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Police Officers, Staff and
Partners honoured at:- 'Community First Awards' 2017
POLICE Officers and Police Staff were
recognised for their dedication, professionalism and commitment to serving the
communities of Merseyside, at an award ceremony, that was held on Monday, 2
October 2017.
The inaugural Merseyside Police 'Community First Awards' saw
members of the force commended for a range of achievements including:-
dismantling criminal gangs, pioneering new investigative techniques,
safeguarding vulnerable people and building community relations.
Police Officers and staff were joined by community leaders, volunteers and
partner agency professionals who had also been nominated in recognition of the
work they do alongside the Police to prevent crime and protect communities.
The Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Andy Cooke QPM, was joined in
presenting the awards to the winners by representatives of the 10 companies or
organisations whose sponsorship of the awards night had made the event possible.
Young musicians from the Liverpool Institute
of Performing Arts showcased their talent during the evening's entertainment and
schoolchildren from the force's Mini Police initiative welcomed guests and VIPs
to the Hilton Hotel Liverpool, where the event was held. A raffle offering
prizes donated by sponsors raised hundreds of pounds for the High Sheriff of
Merseyside's charitable fund.
Speaking after all 12 awards had been given out, Chief Constable Cooke said:-
"I would like to congratulate all the nominees and winners for their
outstanding work in preventing crime, protecting our communities from harm and
for going the extra mile in helping those in need. Policing is a difficult job
and all of us joined fundamentally to make a difference and keep people safe. So
in these challenging times it was important to come together and celebrate the
amazing achievements of the staff and Officers that give their all to Merseyside
Police and the communities we serve. Putting our communities first is at
the very heart of everything we do at Merseyside Police and the outstanding work
carried out by the winners, the nominees and many other people in our
organisation is testament to that dedication, commitment and sacrifice. As Chief
Constable I feel immensely proud every day of the work I see being done not just
by the Police, but also our partners. It was a honour to host some of our
friends and colleagues in the NHS, local authorities and the charitable sector
who are motivated by the same goal as ourselves; to protect the public and help
communities improve. The awards night would not have been possible without the
generous support from the local companies and organisations who kindly sponsored
an award or donated a raffle prize. All the proceeds from the evening will be
going to the High Sheriff of Merseyside's Charitable Fund which helps groups run
crime prevention and educational and training schemes in our most deprived
areas. And finally my thanks and congratulations to the winners and nominees who
truly deserve to have had their moment in the spotlight so that their
achievements are recognised and can serve as inspiration to us all as we strive
to keep putting the communities of Merseyside 1st, despite the challenges we
face."
Amongst the winners were the force's firearms
unit who raced to Manchester to help Police colleagues deal with the aftermath
of the MEN terrorist bombing, a PCSO and enquiry Officer who organised for
community minded youngsters to have a trip of a lifetime to Goodison Park, an
Officer who devised an ingenious way of getting stolen cars back to their
owners, and a member of staff who help re-locate a dangerous sex offender.
Other winners included an A&E nurse who has diverted hundreds of children away
from knife crime through talks he does in his spare time, a Police volunteer who
uses her accountancy background to help detectives catch fraudsters, and
Officers and staff who have battled cancer and depression to return to the
frontline.
Merseyside's Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy, who presented Anfield boxing
coach Alan Walsh with an award for community service said:- "The Chief
Constable's inaugural 'Community First Awards' were a wonderful opportunity to
applaud the dedication, commitment and bravery of those who work around the
clock to keep our community safe. It was a truly humbling and inspirational
evening, recognising just a few of the acts of everyday heroism that are taking
place across the force on a daily basis. I warmly congratulate all of this
year's winners and nominees and thank them for everything they have done to go
that extra mile serving the people of Merseyside. We are incredibly proud of
them and appreciate their service."
The winners were:-
Chief Constable's Award - Insp Ian Jones, Bootle Community Inspector.
PCC's Award - Alan Walsh, Anfield and North Liverpool Boxing Club.
Police Officer of the Year - DC James Milligan, Hi-Tech Crime Unit.
Team of the Year - Matrix Firearms Unit.
Recognition Award - Rob Jackson, Nurse Clinician, RLUH.
Volunteer of the Year - Andrea Phipps, Economic Crime Team.
Leadership Award - Sgt Michael Volynchook, Force Contact Centre.
Diversity Award - Phil Hume, Hate Crime Advisor.
Service Award - PCSO Paul Burns and Enquiry Officer John Munro.
The Tom Wright Award in recognition of exceptional commitment in the face of
serious injury, illness or person tragedy; Constable Ross Dutton, Constable Sue
Parton (and 2 other nominees who preferred not to be identified publicly).
Innovation Award - An Officer who preferred not to be named publicly from the
force's Vehicle Crime Group.
Employee of the Year - A member of Police Staff who preferred not to be named
publicly, from the force's multi agency safeguarding hub.
The award category sponsors were:-
Liverpool Football Club.
Everton Football Club.
Liverpool John Moore's University.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner.
Airwave Motorola.
Dell EMC and SBL.
Police Mutual.
Willmott Dixon.
Mace.
Morgan Sindall.
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