Eastern Division Award Ceremony

Long service

Three police staff have been recognised for serving over 20 years with North Wales Police.

Human Resource and Training Officer Lesley Crawford, Neil Ackers who is a Managing Assessor in Occurrence Management Unit and Wrexham cleaner Gaynor Cookson have been employed by the force for 22 years.

Work as a temporary administration clerk turned out to be just the starting point for Lesley when she first took up a post with NWP in 1986. Over the past two decades, the now HR and Training Officer has spent time working in various roles at both Wrexham and police headquarters in Colwyn Bay – including work in the control room.

In 2004 Lesley was awarded with a commendation from the Divisional Commander for her dedication, commitment and professionalism to the Eastern Division which encompasses the counties of Flintshire and Wrexham. During Lesley’s time with NWP, she has also gained a HNC in Business and Finance through NWP and NEWI.

In 1985, Neil Ackers joined NWP as an Administration Clerk in Colwyn Bay through a Youth Training Scheme. During his time with the force he has served at various locations including St Asaph, Llandudno and has gained qualifications.

In 1994, he gained a HNC in Business and Finance and completed a Financial Skills course for Senior Police Managers. His time with the force has also seen him work on secondment to the Police National Information and Co-Ordination centre in London for the G8 summit and in 2006 he received a Divisional Commander’s Commendation for his dedication and commitment to training staff.

All three staff were presented with their certificate for 22 years of service in the ceremony on Tuesday, October 7.

Commendations

Eastern Division Sex and Violent Offenders Unit

(*Officers/Staff names have been removed as they have requested no publicity and no photographs be taken by the press*)

The dedication and professionalism shown by three police officers and two members of police staff who work at the Sex and Violent Offenders Unit has been recognised.

The team who cover the Eastern Division continually deal with the highest risk offenders in both the division and force.

No one should be in any doubt of the significant demands placed on the team and the importance of their role both operationally and administratively. They have regular contact with other forces, agencies and the Home Office and they are not afraid of challenging procedures and coming up with new initiatives and ideas.

They have embraced new changes to procedures and are regularly ambassadors for the Division amongst the many partners with which they deal.

The team very much have a proactive attitude and their knowledge of legislation and procedures in this complex area is second to none. They are often involved in challenging and difficult operations and have seen considerable success in this regard.

Their team spirit and enthusiasm for this demanding day-to-day job is an inspiration to all.

The unit have received a Divisional Commander’s Commendation for dedication and professionalism to the Eastern Division.

PC 235 Angela Jones PC 2475 Gareth Pearson (South Flintshire)

One evening in January police received a call raising concern for the welfare of a man in the Flintshire area.

PC Jones and PC Pearson attend at the home of the man and quickly established that the man was inside a car in a garage. The officers however were not in a position to remove the man from the car due to the size of the garage. The officers forced open the blocked garage door and had to pull the car out of the garage before they could remove the unconscious man.

The officers administered first aid to the man who had a very feint pulse. The Officers had the foresight to remain calm and contacted the North Wales Ambulance service and were guided through the most appropriate first aid procedures. They continued with these procedures until such time that an ambulance and paramedics arrived at the scene.

 The Divisional Commander commended their bravery, professionalism and first aid skills in dealing with this serious incident.

OPERATION LEYBURN

Sergeant 1426 Steve Owens PC 2474 Lisa Evans PC 2398 Leigh Evans PC 2522 Simon Williams PC 2607 Alison Lee PCSO 2860 Neil Jones PCSO 2807 Craig West Assistant Divisional Officer Stephen Roberts Special Constable 9028 Jerry Lloyd PC 16 Keith Sinclair MR Andrew Jones, CCTV Operator (Wrexham CBC) Detective Sergeant 2204 Richard Rees (on behalf of the op Leyburn investigation team)

In the early hours of Sunday 5th August, 2007, two young males (one Scottish, one Polish) were involved in an altercation in Hightown, Wrexham whereby the Scottish male later armed himself with a kitchen knife and fatally stabbed the 23-year old Polish male four times.

Part of this incident was captured on local authority CCTV by Mr Andrew Jones, the local authority operator, who alerted police to the fact that the suspect was armed with a knife. Officers were dispatched to the area with the knowledge that a knife was involved in the incident. On arrival and without fear for their own personal safety, the officers immediately alighted from the vehicle, and arrested two people, one of whom was the armed suspect and the knife was recovered.

