presence to survey the site.

There's only me doing this job full-time.

Almost like a jack of all trades sometimes.

I'm investigating wildlife crime,

but also investigating damage to the environment.

This must be part of the works yeah?

And there's further up there. Yeah.

Just got to find our complainers now.

I heavily rely on agencies such as NatureScot,

the government advisory service for Protected Landscapes.

And they can tell me what the damage is

and where we go from there.

This is part of the landscape that's been essentially damaged,

so they want to have a look at it, so we're just waiting for them.

We're just waiting for them to turn up.

But before NatureScot get to the site,

the landowner's son arrives.

We're looking at a number of offences

that have been given to us here, all right?

Primarily, I'm looking at the damage, all right?

The damage? The work that's been undertaken.

Like, for layman's terms,

someone's excavated this landscape,

and we need to establish if that's been done without consent.

And has it damaged the SSSI? Is that a criminal offence?

It will be. Really?!

Certain activities -

like simply moving substructure and sediment -

requires consent from NatureScot.

If it wasn't SSSI, it wouldn't be a criminal offence?

Is that what you're saying? Yeah, I'm led to believe so. Yeah.

Right, OK. So is it NatureScot that've got you guys involved?

Yes. Right, that's fair enough.

That's fair enough. You've got a job to do.

A complaint's been made. Yeah...

..which I think is a load of crap.

That's my opinion.

Ross McGregor's family have owned this land for over 150 years,

and they've been developing plots to sell.

It's really annoying because there's an opportunity

for people coming to this area that want to have a bit of land,

that they can put a wee shed, put a wee yurt,

put their caravan, put their tent on,

put something that doesn't need the planning, you know?

And you're saving yourself a lot of money.

It's like a lifestyle change.

NatureScot arrive to survey the damage.

They need evidence to back up their complaint.

No, he's not.

Just crack on with what you're doing. OK.

Don't take much to do with him, unless he really wants...

I mean, I'm not going to allow him to bother yous, like.

We'll just leave yous to crack on. OK.

Are you there, Dad?

But now the landowner is also on his way.

At police headquarters in Inverness,

it's day three of the investigation into the disappearance

of 74-year-old hill walker Frank Johnson,

who's gone missing on Skye.

A team of senior officers are piecing together

the information and leads they have on Frank,

co-ordinated by Inspector Matt Smith.

I've been a police officer for 23 years,

and for 21 of those

I've been involved in mountain rescue.

In mountain rescue terms,

we tend to have two types of job.

We have a rescue.

It's fixed point.

We've got to go up, solve the problem

and get them off the mountain.

Now, whilst they can be complicated, we know where they are.

Where things become difficult for us,

or more challenging,

is where we don't know where somebody is.

A list of mountains found in Frank's car

suggest he may have been tackling one of the five Munros

in the southern Cuillins.

Er, welcome, then, folks.

Go for Francis Johnson, missing person.

Morning, boss. So, I think the information

that we've learned - the tick list was useful.

I'm glad we found it.

The problem is, he has done that classic thing

of being someone that's completed just about every Munro

in Scotland and left these ones till last,

which is just what people do cos they're so difficult.

And there's a new lead.

A mountain guide spoke to Frank two weeks ago.

When the guide met him,

he described him as looking quite sort of despondent

that he'd tried to attain one of the Munros

to the south of the Cuillin Ridge and just not managed.

The guide also gave the missing person some tips

on how to attain the Munro he'd not managed that day

by a slightly easier route.

So if he's motivated to want to try that again,

that's definitely a possibility.

Further to that, I spoke to the doctor.

He was unable to commit to fitness levels

and what distance he'd been able to walk.

However, he did say that if he hadn't taken his aspirin

or other medication,

then it's conceivable that he could get halfway up

a 3,000 foot mountain and take a heart attack.

Often we'll know within hours of somebody being overdue,

or certainly by the next day.

This is really different,

because we are days behind the curve with this.

But the team now know that Frank was probably attempting to climb

the Munro Sgurr nan Eag.

That's perfect. We can see you at base for nine.

So, unless anything else comes in between now and then,

we can have a chat and go and see if we can find him.

OK, cheers. Bye.

In Glen Roy, Wildlife Officer Dan Sutherland

and PC Kevin Taylor are looking into a complaint

of land damage in an Area of Special Scientific Interest.

The Glen Roy SSSI covers a huge area,

and we're looking at damage to one small piece of land.

In this particular SSSI, the primary features are all geological.

It's happened 20,000 years ago.

