Chief inspector who has championed safety of women appointed MBE
An officer who has championed the safety of women in the City of London and forged key partnerships to assist victims has been recognised with an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List.
Chief Inspector Caroline Hay, 39, is the first City of London Police officer to be awarded an honour by His Majesty King Charles III.
She has spent nearly 20 years in frontline policing having started her career with the Metropolitan Police Service and transferring to City of London Police in 2020.
During her short time with the force, she has engaged partners from Corporation of London, local business and charities to partake in Operation Reframe – a monthly operation focusing on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG), in the night-time economy.
Chief Insp Hay, who lives in Hertfordshire, also runs Wecops, an online space to draw together the national policing family and partners to share experiences and learning in bi-weekly hourly chats. Through this platform and collaboration with subject matter experts, it is allowing police staff to influence the national policing agenda.
Chief Insp Hay said: “I’m deeply grateful, humbled and still a little shocked to receive this honour. I accept this award on behalf of all the fantastic everyday police officers, which I consider myself to be. Those officers who just want to serve the public, bring the community together and remove criminals from the streets.
“We’ve taken huge strides to make the city safer for women and girls and that is down to dedicated police officers and engaged partners all working together on a common goal.
“I joined the police when I was 20 and knew it was the career for me, as I wanted to help people. Women play a vital role in operational policing. We bring a different perspective and prove day in and day out that brute strength isn’t always the key to bringing a dangerous situation to a successful conclusion. Working in policing brings about daily challenges but there are few more rewarding experiences when you’ve secured the right outcome for the victim, who are at the heart of everything we do.”
Chief Insp Hay also sits as a board member for the National Policing Strategic Review, chaired by Sir Michael Barber and The Police Foundation.
T/Commissioner Pete O’Doherty said: “On behalf of everyone at City of London Police I am delighted to congratulate Caroline on her honour from the King in recognition of her work in local policing in the capital.”
“Caroline has worked tirelessly and with such compassion to drive our activity in response to violence against women and girls.
“Operation Reframe, our police led partnership approach to keeping women safe in the city at night, that Caroline has been so instrumental in developing, has become a leading safeguarding initiative in the city to keep women in the nighttime economy safe and feeling safe.”