For more information about Jane’s Review Police Awards please see:
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Winner Community Police Officer of the year Award 2009:
PC Shaun Brady
Force: Merseyside Police
Career highlights: PC Shaun Brady is a cornerstone of Liverpool's Riverside community who has managed to forge a relationship of trust between the police and residents in the area as its dedicated ward officer.
At the start of 2000 the Cockburn Street area had the highest levels of crime and disorder in the ward and PC Brady's force says there was a lack of trust between residents and the police.
His dedication to the Riverside residents has contributed to anti-social behaviour falling to its lowest level in years and trust rising so much that he spends much of his off-duty time fielding calls from residents.
To turn this area around he undertook several projects, from obtaining dispersal orders in streets with high levels of anti-social behaviour to gathering intelligence from local residents leading to a drug dealer being arrested and £10,000-worth of drugs and £5,000 in cash being seized.
While he started work as the dedicated neighbourhood officer for Riverside four years ago, PC Brady is no stranger to the area. He has spent 10 of his 14-year career as a community officer working in the Liverpool south basic command unit.
PC Brady says it is the length of time he has spent in the area that has been key to his success in Riverside. He explains, “I have worked here my entire career.
“A lot of the new officers lack confidence and if you get someone coming into your area and doing the job for 10 months and then leaving you cannot build up trust. Residents need to know you are going to be in the place for a long time.”
While all neighbourhood policing officers give out their work mobile phone numbers, PC Brady has gone one step further and made his personal mobile phone number available as well. He says the increased trust from the community is worth the many interruptions to his home life.
The community recognised his work in April when he was given the public champion award at a Riverside awards ceremony.
Steve Roberts, a former deputy assistant commissioner at the Met representing ACPO, says, “He is dedicated to one of the most demanding wards within one of the most socially deprived areas in the country, Toxteth.
“He has broken down traditional attitudes of mistrust toward the police and helped to form networks of key individuals who will help the police to provide a better and more targeted service.
“As a result many drugs and other crime operations have been launched making Toxteth a safer and better place to live. His efforts have been rewarded by a marked downturn in both crime and disorder in his area.”
A force spokesman says, “Councillors and residents alike have asked supervisors: "Give us more like Shaun.”
Second Place Community Police Officer of the year Award 2009
PC Craig White,
South Yorkshire Police
Third Place Community Police Officer of the year Award 2009
Sgt Daniel Williams,
Metropolitan Police
Winner Student Police Officer of the year Award 2009:
PC Marcus Forbes-George
Force: Gloucestershire Constabulary
Career highlights: PC Marcus Forbes-George is described by his force as 'incredibly proactive' and does not stop work when his shift ends, as criminals have discovered to their cost.
Learning the ropes as a student officer at one of the busiest stations in your force area is no easy task. But PC Marcus Forbes-George has managed this, while making more arrests than any other officer in his division. The 24-year-old from Gloucestershire Constabulary made 158 arrests in 2008, more than three times the average of his fellow officers at the Barton Street station.
Reaching this ‘staggering’ figure, as his divisional commander refers to it, means that the Police Review Student Police Officer of the Year often makes arrests while off-duty. For example, on 9th August this year he was travelling to Cheltenham on a train while off duty when he overheard three youths saying they were going to the town to buy drugs. PC Forbes-George passed on their descriptions to local officers who were waiting for them at the station on their return. In June 2008, again while off-duty, he spotted a couple shoplifting. After detaining the man and calling for uniformed officers to take him into custody, PC Forbes-George spent three hours searching the town to find his female accomplice. This led him to the car the pair had been using where £800 of stolen goods were recovered.
PC Forbes-George says he joined the force hoping to find a challenge. He says, “I felt it would be both a challenging and rewarding role. I wanted to work for an organisation that I felt could help people and in turn bring justice to those who commit crime and cause misery to law-abiding citizens.”
PC Forbes-George’s enthusiasm for the job has not gone unnoticed. Ch Supt Nigel Avron, Forest and Gloucester divisional commander, says “The young officer has achieved a lot in his short time with the force. Despite his relatively short service, he has demonstrated exceptional levels of self-motivation and professionalism. He has shown a real aptitude and enthusiasm for all aspects of his role.
