When ATV found they had a five-minute gap in their schedules in 1962, they offered the time to the Metropolitan Police as a public service.
The result was Police 5, debuting on 30 June 1962 in London and presented – as it was for many years – by Taylor, who had been a television quizmaster.
The programme appealed for the public’s help in solving crimes and tracing missing persons and articles.
At first, the police were suspicious of the venture but eventually came to appreciate it as a valuable aid in the fight against crime.
In the 1970s there was even Junior Police 5, (also known as JP5) which, far from investigating burglaries into doll’s houses or jelly baby-snatching, sought the help of youngsters in solving bank raids and so on.
Known in the underworld as ‘whispering grass’, Shaw Taylor always signed off with the reminder to “keep ’em peeled”.
Taylor died in March 2015, aged 90, at his home in Totland, Isle of Wight.
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When ATV found they had a five-minute gap in their schedules in 1962, they offered the time to the Metropolitan Police as a public service.
