Of course, they won’t always get it right and some decisions will be questioned.
That is something we see in the series. But, surely, it’s about the intent behind those decisions.
The officers are acutely aware of ever-looming police ombudsman scrutiny, but there needs to be a conversation about the realities of policing Northern Ireland’s streets.
I watched, for example, masked up youths on high-powered scramblers taunting the police, racing in front of them in the city centre streets.
The peelers knew if one of them fell off their bikes during a chase, it would be the officers’ careers in jeopardy. That needs to be looked at.
But, I also learned when getting to know these officers, their lives on shift are about friendship.
Practical jokes; coffee breaks; banter; and, certainly in my experience, plenty of slagging for the journalist tagging along in the back of the car.
That’s the bond – they call it “the police family ” – that helps these peelers stay together and resilient when, say, faced with dozens of angry people outside a sex offender’s house.
On that night, it’s all about those split-second decisions – speaking to community leaders to urge for calm; talking to the man in question, barricaded in his house, to discuss an exit strategy; working out a plan with the PSNI’s Tactical Support Group to take him safely out the front door and away.
So, the officer asks the man one final time: ‘Ready?’
And with that, they’re out the door, tactical specialists to the front and back, a line of officers blocking the angry residents, the man’s head down low as officers shout instructions and bundle him into the waiting police vehicle.
Then it’s over. The residents disperse. The officers get back in their cars and it’s another call, another dash through the Belfast night on just another shift.