The shooting of Mark Duggan by armed officers in London last summer prompted scenes of anarchy and violence across England as rioters took to the streets with one thing in common: a burning hatred of the police.

This week the gritty documentary series focused on the difficult task of policing the mean streets of Nottingham in the weeks leading up to the riots.

The programme gives front line officers a voice, offering us a candid look into their world of work – and frankly, it is not always a pleasant sight.

The police in last night’s episode were getting punched, spat at and subjected to a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse, and yet for the most part retained a relatively calm demeanour.

Even before the unrest, police admitted they were continuously playing a game of Cops and Robbers – the goodies versus the baddies – in the endless fight against crime.

Many of the delightful souls being arrested during the programme were quick to scream about police brutality – with handcuffs in particular proving a sore point for their flailing wrists. “They’re not fluffy handcuffs,” said one officer.

An unpleasant albeit minor encounter for the police was with a group of four alcoholics boozing in the street and arguing over whose turn it was to take a bite out of a cheese sandwich. One of the drinkers, a feral, toothless individual, turned nasty with the officers and was pushed over for his trouble. He was taken to the police station, where we learned that his name was, rather appropriately, Drain.

He was a classic example of what the police call SNAF – subnormal and useless, with an expletive of their own thrown in for good measure.

Another challenge was to break up a family feud involving about 30 people at a 14th birthday party. Children aged 13 and 14 were drunk but their behaviour was nowhere near as delinquent as that of the staggering, potty-mouthed and petulant adults. It was shameful to behold.

One rather uncomfortable scene involved police pushing the 14-year-old birthday girl over after she allegedly swore at them.

This did seem heavy-handed, but then again, they had a situation that was spiralling out of control.

Officers admitted that their uniform no longer commanded respect, and if anything, it seemed to inflame anger even more. Following the death of Mark Duggan and the onset of the civil unrest, one officer said: “I think it snowballed. People really did take the opportunity there to just behave like animals.”

It was at this point that the police in Nottingham feared for their lives, as yobs took to the streets, attacking police stations with petrol bombs and throwing bricks at patrol cars, turning the streets into a war zone.

One policeman said that if an officer was going to be killed, it was going to be on that night.

Police undeniably come under scrutiny and criticism in their line of work, and sometimes mistakes are made.

However, watching the boys and girls in blue speak candidly about the challenges they face, and the utter contempt they endure from certain sections of the public, you have to ask yourself: Could you do a better job?

I don’t think I could.

Heather Broome