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23| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,S eptem ber 20,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca OPINION s through xperts. LOCAL NEWS What you NEED to know today. UNSOLVED Follow the cases that still baffle law enforcement. EVENTS It's your community activity planner. Our custom-made newsletters allow you to focus in on your favourite topics. Sign up for FREE today! Newsletters collect the local stories you need to know and deliver them to your inbox… Sign up now: WaterlooChronicle.ca/newsletter Local issues thr the eyes of exper WATERLOO - When Alec Neville walked the beat as a street bobby with Lon- don's Metropolitan Police, officers didn't carry a gun, and the job was all about building community ties. "People got to know you, and if you didn't turn up at a certain time they would ring the police station and say, 'Where's my police offi- cer?' They'd give you a cup of tea as well." But things changed for- ever in August 1966, when three police officers were gunned down in what be- came known as the Bray- brook massacre in West London. A special firearms unit, known as D6, was set up, and the call went out for volunteers to help train offi- cers in how to use guns. Neville, who'd served al- most eight years in the Roy- al Marines, including as a firearms trainer, was one of just 10 officers hired for the new unit, helping pioneer firearms training in the largest police service in the United Kingdom. Neville, who is now 93 and lives in Waterloo, was honoured this past weekend for his historic contribu- tions to policing in Britain. At an outing in Caledo- nia organized by the Inter- national Police Associa- tion's Western Ontario branch, Neville was pre- sented with a plaque and historic pins from his for- mer unit, where he served more than 25 years. The event honouring him even included a guest appear- ance by several members of Toronto's tactical unit, in full SWAT gear. The police association's Paul Schmitt praised Ne- ville as "a legend in his time." When he contacted tactical officers in Toronto about the presentation, "they knew the Neville name right away." Back in 1966, when Ne- ville and his colleagues set up the forces' firearms training, they were as- signed to an abandoned po- lice station on Old Street. "Our range was in the basement," Neville recalled Monday. "We put a load of sandbags against the wall. We stood the targets up and we had the guys shoot at them. They fired 18 rounds on a test. If they scored 10 they were authorized." Later they moved to a for- mer POW camp, where they taught officers tactics such as how to carry out a house search, and trained special- ized guards assigned to pro- tect the Royal Family and other dignitaries, including bodyguards for foreign VIPs such as the king of Jordan. Today, Britain remains one of the few developed countries where most police officers are not armed. Only about seven per cent of offi- cers in London are armed, usually to deal with serious incidents such as sieges, armed robberies, terrorist attacks or diplomatic du- ties. In 1974, Neville retired from policing, and moved with his wife to Waterloo, where a friend had lined up a job as a security guard. He worked in security for a number of local firms, in- cluding Lear Canada and Uniroyal Goodrich. He re- tained policing ties through the International Police As- sociation, where he's been a member for 55 years. Neville admits he's as- tonished as how policing has changed. "All those men with all this armour and bullets and guns and hel- mets. We never dressed like that. All we had was just a uniform and a belt with a gun hanging on it." But he admits he's proud of his contribution to polic- ing. He's been delighted to get emails from officers he once trained, and was hum- bled by the recognition from his old unit. "It was a most excellent day," Neville said of the pre- sentation. "I will admit when I got home I had a good cry. I've never been ac- claimed for anything in my life. Twitter: @ThompsonRe- cord WATERLOO MAN RECOGNIZED FOR PIONEERING CONTRIBUTION TO POLICING Alec Neville, 93, was honoured for his historic contributions to training London police in the use of firearms when he worked there in the 1970s. Mathew McCarthy,Waterloo Region Record CATHERINE THOMPSON cthompson@therecord.com LOCAL ALEC NEVILLE WAS ONE OF JUST OFFICERS 10 HIRED TO HELP TRAIN U.K. POLICE IN HOW TO USE GUNS.