“While working at one of the busiest stations in the constabulary and being in the formative stages of his career, he has managed to be incredibly proactive. He has made a staggering number of arrests, exceeding all his colleagues within the station, as well as the division as a whole.”
He adds, “He is not a one-dimensional officer. He is capable and conscientious in providing help and assistance to those coming to police notice for other reasons. His calm and collected manner has in the past allowed him to prevent a person from committing suicide and also assisting someone having a heart attack.”
Second Place Student Police Officer of the year Award 2009
PC Graham McMinn,
PSNI
Third Place Student Police Officer of the year Award 2009
PC Michelle Clarke,
West Mercia Police
Winner Community Support Officer of the Year Award 2009:
PCSO Ellie Beaumont,
Force: Staffordshire Police
Career highlights: When a woman in Ellie Beaumont's Burton-upon-Trent beat was being abused by local youngsters, she stepped in to help.
But the woman refused to alter her daily routine to avoid the teenagers, so Ms Beaumont accompanied her on her regular bus route every day for two weeks, even altering her shift pattern to do so, until the problem was resolved.
This year, Ms Beaumont has set up eight anti-social behaviour contracts and last year she seized more than 150 bottles of beer from hot spot areas.
Her force says she also single-handedly wiped out anti-social behaviour from two cul-de-sacs being terrorised by 40 young people by seizing alcohol, carrying out patrols and collecting litter and organising graffiti removal.
PC Gai Palmer, the east Staffordshire anti-social behaviour officer says, “Ellie takes real pride in her role and in her commitment to the community. She proactively targets youths within her area whom she feels are in need of support and guidance.
“Ellie gets to know these youths and their families; she works so well with her community because she takes the time to understand the needs of the people she serves.”
Chris Sims, former chief constable of Staffordshire Police, says: ‘Ellie understands the concept of community engagement and the fact that this is an important part of her role. She has given her all to the community she serves, and local authority partners and councillors speak extremely highly of the impact that she has made. There are numerous examples of the excellent connection that Ellie has made within her community and it is clear that she always strives to go the extra mile in everything she does.’
A force spokesman concludes: ‘Ms Beaumont is without doubt one of the hardest working and committed CSOs employed by Staffordshire Police. She will endeavour to assist either the community or her colleagues in any way she can. Her impact is always immediate and positive; she consistently pushes the boundaries of what a CSO is able to achieve.
Chris Sims, former chief constable of Staffordshire Police, says, “Ellie has given her all to the community that she serves. Local authority partners and councillors speak extremely highly of the impact she has made.”
Second Place Community Support Officer of the Year Award 2009
PCSO Mandy Malins, South Wales Police
Third Place Community Support Officer of the Year Award 2009
PCSO Suzie Carr
Thames Valley Police
Winner Jane’s Police Review Diversity in Action Award 2009:
Operation Make Peace, Metropolitan Police, PC Young and PC Atkinson
Force: The Met
Quote: On winning PC Young explained, "We feel very privileged to win this award and though our work we really hope to make a difference to the young people in London who otherwise maybe drawn into carrying weapons or joining a gang.”
Team highlights: Operation Make Peace, run by PC Michael Atkinson and Sgt Paul Young of the force's CO19 firearms unit, is a scheme designed to divert young people from gun and knife crime. The team takes presentations to schools across London about imitation firearms, legislation on guns and knives and gang affiliation issues.
The team also meets parents of youngsters whom the force believes are on the periphery of criminality, to tell them about protection schemes and how to avoid criminal lifestyles. The mother of a teenage murder victim is involved in the presentations to show the impact of guns and knives, the force says.
Few people are willing or able to divert vulnerable youngsters in London from gun crime. Police Review’s Diversity in Action Award 2009 winners Sgt Paul Young and PC Michael Atkinson show Polcie Review how it is done
Since the scheme started in January the team has delivered presentations to more than 1,000 young people, according to the force.
