22 GMP officers and staff recognised

22 GMP officers and staff have been recognised by the Chief Constable in the latest ceremony at Hough End.

The monthly event sees employees receive commendations and recognition for long service with good conduct.

Among those recognised were three officers with 20 years’ service, seven members of police staff with 20-30 years’ service, and two retirees – including a police constable who has spent the majority of his 30 year career in the Tactical Vehicle Interception Unit, pursuing thousands of cars and bringing many offenders to face the criminal justice system.

Chief Constable Watson also awarded commendations to two teams of officers – including a sergeant and two constables whose bravery has been widely recognised, both internally and externally, after they located and traced a wanted individual in an isolated area, allowing the force to safeguard a vulnerable mother and child and remove a dangerous weapon from the streets.

Addressing the audience, Chief Constable Stephen Watson said: “This is always a nice event to attend and to participate in. I offer my own thanks and congratulations to recipients of commendations and those who are receiving recognition of long and distinguished service and, of course, those people who are retiring and we hope move on to a well-deserved next chapter in their lives.  Within the recipients of these awards is a group of people who bring tremendous experience and tremendous resilience, which stems from that experience. Experience is where wisdom is derived and wisdom is the triumph of experience and graft – of putting yourself into difficult places and, very often, putting yourself into an environment where events move rather more quickly than you’re sometimes equipped to deal with and, as a result, you have to develop on the spot. When you have been doing that for many years, you develop a sense and it is a sense that I would describe as wisdom and it is that that translates into the leadership that you all embody. Every one of you is a leader – whether you’re leading by example, whether your courage has shone through to inspire others, whether it is thinking outside the box in gripping hold of a very difficult corporate issue and making it better, whether it is your core role in supporting the front line or indeed being on the front line yourselves. You have all contributed through years of talented years and endeavour.”