Public Servant Lifestyle

Farhad Ahmed (MBE) of the Metropolitan Police has scooped the title of 2003 ‘Special Of The Year’.

Plaudits were the order of the day for a number of Britain’s Special Constables at the annual Ferrers Trophy awards in London. Seven individuals - and two teams of Specials - received service awards, celebrating both outstanding commitment and innovation from Specials across the country.

Overall Winner

Special Of The Year, Borough Divisional Officer Farhad (Fred) Ahmed MBE hails from the Metropolitan Police Service. He was awarded the Ferrers Trophy for his work in helping to establish The Crime Prevention and Advice Centre, based at London’s Tooting Islamic Centre. The first of its kind in the UK, this facility has become an important contact point for local people, strengthened the relationship between the police and the South London Asian community and provided reassurance and an additional visible presence, particularly to the local Muslim population.

Five other individual officers and two teams also received awards for their contribution to policing:

Ferrers Trophy 2003 – Winners

Runner-up: Divisional Officer (DO) Guy Story, Cheshire Constabulary

Divisional Officer Story has made a significant personal and professional contribution to policing his community. His dedication to the Special Constabulary, together with his ability to lead, introduce and promote initiatives involving the specials have made him a highly valued officer, held in high esteem by regular officers and specials alike.

He has contributed towards a number of policing operations and planned many others, for example Operation Northumbria, a road safety and drink-driving initiative planned and implemented wholly under DO Story’s direction. DO Story also prepared press releases and gave radio interviews to raise the profile of the initiative and its aims

DO Story has also sustained involvement in managing a successful Specials’ community initiative, Operation Nobel, which has been running for four years

He has received numerous force commendations for his work and colleagues describe him as "an excellent ambassador for the Special Constabulary and the Police Service as a whole"

Teamwork

Team Award: The Neighbourhood Support Team (NST), Merseyside Police

The NST is a centrally based, intelligence-driven team of special constables, deployable across the force and able to provide high visibility policing in conjunction with local Neighbourhood police officers.

Neighbourhoods from across the force submit intelligence-driven bids for use of the NST to fulfill the force mission of ‘reducing crime and improving customer satisfaction’

The team worked alongside regular officers on a robbery reduction programme, which helped reduce robberies in Liverpool City Centre by almost 60%

The team is regularly deployed to target hot spots of anti-social behaviour at peak times of 19.30 – 23.30hrs then re-deployed to the city centre from 00:00 to 03:00hrs to assist with people dispersing from clubs and pubs

The impact of the team has been phenomenal. They have made 84 arrests and, in 32 weeks, performed 3956 hours of duty. Feedback from every BCU where they have worked has been positive, with requests that the team return on a regular basis. There is now a waiting list of requests from 35 neighbourhood areas!

The success of the team has revolutionised the way the special constabulary is viewed on Merseyside

The NST members (pictured, with Hazel Blears) are: Special Inspector Chris Hurst, Special Sergeant Jim Carhill, Special Constable Brian D'Arcy, Special Constable Mike Morgan, Special Sergeant Karen Hopwood, Special Sergeant Lawry Simm, Special Sergeant Paul Downes, Special Constable Bill Pratt, Special Constable Chris London, Special Constable Kenny Nash, Special Constable Chris Phillips, Special Constable Peter Elliott, Special Constable Brian Mitchell, Special Constable Steve Lynskey, Special Constable Mike Bond, Special Constable Mike McCarten, Police Constable Stuart Hollihead (now appointed to Merseyside Police).

Highly Commended: Special Constable (SC) Andrew Wiseman, Hertfordshire Constabulary

SC Wiseman has shown dedication to service as a special, in particular for a project he has undertaken in the last year. An Asian family who own a chemist shop in a small shopping parade and live in a house nearby, suffered verbal and physical abuse and property damage for several months, which left them extremely traumatised. SC Wiseman was asked to deal with this issue.

He liaised with the vulnerable persons unit at Watford Police station, and formed a strong bond with the family. Together with other specials, he provided a high-profile presence in the affected area and carried out covert observations to detect the offenders. A number of young people responsible for the harassment as well as their parents were spoken to and advised that this behaviour, if continued, could lead to serious charges

Since the operation, the trouble has all but disappeared. On rare occasions when it has flared up, the family has contacted SO Wiseman directly. He has taken immediate action and the family has written to the force to thank SO Wiseman for his help

Highly Commended

Highly Commended: Special Constable Frank Menzies, Humberside Police.

SC Menzies has shown professionalism and commitment to local policing. He joined the Special Constabulary five years ago because he felt there was a need for more policing on his estate and wanted to do something to improve the quality of life for local residents. Since then he has patrolled his local community almost every weekend and is described by colleagues as a "vital member" of his local policing team.

He has received a commendation from his force for actions "above and beyond the call of duty" for his work in foiling a theft from a post box

He was instrumental in resolving a ‘nuisance-youths’ incident by engaging the youths directly in the repair of the damage caused

He has proved to be an outstanding special constable and has met with warm approval from local residents and regular colleagues alike

Highly Commended: Section Officer (SO) James Thompson, Northumbria Police

SO Thompson is highly commended for his management of his team of special constables in the Newcastle East Area Command. When he joined, the Special section consisted of 2 people, with no leadership and lacked motivation. The team now has eleven members of staff, who between them have carried out 6000 hours of duty. Colleagues attribute this 360-degree turn around in performance entirely to Mr. Thompson’s "vision, commitment and inspiration".