A major enquiry was set up at Wrexham police station.

To support with the line of enquiries the division’s Polish speaking Officer, Police Constable Keith Sinclair, was requested to provide assistance with regards to his language skills and his knowledge of the local area. His assistance proved invaluable at the time of the event and also throughout the investigation as well as his ability to introduce the Family Liaison Officer to the family of the victim.

The offender was consequently charged with murder and during the Case Management phase the Investigation Team at Wrexham CID worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service with enquiries made in Scotland in order to secure a successful prosecution.

Due to the hard work and dedication of the Investigation Team the suspect appeared for trial at Mold Crown Court and on Tuesday 4th December 2007 he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, the judge recommending that he should serve a minimum of 17 years.

Divisional Commander commended the Response Officers, Special Constabulary Officers and PCSO’s for their professionalism, bravery and tenacious actions in dealing with this serious incident.

The Divisional Commander commended PC Sinclair for his professionalism and invaluable polish language skills and liaison with both the victim’s family and the wider polish community.

The Divisional Commander commended Mr Andrew Jones, CCTV Operator at Wrexham County Borough Council for his diligence and pro-activity in initially identifying a serious incident and then supporting the subsequent police investigation.

The Divisional Commander commended the Operation Leyburn Investigation Team.

Detective Sergeant 2204 Rees accepted the award on behalf of the Investigation Team

Sergeant 1724 Stephen Hughes (Wrexham town)

In the early hours of 29th January, police received a report that four males were involved in a fight in the Hightown area of Wrexham and that three of them had suffered stab wounds.

The injured males immediately required hospital treatment and were transferred to the Wrexham Maelor hospital whilst the fourth male (the only male without injury) was arrested.

Sgt Hughes was the night Sergeant working in Wrexham town and took control of what turned out to be multiple crime scenes where all involved were both victims and offenders. All parties involved were required to be separated and protected in hospital and the gathering of evidence from the crime scene was made difficult due to the atrocious weather.

As a result of Stephen’s management skills and the efforts of his team, all parties were quickly identified and all CSI opportunities secured where the knives used in the attacks were recovered and statements provided.

Before the end of the shift, Stephen ensured that all details relating to the incident had been collated and an excellent hand over package was provided to the morning CID briefing for the CID Officers to continue with the investigation with all the available information at their disposal.

This was a most serious incident which was managed at the highest level where every officer involved acted in the most professional manner. The outstanding leadership evidenced in the management of this event was clearly a standard to admire by those on the rota considering promotion.

This was an extremely and potentially life threatening incident which required prompt and effective policing response. The work conducted on the night in all respects was truly outstanding and lead to one person being charged.

The Divisional Commander commended the professionalism, dedication to duty and excellent supervisory skills of the officer whilst he took the role of Bronze Commander.

Detective Constable 2455 George Howat (Public Protection Unit)

In 2007, DC Howat dealt with a woman who had repeatedly been the victim of serious assaults by her partner. In 2007, police received a report that the partner had threatened to kill her.

DC Howat took the decision to video interview the victim. The interview was shown to the Crown Prosecution Service who supported a prosecution.

The perpetrator was arrested and charged with threats to kill and remanded in custody. He leaded guilty.

In 2007, the perpetrator appeared before court and was sentenced to imprisonment. This allowed the victim to attempt to re-build her life as well as giving her confidence in the Criminal Justice System again.

The Divisional Commander commended the officer for demonstrating diligence, tenacity and professionalism whilst dealing with an extremely serious domestic incident.

North East Wales Search and Rescue Team (NEWSAR)

Iain Ashcroft (Team Leader) Huw Birrell (Deputy Team Leader – Former Police Officer) Becky Waudby (Deputy Team Leader)

The North East Wales Search and Rescue is a specialist organisation of search volunteers who are often called out at short notice for vulnerable and missing persons.

In the early hours of Tuesday 29th April 2008, Police were called to deal with a vulnerable male who had gone missing from the Wrexham area. His vulnerability combined with cold weather conditions, led to immediate concerns for this person’s safety. All immediate Police enquiries, together with a search by the North Wales Police helicopter, did not manage to locate the man in question. With all police lines of enquiry exhausted, NEWSAR were called upon to assist with the search.