The removal of the surface, soil, rocks and rock formation -

all that work requires a consent by NatureScot.

Specialists from NatureScot have requested police presence

as they survey the land for signs of damage.

So what have we got here?

Yeah.

OK. All the way down from this burn here,

all the way across?

Yeah.

The landowner, who Dan has been trying to get hold of

for several days, finally arrives on site.

Had we known you guys were coming, it would've been a different...

Well, you know the reasons why...

If you ever pick up my messages, I was explaining who I was

and where I worked, and I needed to talk to you about an issue

I've got coming up.

What is laughable is all this fuss about the land

where there's a couple of stags and a couple of Highland cows.

I think it's ridiculous.

We should be releasing more land than worrying about SSSI,

has that wee bit of road been dug up?

It's actually laughable.

We're going around in circles.

If you put your lifestyle hat on, I think you'd all agree

it's a lovely place. That's why people pay money to be here.

So it's finding the balance.

I totally understand that.

It's not the first time Alastair, the landowner,

has dealt with NatureScot.

It's quite funny to see them back again,

because after all these years we've developed and developed

and developed, and there's more and more properties.

So it seemed actually laughable that they're back on the scene

when across the hill, we've got Aonach Mor ski slope

where they're digging roads up all over the place,

we've a big hydro scheme where they're digging up mountains,

and no-one seems to say anything about that.

So that's it.

For me, as an investigating officer,

the easiest line sometimes would be to sit on the fence.

It's very similar to a neighbourhood dispute.

Sometimes we have to listen to both sides.

Are you quite content you've recorded that sufficiently?

Photography and...?

My two colleagues from NatureScot are just undertaking

the survey work.

They seem quite surprised and shocked at the damage

that's been viewed just up there.

So, at the moment, landowner's aware of what we're doing here.

Now, with NatureScot, it's just a case of waiting for them

to submit their report to me.

Now Dan's job is to weigh up

if the continuing development of the site

is in violation of its SSSI status.

Ultimately, it all comes down to is a crime committed?

And if a crime's been committed, we have to investigate

and push for a prosecution.

On Skye,

hill walker Frank Johnson hasn't been seen for two weeks

and there's growing concern for his life.

Inspector Matt Smith and PC Katie Johnston

are en route to co-ordinate the search.

The weather's not been clever,

and we've got quite a bit to go yet.

When you're driving to a search - your mind's racing, really,

as a search coordinator.

You've got the concerns about what it is you're going to do,

who's going to be there,

the information that you need to pass and brief

to all the volunteers that are turning up.

You're under an awful lot of pressure

to get people out in the mountains

and bring that person home as quickly as possible.

The mountain guide that last saw Frank

has revealed that he was heading for the Munro Sgurr nan Eag -

one of the trickiest climbs in the area.

The Cuillins specifically are such a challenging mountain environment.

If somebody's missing there,

you're immediately thinking the worst.

The chances of them falling,

and have sustained an injury - or probably a fatal injury -

are really high there.

And that's at the forefront of your mind

before you set out.

Assisting the police are volunteers from Skye's mountain rescue team.

He's been seen on the 7th of September,

that's the last known sighting, just down the road there.

And we know nothing more about him since.

He's probably going to be near a path,

and those paths have been really well trodden.

So he's not on one of the main paths.

He's off the path somewhere.

The search team is preparing for a sobering possibility.

After two weeks now,

we're not looking for somebody alive.

Or...a tiny possibility. Highly unlikely.

You know, anybody who hasn't been in that situation before,

please, you know, back off if you want to.

Yeah, I'm hopeful to find something, but this could go on for weeks.

The volunteer mountain rescue teams across Scotland

are vitally important.

And, quite simply, we could not do it without them.

We could not do it.

There's somebody out there on the mountains

having the worst day of their life, or potentially already passed away.

If that's the case, you've got a family at home.

And mountain rescue teams are the last hope for families.

If they're missing in the mountains,

there's nobody else that's going to find them.

And that pressure does sit on your shoulders.

And until we bring that person home,

sometimes they're never going to get the closure they need.

On days like this where the mist's out,

you're kind of walking up into them, never really quite sure

how you're going to get up them.

And you're trying even visually now to pick the path, the line.

How would I get up there?

These paths that we're on now stop really not that far up here,

so you've got some decision-making to do.

And that's why it's super easy to get in trouble here.

There's always the chance he's got higher quicker,

and that whilst traversing the ridge, maybe he's taken a fall

or gone off-direction,

but I think here we're just looking at somebody that's probably

come unstuck quite easily.

