“Presented to the Flint Police in recognition of their contribution to community well-being in Flint”

These are the words engraved on a plaque presented to the police officers and police staff working in the North Flintshire Territory by Flint Town Council. To say that it is rare for a Council to do this is a gross understatement. I am extremely grateful to them for taking the time to thank us in this way; it really is very much appreciated.

On the 28^th of January this year, I received the plaque during a presentation evening hosted by Flint Town Council. I was extremely proud and please to be thanked in this way and to be presented with the plaque on behalf of all my colleagues is simply fantastic. Community Beat Manager PC Steve Harris, PCSO Matt Griffiths, and Sgt Scott Gallagher have all worked directly with the Council and done a fantastic job but, without the support of their colleagues in other rolls such as response, they would have achieved far less. This award really is as the Council intended, for all who work in North Flintshire. I therefore mustered as many staff as I could to attend and many came in while off duty. They often come into work in their own time but for once it was nice to see them doing so for such a brilliant event. Some of our special constable also attended, they work very hard for the Community putting in a considerable number of hours without being paid a penny. I can’t thank them enough.

So why have the Council given us this award?

Put simply, we have a fantastic working relationship with Flint Town Council that is a model worthy of some praise. The Council Members challenge us regularly over many issues but what is important is that we work in partnership to find solutions. When we ask the council for help, they always respond and do what they can. Of course we disagree at times but that is to be expected. It is though always positive. This means that we are able to work positively and dynamically as a partnership to achieve much more than is the norm. It says as much about Flint Town Council as it does about the police. I have been the Inspector for North Flintshire for over 2 years now and have seen much that the Town Council has done and witness first hand how it goes about business. I am therefore more than qualified to say that the Council is very hard working, dynamic, highly motivated and has considerable determination to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives or visits Flint. The same is true of the Police staff and officers who cover Flint Town. This therefore is a brilliant partnership that enables us to achieve a considerable amount from the resources we have. In other words, we get the best out of what we have and that is what the award is about.

To explain this in statistical terms, the below are some of the crime reductions we have seen in North Flintshire which have been directly contributed to by this partnership.

As a final note, I just want to say how please I am with the effort of all the staff in North Flintshire and the results they are achieving. This partnership did not happen by accident. It is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of the Police and Flint Town Council.