Leaders celebrated
Last night, the police service celebrated the professionalism of police officers and staff across the country as the Airwave Police Professional Awards were presented at a gala ceremony in London.
Last night, the police service celebrated the professionalism of police officers and staff across the country as the Airwave Police Professional Awards were presented at a gala ceremony in London.
Winners of the awards included two detective chief inspectors, a detective inspector, detective sergeant, the head of a Force Communications Centre, director of Information Services and the head of law enforcement organisation Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP).
Yorkshire and Humberside had four out of the seven winners, with two coming from West Yorkshire. The remaining winners represent the CEOP centre, Kent Police and the Met. However, most of the awards were closely fought and Scotland and Northern Ireland were also strongly represented.
Recognising leadership and innovation in developing sustainable policing practice, the awards saw officers and staff of every level, plus members of partner organisations, compete for the prestigious awards.
The Airwave Police Professional Awards are the only policing awards to receive nominations from the whole of the UK and this years included every rank from PCSO to deputy chief constable and staff equivalents from police forces, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and partners such as local authorities.
In the end, judges identified winners by the clear evidence contained in nominations of passion and leadership to change policing practices resulting in a major difference in public safety and confidence in the police. Winners were able to demonstrate tangible outcomes either within their organisation or nationally.
The awards were sponsored by Airwave without whose support the awards could not have taken place.
Police Professional offers its congratulations to the winners and finalists, all deserve national recognition and we hope they enjoy continued success.
Scientific Development
sponsored by Anite and Forensic Science Service
Winner DS Martin OFarrell, West Yorkshire Police
Runner-up Andrew Watson, BTP
Organisational Performance
sponsored by Serco
Winner Carol Drake, Kent Police
Runner-up Chief Superintendent Kevin Lambert, Northumbria Police
Crime Investigation
sponsored by Niche Technology
Winner DI Sue Hickman, South Yorkshire Police
Runner-up DC Kevin Chandler, BTP
Business Area Development
sponsored by McAlpine Helicopters
Winner Jim Gamble, CEOP
Runner-up ACC Ian Seabridge, GMP
Community Reassurance
sponsored by CJS Event Solutions
Winner A/DCI John Thirkettle, Humberside Police
Runner-up Bill Oddy, West Oxfordshire DC
Personnel Development
sponsored by IPJ
Winner Heather Croft, West Yorkshire Police
Runner-up Chief Superintendent Charles Phelps, MPS
Career Achievement
sponsored by RIG Police Recruit
Winner DCI Ian Chiverton, MPS
Runner-up A/Commander Sharon Kerr, MPS
Scientific Development
DS Martin OFarrell
West Yorkshire Police
As a result of his efforts, there is no doubt the police scientific world and that of the investigator have been brought closer together.
Since 2005 and as part of Operation Advance, DS OFarrell, who leads West Yorkshires Forensic Intelligence Unit, has driven the forces efforts to improve the detection rate of offences where a scientific hit exists, whether that be a fingerprint or a DNA match.
In October 2003, the force recognised that scientific identification produced by scientific support was being distributed randomly throughout the divisions, and as a result, many identifications were not being investigated fully or professionally.
As a direct result of this, many offenders were not arrested in a timely manner or not brought to justice at all. At this point the force ratio for identification raised to detections was 60 per cent. Some of the main reasons for this breakdown were: a lack of a measuring and auditing system; a lack of intel