NEWSAR Search Leaders Huw Birrell and Iain Ashcroft quickly arrived at the scene and took control of search management. Scientific search management techniques were applied, instructions were then passed to other NEWSAR search volunteers who systematically searched the surrounding area. At approximately 05.45 hours that same morning, items of the missing male’s clothing were found. This added to concerns for his safety, as it was a cold night. At this time, NEWSAR deployed search dogs to pick up any scent from the clothing and as a result the missing male was found approximately 5 minutes later. He was fit, safe and well.

The professional search activities applied by NEWSAR culminated in a vulnerable missing man being found in the very early hours and at a time when concerns for his safety were increasing.

This is not the only occasion that the team’s services have been called upon by the division as they also assisted in a major search around the village of Trelawnyd in August this year following the disappearance of a man in his 50’s.

NEWSAR are truly a life saving organisation and therefore the Divisional Commander commended each of the above for their dedication, personal commitment and professionalism.

Operation Cinnamon (Wrexham North)

 Please note that all officers are police officers but were PCSOs at the time of the operation. PCSO 2813 KATE BITHELL (now PC 2716 Bithell) PCSO 2829 LAURA SALISBURY (now PC 2773 Salisbury) PCSO 2855 CHRIS WILLIAMS (now PC 2751 Williams)

In May 2007, PCSO’s Kate Bithell and Laura Salisbury highlighted how so much of their time was aimed at young people and felt they could do more for the elderly. Subsequently they came up with the idea of organising a day where they could bring the elderly together in one place and give a presentation on what the Neighbourhood Policing Teams could do for them and provide them with target hardening packs and crime prevention/reassurance advice together with contact details.

They recruited PCSO Chris Williams into their team who set about putting together a simple, but very informative, PowerPoint Presentation about the Neighbourhood Policing Team for the area. They looked on the internet for best practice ideas and came across a site called the Cinnamon Trust which is a National Organisation of Volunteers who help elderly people and they decided that Cinnamon would be an appropriate name for the event. The decision was made to make this a multi-partnership event and Trading Standards, Age Concern, AVOW, North Wales Fire & Rescue, Community Safety and many other agencies agreed to take part. Kate, Laura and Chris organised a buffet lunch and bingo with the bingo caller from Mecca Bingo in Wrexham agreeing to help out. Local businesses were very happy to support the operation and donated prizes for the bingo. The North Wales Police and Community Trust also provided funding to cover the cost of hiring the venue and covering the cost of food and drink.

The first Operation Cinnamon was held in the Memorial Hall in Gresford in December 2007 and was a great success. Over 100 people attended with positive messages received with many asking when the next event would be held. The partner agencies set up stalls around the hall offering a wide range of help and advice from information on Bogus Callers, Crime Prevention advice, Reassurance, Free Home Safety Checks and Fire Alarm checks and local activities for the elderly. .

Further events have been held at Gwersyllt Resource Centre in January, Coedpoeth in March and most recently in the Brymbo/Tanyfron area and again there was a fantastic turn out.

A great deal of hard work went into putting the concept together and making it a huge success. The Officers demonstrated great creative thinking without any prompting from other colleagues as they were all very young in service.

The Divisional Commander commended the officers for their initiative, dedication and excellent police work.

Mrs Susan Williams – Property Manager

Susan is the Property Manager for the Division, and has, since commencement in the role, developed the unit to provide a professional and efficient service. In particular, Susan has streamlined the process for secure movement and storage of property on Division, thereby ensuring greater efficiency, improved integrity and continuity in property handling. Susan has displayed extreme resilience in developing the procedures and staff resourcing of the property stores.

This year has seen the introduction of seized property onto RMS, and this has been an extremely challenging time for Susan as she has been piloting the system on behalf of the whole Force.

The pilot and implementation of RMS Property has involved a lot of additional work, for which the unit sees little direct impact; though will greatly reduce the burden on operational policing thus enabling officers to focus on frontline duties.

Susan has approached the responsibility of managing the Divisional Property store and, especially this pilot, with her usual enthusiasm and excellent work ethic with her work output being second to none. Susan has made a huge contribution to ensuring that a professional property management function is delivered for the Division.

The Divisional Commander commends Susan for her dedication, commitment and professionalism to North Wales Police.