As he rose through the ranks of various departments of the Metropolitan Police, Christian Plowman dreamt of being an undercover cop. When he finally achieved his ambition, becoming one an elite group of officers, the reality of covert work turned his life into a nightmare.
To catch criminals, Christian bought and sold drugs with taxpayers money, been beaten up, arrested at gunpoint and barricaded in a pub by a gang of marauding gypsies all in a days work. At one stage, he was running almost a dozen mobile phones to keep track of his different identities and had so many aliases that he nearly forgot who he was. He put his life on the line for the job but was to find that being the best of the best wasnt all it was cracked up to be. The pressure became so intense that he even contemplated suicide.
Crossing the Lineis a visceral, gripping account of what it really takes to be an undercover cop. It exposes how the Met conducts its business behind the scenes and reveals the harsh realities of modern covert police work.
Christian Plowman is a decorated ex-police officer with 16 years' investigative experience, mainly in the covert arena. A specialist in undercover operations and recruitment and management of informants, he spent years working in a variety of roles for Scotland Yard. Since leaving the police, Christian has worked in the private sector. He currently works overseas as a national security manager for a fashion company.
A candid account of life as an undercover policeman, as told for the first time by a former Metropolitan Police Officer>