Douglas Boulton spent over 25 years with the Staffordshire Police Force. During his time with the Force, he worked as a patrol car driver and a patrol motor cyclist with his duties including attending and dealing with numerous road accidents and other road related incidents.

In 1981, after successfully completing an Accident Investigation course, Douglas joined the Accident Investigation Unit and worked as a senior accident investigator until he retired in 1993. His duties within the unit included investigating all fatal and potentially fatal road accidents that occurred within the Force area, to ascertain their cause and to apportion blame where necessary.