PCSO hailed for his commitment to safeguarding children and tackling knife crime in Manchester city centre

PCSO Dave Stirrup, who is a friendly face in Manchester city centre, was awarded PCSO of the Year at our annual Chief Constable Awards.

As his role as a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), Dave plays a vital role in coordinating and implementing crucial training sessions for local hotels, businesses, and their employees across the city centre to ensure they are well prepared to identify signs of child exploitation.

The training sessions aim to support business owners and employees to identify potential victims of child exploitation and, where necessary, how to alert police officers so they can intervene before any young person comes to harm. By increasing awareness of the indicators of exploitation, we can better prepare people to recognise the signs and how to report their concerns to us.

Dave has been with GMP for seven years and has been commended by colleagues and local businesses for his commitment and tireless work to make Manchester a safer place.

As a direct result of these training sessions, working with Manchester City Council (MCC) and other partner organisations, we’ve been able to safeguard several vulnerable children and arrest offenders.

As well as coordinating these training sessions, Dave is also responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of Operation Sycamore, which is the city centre’s response to tackling knife crime.

As part of this operation, officers regularly undertake a range of targeted activity including intelligence led operations in hot spot areas, weapon sweeps, visits to habitual knife carriers, and education sessions in schools to explain the dangers and consequences that come from carrying a knife.

Dave’s role also includes to review and submit intelligence, identify potential links between organised crime groups, suspects, and repeat offenders, and identify emerging threats and issues, all to make Greater Manchester safer.

Speaking to Dave after his win, he said: “It was a complete surprise to be nominated, let alone win, and I feel so honoured.

“Piccadilly Gardens is both a challenging and rewarding place to police, and I am looking forward to the redevelopment of the area and the positive impact it will have on our communities. Playing a part in the safeguarding of vulnerable young people in the city centre is very satisfying both personally and professionally.

“The success of these operations is based on the people within our team and across GMP and I am proud to work with them every single day to keep people safe and protect our communities.”

How to report

Information on online child abuse can be found on our website here Advice for parents, guardians and professionals | Greater Manchester Police (gmp.police.uk).

If you are a victim of child abuse, or worried for the safety or wellbeing of a child, find out below all the different ways you can get in touch. Even if you are not one hundred per cent sure, please report your concerns. Your information could help our trained officers and staff protect the child.

If you suspect someone is in immediate danger, call 999 now.

If it is not an emergency, please get in touch in any of these other ways:

• call our non-emergency, 24/7 number: 101. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service on 18001 101
• visit a police station to speak to an officer in person
• contact the NSPCCto speak to a professional practitioner
• contact the children's social care team at your local council
• contact Fearlessconfidentially and anonymously