As a uniform PC and later as a detective I was never without a minimum of two pens and often carried three or more. There is nothing worse than being caught out without a pen when you must make notes or halfway through an important witness statement. I have never been a fan of biro pens and preferred to use a fountain pen, but I still carried a couple of biro’s to use when I needed to write on a self-carbonating forms.
Now in all my 28 years service I never learnt where some officers brought the ‘Longest Lasting Pen in the World’ from. You know the sort of pen which never seems to run out of ink. I’m sure that every copper reading this article knows at least one colleague who has had the same pen for years. You know the type, the guy or girl who is always slowest on the draw when it comes to putting pen to paper. The officer who has the same pen as issued at the training school and it still half full of ink.
There is only one reason that these pens last a long time and that is lack of use. If you know of an officer with an everlasting pen be sure to send him or her link to this article.