Sgurr nan Eag is the southernmost peak of the Cuillins,

and the approach routes to the summit

involve scrambling and crossing a treacherous ridge.

So, how are you going to pick your way up there?

The families are always at the forefront of your mind.

I can't really imagine what they go through.

In my heart of heart, I thought he's lying unconscious

and unable to tell somebody where he was.

There is always hope while you don't know.

You hold on to the thought that he could be found.

The search team has walked over seven miles

and climbed nearly 3,000ft.

The amount of effort put into this search -

you feel like we're just ordinary folk,

those sorts of things don't happen to us.

And we're just in awe, really, of all of that effort

for my big brother, really.

It's a pretty tough day.

It's a pretty tough mountain environment.

So we searched into one of the corries

and up onto the mountain ridge, but obviously no sign of him.

So we're not surprised by that

because the mountain areas that we're looking for him

are pretty vast.

And, if nothing else, it's going to allow us to tick off

that area and probably not go back to it.

So it's been a productive day,

but obviously not a successful day.

You have the personal pride as well as a mountain rescuer

that you want to bring that person home.

And there's that element of maybe self-doubt -

you've not searched an area you should've,

that you've maybe missed the person.

And unfortunately for us,

sometimes these searches don't resolve quickly

and it takes a massive amount of time and effort -

volunteer time, police time -

to bring them home, ultimately, to their families.

With night fast approaching,

the decision is made to resume the search tomorrow.

115 miles south-east,

near the village of Ballachulish,

PCs Stephen Cooper and Roddy Sandeman

are on patrol.

Their beat certainly has its perks.

The scenery is, I suppose, the main draw.

The mountains just come right out the sea

from Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe.

It's not like city policing.

It's not like what you see on the TV normally, I would say.

It's not all pursuits and drug raids and things like that.

It's just getting stuck into the community and trying

to make your community better

is what it's all about, I would say.

Stephen and Roddy have received a call for help

from a local ecologist.

There's a cormorant stuck on the Ballachulish Bridge

and she might need a bit of help with it.

So we're just going to see if we can close the road

and just see if she needs a hand picking the bird up.

Roddy has ambitions to join Dan's Wildlife Crime Unit.

I've got my dogs and I love being out in nature

and seeing all the wildlife myself,

so it's a bit of a personal thing.

So, yeah, I love animals and want to protect them,

so that's kind of one of the reasons I wanted to be

a wildlife crime officer.

So that's it on the left there.

Just up here.

The bird is startled and could run into oncoming vehicles.

It's an extremely busy section of road on the A82.

There is a lot of heavy.

trucks and lorries travel over, a lot of fast moving traffic.

Certainly, if you've got a police vehicle with blue lights,

it definitely makes it a lot easier to help the bird

than you would if you were just a person on foot

chasing the bird around.

While Stephen diverts the traffic,

the local ecologist who raised the alarm tries to corner the bird.

Go on, get him, get him, get him! Get him, get him!

I don't want him to bite my face.

That's it!

So, pretty sure that's an adult cormorant.

Feisty.

Yeah, see, it would get my eyes if it could.

They overshoot the bridge.

They roost underneath it,

and sometimes they overshoot and they can't escape,

they can't get under the grid.

So I come and get them and release them,

make sure they're all right.

This one seems absolutely fine.

No injuries, so...

Happy that the bird is well,

they decide to set it free,

to join the rest of its flock on the loch.

One of Scotland's largest sea lochs,

Loch Leven is a sanctuary for thousands of birds.

This is, like, one of the most picturesque bits of the beat.

I think sometimes the area's more populated with wildlife

than people in the winter.

All right.

Three, two, one.

Yeah, don't come back!

Woohoo!

They dive at the end, which always makes me feel like it's all fine.

No injuries. I've not had one yet that's been injured,

so that's been good.

I feel sorry for them, though,

because obviously they're just trying to roost.

But when they overshoot, they can't do much about it.

And they're not very good at flying, taking off just from standstill.

They have to get a run and...

So they can't get off the bridge very easily.

But luckily I'm here

and I've got my towel and my gloves, so...

Thanks very much. Thank you.

Thanks for the blue lights.

Cormorants do get stuck there all the time.

I know I see their bodies, unfortunately,

on the side of the road a lot.

It's maybe not the best-designed bridge for cormorants.

It's nice to help them where you can.

80 miles north is the Highlands' only city, Inverness.

On a Friday night, the landscape here can be just as hostile

as any mountain.

Being a police officer in Inverness is a busy, busy, busy job.