He implemented an e-mail system to alert supervisors when staff are on duty so they are immediately & effectively deployed

He identified that Specials’ training was not meeting their needs or the needs of area command and put forward a comprehensive training programme, linking lessons on practical subjects with lectures from experts in the field. This has led to a significant improvement in performance by his section

He recognised that the hours being traditionally patrolled were those of low demand, and re-educated his staff so that they know the local policing plan, local crime and disorder hot spots and where they can achieve the most impact

Achievement in Recruitment Awards: Humberside Special Constabulary

To address the decline in numbers within Humberside Police, a team of four Divisional Commandants were involved in revising recruiting procedures, taking on dedicated responsibility for local applications to the Specials. Emphasis was placed on a simplified, more candidate-friendly procedure, with the Commandants speeding the process up and acting as a point of contact for applicants, supporting them throughout.

Recruitment

The team also became directly involved in the marketing process. The Divisional Commandants invested their time and expertise to ensure candidates were offered a realistic view and that applicants were aware that the force valued their commitment. Almost half of Humberside Specials’ current establishment has been recruited in the 21 months of their involvement.

The four Divisional Commandants receiving the award were Ron Wylie, Francis Walster, Michael Dyson and John Philip.

Achievement in Recruitment Awards: South Wales Police

Sergeant Richard Erskine has been the Specials’ Co-ordinator since October 2001 and has significantly improved recruitment and retention, as well as the standing of South Wales Special Constabulary. He reviewed the recruitment and training of specials in South Wales and introduced a co-ordinated media policy and a structured process of induction and training for Specials, linked to a Policing National Vocational Qualification (NVQ).

In doing so, Sgt Erskine has increased South Wales capacity for recruiting and training Specials from 40 in 2001/2002 to a potential of 160 in 2003/2004. His efforts in marketing have also seen a 10% increase in Specials from minority groups. Having overseen one Champions Initiative project looking at preventing youth crime, Sgt Erskine is now responsible for a second project piloting a scheme to develop specials in line with a competency based assessment process.

Advice Centre

Special Of The Year - Borough Divisional Officer Farhad (Fred) Ahmed MBE – Metropolitan Police Service.

Divisional Officer Ahmed has shown great innovation and commitment in setting up a Crime Prevention and Advice Centre at Tooting Islamic Centre in Balham, South London.

The Advice Centre opened in April 2002 and is the first of its kind in the UK

It is open on Saturday mornings, staffed by Fred and volunteers from the community recruited by Fred himself

The centre acts as a contact point for the community to liaise with the police and has further strengthened the relationship between the police and the South London Asian Community with Members of the Islamic Centre joining their local crime prevention panels for example

• The centre has also proved successful as a recruitment tool for the Special Constabulary.

• It has also engaged the wider community with both the police and the Islamic Centre. Since opening, the Advice Centre has had nearly 2000 visitors, of whom 50% are white and 15% are black. These figures reflect the local population and demonstrate how the Centre has proved to be extremely popular in the local community and effective in easing some of the tensions that arose after the events of September 11 2001.

Genuine Difference

Presented by Hazel Blears, Home Office Minister of State for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety, the awards are designed to highlight the exceptional year round contribution made by Police Specials across the country in reducing crime and the fear of crime.

Announcing the winners, Ms. Blears said: "It is a pleasure to present these awards on behalf of the Home Office. The dedication and commitment Specials bring to police work is truly remarkable and each of the officers honoured today has made a genuine difference to the communities they serve.

"Fred Ahmed is an exceptional Special, with a great sense of community spirit. He identified real local concerns and developed an innovative and effective solution. It is a shining example of how the local knowledge Specials bring can encourage community cohesion and forge lasting and effective links between the police and the people they serve. The Government is fully committed to supporting the Special Constabulary as it works to increase numbers and effectiveness. We made clear in the National Policing Plan that we will ensure that they are used to maximum effect.

Annual Event

"I am pleased to confirm that the National Specials Weekend, which was an enormous success in February, will become an annual event. It is a showcase for the invaluable work of these valued volunteers, who work alongside regular officers and make a vital contribution to community policing."

The Ferrers Trophy was originated by the former Home Office Minister Lord Ferrers. The awards have been presented annually since 1993 for outstanding achievement and commitment shown by members of the Special Constabulary. This year, some 40 nominations from 27 police forces throughout England and Wales were submitted to the awards team. The Special Constabulary is composed of volunteers, serving as police officers in their own time - often in the evening or at weekends.

They are appointed by, and are under the direction and control of, the chief constable of the police force area in which they serve. Their principle role consists of local, intelligence based patrols and crime reduction initiatives, targeted at specific local crime problems. Specials have the full powers of a police constable within their force and surrounding force areas, including the power of arrest.

Colleagues

Each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales operates its own Special Constabulary, who work alongside their full-time colleagues in the force. Follow this link or more information on the Special Constabulary in England and Wales.

If you are an employer, you can get advice about supporting employees in the Specials through flexible working, paid leave or other benefits, by writing to the address below. Alternatively ring 0845 608 3000 for a Special Constabulary brochure.

The Police Service Volunteers Section,
Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate
London, SW1H 9AT.
Telephone: 020 7273 3109.

More information available in Careers, Incentives & Rewards