IF - Northamptonshire Police

To coincide with National Poetry Day on October 6, Northamptonshire Police has recorded a version of If—, by Rudyard Kipling.

The poem features lines of the classic poem read by officers from across the organisation.

Northamptonshire Police’s version was the brainchild of PC Rob Welsford.

He said: “I had the idea during the London Olympics. I was on a unit covering the tennis at Wimbledon and many people will know one of the lines from the poem, ‘If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same’, are written above the tunnel for the players.

“I was struck by how much of it applied not just to life, but to policing‎ in particular.

“Policing is all about living by a code, doing the right thing. Trying your absolute best even when the chances of success aren't promising.

“It's about ‎perseverance, talking to people from every background, about fairness, courage and humility. It's about service, about picking yourself up, dusting yourself down and carrying on.”

This inspired PC Welsford to film the poem being read by staff from all across the organisation, including a range of departments and ranks.”

He added: “We are one big family.”

The final line has been changed to replace the world ‘man’ with ‘police’ and subsequently reflect the family nature of the organisation.