Because, you know what I mean, you come in the morning

and sometimes you will just enter the door

and the call is already ready for you.

You don't have time to just say hello

or have a cup of tea in the morning.

You're just straight out.

PCs Nathan Raynor and Mo Sarwar are on the night shift

in the city centre.

I think it's like everywhere, you know?

Friday, Saturday night,

a bit too much to drink and you start causing issues.

But... Sometimes you just get happy drunks.

They just want to come say hello to you, take a picture with you.

You know what I mean?

We're just going to have a wee circle,

and then we're going to park our van

and just walk about,

go to different pubs to see everything is OK.

I always wanted to be a police officer.

But, you know, when you're born in an Asian household,

to become a police officer, in my opinion,

is just the last thing.

Because they always want to be doctors or engineers.

In April, 2020,

when my dad died,

I said to myself, like,

"Look, life is too short."

You know? And you don't know what is around the corner.

So I said to myself, "I want to be a police officer,"

like, you know?

And I said, "Why not?"

So, like, we have a very good relationship

with the local bouncers, you know?

So if anything's going on or something,

they always just let us know. Wahey! Hello, chaps!

How are you doing?

The night is young

and the bars and clubs are starting to get lively.

You do get good people, you know? How you doing, mate? Hello.

How many we got tonight? Yeah, good. And you?

Yeah, good. How many we got tonight?

The weekend shift in Inverness is interesting.

Because when the people get drunk,

they do different things.

Like, sometimes they just become silly.

You know what I mean? And they just come to hug you

and say hello to you.

Can you take a picture of me? No, can we get in the car?

Which is fine.

People having fun - we don't mind that.

But sometimes people just start becoming aggressive.

Hi, guys. You all right?

Mo and Nathan spot two customers arguing with the bouncers

outside a pub.

I'm not saying... I am not saying I was, but...

I have not... These guys have...

Do you want to have a chat with us? No. Come on.

Come with us, buddy. Come on.

They... They pushed us...

That's OK. Just come and have a chat over here. Come on.

Just here. Where are you going?

So what happened? Do you want to tell us?

No.

What are you up to tonight? You do your own things.

You do your BLEEP own things.

Look, you don't need to swear.

You don't need to swear. No.

No, now, guys... You don't need to swear.

You don't understand. These guys there...

BLEEP

We're trying to find out what's happened.

You're shouting and swearing at us... We were just having a drink...

Go home so we can speak to your friend.

Oh, my arm is so BLEEP sore.

You, you're a BLEEP.

Now, listen... No need for that.

BLEEP

OK, look.

You're on your last warning.

If you don't stop swearing, you're going to be arrested.

OK? You're on your last warning.

You can just go home, OK?

You can just go home.

We just want to have a conversation with your friend

to find out what happened.

We always try to give a warning

just to say, OK, maybe that person is drunk, you know?

Or maybe that person is, like, suffering from mental health,

so that's why he's saying these nasty things towards us.

We always give a benefit of doubt.

It's very important to stay calm when people are drunk

because I have noticed that in my short career,

like, when people are drunk

and you try to be more kind of aggressive

or you're not going to be calm,

they think they're invincible.

One of the men ignores all advice to calm down.

He said to me, the bouncer inside the bar...

BLEEP

I'm just saying...

BLEEP

You've had more than enough warnings, right?

You're just going to cause issues tonight.

BLEEP Get him against there. What are you doing?

BLEEP

Against the window, Mo, and we'll get cuffs on.

In my opinion, I think I'm more a little bit lenient.

There's not, like, a right method,

like, how much warnings you can give to somebody.

I think it just depends and varies on officer to officers,

like, you know what I mean,

what they think is a breaking point, you know?

We gave you so many chances to stop swearing at us.

When it's reached the limit,

we said, "OK, unless we're going to arrest him,

"we're not going to be able to find out what actually happened."

Unbelievable.

Other officers in the area come to assist the arrest.

The man will be held in the van until he settles down.

Grab a seat there, all right?

It sounds as though he's actually just been removed from the bar

and not been happy about it.

So we're just trying to get them out of the town,

get them home for tonight, and make sure there's no further issues.

BLEEP

The man's friend is complaining of a broken arm.

Have you had any injuries with your arm before? No. OK.

No, you're not going to order me about to do something.

Have you got a phone on your personal possession?

Yeah. You're not bleeding profusely.

You don't seem like you're in a severe amount of pain.

We've got somebody in the back of the van.

I've got a broken arm, mate.

We can't be taking you up to the hospital just now.

Have you got a phone on you?

OK.

