Celebrating achievement awards night

Officers and staff have been recognised for their hard work, bravery and dedication at the force’s awards evening.

Held at Pride Park on Wednesday 8 November the Celebrating Achievements Awards saw 15 trophies for outstanding contributions to making Derbyshire safer.

One of the awards presented on the night was for Community Police Officer of the Year, the winner was PC Anthony Scheck from Ilkeston Safer Neighbourhood Team.

PC Scheck is everything expected of a Safer Neighbourhood team member. He works closely with partner agencies such as local councils and charities to ensure that victims receive the right support but also that offenders are dealt with in the best way possible.

Another worthy winner was Normanton Safer Neighbourhood Team who won Neighbourhood Team of the Year.

The team work well together and are recognised in the community. They have forged many links with local community groups and organisations and are working hard to tackle the issues that are presented to them in a busy part of the city.

A Derbyshire Constabulary Award was presented to 14-year-old Thomas Taylor. The Derbyshire Constabulary Award is equivalent to the Chief Constable's Commendation for members of the public, voluntary or community groups to recognise dedicated or meritorious service to the police in support of law and order or in other circumstances which may warrant official recognition.

Thomas had noticed that the newspapers he was delivering to an elderly mans address were starting build up, he also noticed that a vegetable box on the doorstep was starting to go off. He raised his concerns with the newsagents who in turn contacted the police.

Emergency services attended and the man was found to have had a stroke and had collapsed. He was taken to hospital where they said if he had been left another 24 hours it would have been a very different story.

As well as the awards, officers and staff also received commendations from the Chief Constable and Crown Court judges, as well as the Police Federation Bravery Awards.

Chief Constable Rachel Swann said: “The Celebrating Achievement Awards are always a highlight of my year.

“To have all those people in a room – who have given so much to keep our county safe – was fantastic.

“The awards and commendations show the very best of our force – and the level of dedication on display is truly inspiring.

“Evenings like this always reinforce just how incredibly proud I am to lead an organisation of people who, day in day out, work tirelessly to keep our communities safe and the recognition they received is a small thank you for their hard work.”