By the end of the presentation one presentation, the group of young offenders cannot take their eyes of the two officers who make up operation Make Peace. The young people were asked to fill out feedback forms – seven out of the eight said the presentation would stop them using guns and six said it would stop them from being in a gang. One youngster in Peckham was so taken aback by the presentation, he has said he wants to join the force.
The younsters listened, asked the officers questions and challenged them. Clearly taking in the information.
Sgt Young commented, “I think we do have a positive impact on these kids. They do not have to say the presentation will stop them joining gangs, but 90 per cent of them do.”
Diversity award judge Julie Nesbit, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says, “Guns, gangs and knife crime is sadly a phenomenon of 21st century. The Met’s innovative work is tackling this issue right at its heart and is having positive results.”
Jane Stichbury, HM inspector of constabulary and also a diversity award judge, says, “This nomination was impressive. It was great to see CO19 officers being really proactive with young people. Their work also focuses on parents, and how young people can be assisted to leave gangs. Feedback from the presentations was really powerful. This is a critical issue today, and the work of CO19 officers provides the prospect of saving and changing lives.”
A spokesman for the force said, “Operation Make Peace is an initiative that is impactive; several audience members at the presentations have been reduced to tears.”
Second Place Diversity in Action Award 2009
Community Safety, Rutherglen & Cambuslang Community Policing Unit,
Strathclyde Police
Third Place Diversity in Action Award 2009
PC Esther Wisbey
Essex Police
Winner Lifetime Achievement in Policing Award 2009:
Sgt Gwynfor Lloyd, South Wales Police
Force: South Wales Police
Career highlights: Retired police sergeant Gwynfor Lloyd left the service in mid-June after 30 years of service, 29 of which he devoted to policing the Maestag area.
Mr Lloyd has previously held the deputy command position for the sector and was often relied upon to perform acting inspector duties, the force says.
While working as a communities sergeant, PC Lloyd set up police shop fronts in schools and community centres and set up citizen focus forums, which the force says were precursors to the partners and communities together process.
PC Lloyd has also won magistrates' commendations for burglary investigations and convictions; in his last year of service he attended 162 incidents and arrested 16 suspects.
Mr Lloyd, 50, retired from the force as a sergeant on 14 June 2009 after 30 years and 25 days of operational service. All but one of those years was spent serving the Maesteg community (Bridgend) where he lived, while his entire career was spent in operational policing.
A force spokesman says, “He devoted his life to serving his community, and for the entire length of his service remained within uniformed operational policing roles, most recently in the vital and ever changing role of neighbourhood policing.”
According to the force, the Maesteg area lies to the north of the force’s Bridgend division and comprises former mining communities that suffer from high levels of unemployment and deprivation.
Mr Lloyd’s career saw him working in custody, response units, communities and neighbourhood policing, while he also held the deputy command position within the sector and was regularly relied on to perform acting inspector duties.
He was a promising rugby player as a youngster, told Jane’s Police Review that he decided to join the police service after hearing stories from an uncle.
Lloyd explained, “My uncle was a serving police officer in Maesteg, so from a young age I heard lots of exciting stories about police work from him. He inspired me to join.”
“No two days were the same and I have been privileged to work with some tremendous people, all of whom I have the utmost admiration for. The main advice I would give to student officers is do not be afraid. Most mistakes can be resolved, so the important thing is to go out and get the job done, enjoy yourself and be positive.”
Peter Vaughan, deputy chief constable, says, “Sgt Lloyd is an ambassador for the force and an inspiration to junior and senior colleagues alike. His passion and commitment to frontline policing is legendary.”
Second Place Lifetime Achievement in Policing Award 2009
PCSO Roger Brian Anthony, Dyfed-Powys Police
Third Place Lifetime Achievement in Policing Award 2009
Sgt Richard Johnson, Greater Manchester Police
Jane’s Police Review is a publication of IHS Jane’s, an IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) company.
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To speak to Chris Herbert, editor Jane’s Police Review, about the awards please contact Mandy Castle, senior manager public relations IHS Jane’s, (contact details at top of page).
For further information on Jane’s Police Review Awards please see:
http://www.janes.com/events/awards/policereview/
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