We face abuse every single day, you know, in this job.

But still, like, I don't keep any grudge against the people,

because I think... I think, like, it's not me.

Maybe it's just the uniform.

Minutes later, and now a bit calmer, the man is released from the van

and persuaded to leave with his friends.

There's two lads just walking up Church Street at the minute.

We've been speaking to them for a while.

Just wondering if CCTV could keep an eye.

They're saying that they're just going to make their way home,

but just to make sure.

Hiya, everything is OK here?

Sorry? Everything is OK here?

My mum says, every time she talked to me,

because she's living in Pakistan,

so she always says to me, like, "Are you OK?"

You know what I mean, and stuff like that, you know?

And, "Nobody's too horrible to you

"when you arrest somebody?" and stuff like that,

I say, "No, no, everybody is just nice," you know, and stuff.

It's just a mother thing, you know?

It's near the end of Nathan and Mo's shift,

but the streets show no sign of quietening down.

You all right, buddy?

What's the deal? What's happening?

Is that the police? Aye, it's the police.

Yes, it's the police. What's happening? You OK?

The man has been threatening bar staff after they asked him to leave.

Right, I'm listening.

See, there's loads of them up there

that are saying you're causing hassle and all this, right?

I am causing hassle.

You are causing hassle?

Yeah. Well, you don't want to do that if you're always in the bar,

because you end up getting barred.

Yeah. Come on, we'll walk with you, OK?

Listen... Good lad. Come on.

I'm listening to you.

You have a good night tonight?

Besides that issue? I tried to, guys. That's good.

Do you want to have your chicken pakoras before you go home? MAN CHUCKLES

The best part of the job is I feel satisfaction when I help people,

and they can see that, like, the person inside that uniform

is a same person like they are.

That's good... He...

He... BLEEP

Don't go back to that bar, OK?

We're not going to buy them for you. OK!

You're in the right place. Guys, please have a good night.

That's OK. You too. OK, look...

On Skye,

after two days of searching for missing hill walker Frank Johnson,

the mountain rescue team makes a sombre discovery.

There were a group of volunteer teams out,

and they were just...

Had taken a different search area

into a different corrie,

and through a really good visual search,

they had located what they assumed was potentially a body

up off one of the ridge lines.

On investigation, and when the team went up,

they found...they found Frank.

A phone call came saying that, yes, they had found a body

on the mountain.

It was a sense of relief, really.

It was... It was very, very sad...

..um, but Frank died doing what he loved doing.

It's believed that Frank fell while attempting a dangerous ridge

on the ascent to the Munro Sgurr nan Each.

To be able to find him,

tell the family that we'd found him,

when in a mountain environment like that,

you're always wrestling with the fact

you might not find that individual.

There would be places that people could fall or come to harm,

and you may never find them in the Cuillins -

but, thankfully, to get closure so quickly

was actually quite a positive thing for us.

PC Steve Harry Young is gathering Frank's belongings

from the campsite.

It's always important to bring dignity to those situations

where we're packing up belongings,

and if we're retrieving belongings for a loved one,

we know that we're doing that

to help bring them some comfort, some closure.

We've not been able to help

and bring about a different, more positive outcome,

but we can do our best and deliver the best service we can.

My thought process is trying to deal with this

and pack things away as he would.

So, for me, this is about dignity

with a view that whoever these belongings go back to,

they're in the best state possible,

they've been handled with all due care,

because that's just the only right thing to do here.

Sorry, Frank.

Sorry.

It's a constant reminder that we're all people,

we're all human, we all need help in times of crises.

Sometimes help gets there too late.

Frank was four years older than me,

so he was always, um...

He looked out for me.

He was my big brother.

There's a lovely photograph

of when he was just setting out to do the Hadrian's Wall

a few years ago, and that's how we'll remember Frank,

with a pack on his back, setting off to go on his next adventure.

You can't choose the way you go,

but if you could, that is what Frank would have chosen,

out in the mountains.

This time the mountain won,

and it was a worthy opponent, is all I can say.

It was just so sad...

..but the mountain won - and it was a big mountain, wasn't it?

Next time, in Inverness, detectives close in

on a major county lines drug gang from Liverpool...

You just have to be prepared for anything.

These groups aren't afraid to use weapons.

Police! Police!

Crack cocaine and heroin.

..a lost dog gives the police the run-around...

Rex, Rex, Rex!

I think we need cuffs for dogs.

..and the mountain rescue team is battling the elements

to retrieve a body seen floating in a river.

A human could be in there

and snagged and caught in the water flow.