@31: Police Community Support Office (PCSO) != Special Constable (SC).

SCs have the same powers of arrest and training as normal police officers but are generally volunteers and so don't get paid. PCSOs have no more powers than any other member of the public and exist to provide support to regular police. They do get paid a full salary though.

In this case, whether the policeman was a PCSO or SC he should have known better.

Babbage made a few bits of the Analytical Engine but it remained even more unfinished than the Difference Engine.

There are (Java) emulators available from Fourmilab's excellent pages so that you can get an idea (minus the steam engine) of what it would be like to use.