Bob Taylor - Supercop

Bob Taylor is a typically blunt and straight talking Yorkshireman who had an extraordinary career as a detective in West Yorkshire.  He had a perfect conviction rate, and had led hunts for notorious criminals and killers like Michael Sams and multiple killer Paul Hobson.  He was a junior officer on the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper and witnessed many of the pitfalls the enquiry threw up.

    He also worked for the National Crime Squad in which major drug barons and criminals were targeted, and in total worked on more than 150 murder enquiries.  His autobiography tells of all his highs and lows in his career.  He also spells out how he never looked down upon street girls for their chosen profession.  He recalls a surveillance operation where he was near a dwelling of a prpostitute known as "Thunder Thighs" and watched how well dressed men came and went, dispelling the myth that the girls` punters weremen in raincoats.  As a team leader, during the Ripper hunt, two of his men came up with theories that eventually were found to be correct.  The worn boot; obviously a lorry driver said one of his team, and this man knew by experience.   Another looked at the locations of the attacks and murders and believed the assailant was branching out from home.  This was the essentials of geographical profiling, and the start of the attacks was around the Bradford areas.  Both theories were dismissed by senior officers.  Just like Andy Laptew`s conviction that a man called Peter Sutcliffe should be looked at very closely.

    Mr Taylor successfully obtained the conviction of Paul Hobson for three murders in Leeds.  Hobson, a biker, later on admitted the death of an elderly man that Mr Taylor strongly suspected him of, though he admitted that at best, Hobson would only have been charged with manslaughter.  More of his successes included the capyure of a couple of very dangerous rapists.

    When there was talk of doing a British version of what the FBI and their BAU had achieved, naturally there were the whingers, crying that some killers would expect priveleged treatment in return for their co-operation.  Really?  Would the questioners adopt the same approach that the BAU did?  Anybody wanting priveleges, they simply walked away from.  Doh!!  Bob Taylor said that if it stops one killer from committing more murders, then it is worth everything.  A typical reply from a dedicated cop putting the protection of the public before costs or the whingers.  Mr Taylor, great respect.