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Officer turned comic hits the big time

Published: Wednesday 9 July 2014

A police officer turned successful comedian has spoken of his delight at being given one of the most high-profile and influential evening slots on BBC Radio Four.

Humberside Sergeant Alfie Moore (pictured) has been on a three-year career break to further what has been a hobby – and has proved an increasingly popular face on the stand-up circuit.

And now talented spotted by the BBC his first radio appearance – called A Fair Cop – is being aired on Radio Four at 6:30pm for the next three Wednesday evenings.

Sgt Moore – who has already featured on PoliceOracle.com – said he was continuing to draw on his law enforcement experiences in his material, and had been pleasantly surprised with the reaction.

He said: “The subject matter really suits me – the audiences seem to like it, the anecdotes I use are things that actually happened and the politics of policing keeps everything current.

“Each week we see something new and different appearing in the press about the Job, whether that is fitness tests or something the Home Secretary says – policing is firmly in the news.

“I had been performing at a festival and was really surprised when people from the BBC came up to speak to me – they invited me down to speak to some of their executives.”

The career break has certainly been a success for Sgt Moore – his experience in his force has seen him serve in a variety of roles including crime investigation, although he returned to uniform and a neighbourhood team to focus more time on his comedy.

As his stand-up routines started to take off, he embarked on his career break, adding that the force had been “really good” in giving him the time to develop himself.

Sgt Moore revealed that his BBC show would draw on different situations he had encountered during his law enforcement career – and give the audience a chance to participate in dealing with them.

While the tone would be humorous, he said that the subjects tackled – including how to deal with a suspected drink-driver – would represent the real dilemmas faced by officers.

Sgt Moore already has a string of performances including the Edinburgh Festival under his belt – but admitted that a show with 1.3 million listeners represented a new challenge.

“I thought I would take a stand-up comedy approach but would include plenty of interaction with the audience,” he added. “But the stuff is factual and about real laws and regulations – I hope that people will take to it and better relate to policing as a result.”

A Fair Cop starts on BBC Radio Four at 6:30pm on July 9

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