Three officers nominated for national awards

Awards which will be presented during a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square in London on Wednesday evening, 17 November. The Gala Awards ceremony, organised by Jane's Police Review, sets out to recognise the invaluable contribution that police officers make within the communities they serve.

Chief Constable, John Burbeck said "This is a prestigious achievement as this Police Awards Ceremony is widely acknowledged as the premier national event for recognising and rewarding excellence in community policing. All our nominees exemplify good community policing and have contributed significantly to making the county safe and reassuring the people of Warwickshire."

The awards will be presented by the Home Secretary David Blunkett, alongside Fiona Bruce, the main anchor of the BBC's 10 O'Clock news and co-host of Crimewatch, and Nick Ross, best known for presenting Crimewatch.

Warwickshire is taking part in three of the four categories - Community Police Officer of the Year, Probationer of the Year, and the new Diversity in Action Award. The fourth category is the Lifetime Achievement in Policing Award.

Community Police Officer of the Year
PC Alan Spittles is Warwickshire's candidate for Community Police Officer of the Year. Currently based at Coleshill, Alan is one of only 43 CBO's put forward in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to receive this prestigious award.

PC Alan Spittles is well-known and respected within the north Warwickshire community. He is seen as an officer whose "door is always open", says John Burbeck, Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police. After 26 years of service, he still regularly gives up his personal time to work on his projects within the community.

In his role as anti-social behaviour officer, he has gained the trust of the New Arley community, making them feel safe to report incidents. As a result, incidents of anti-social behaviour have dropped by 54 per cent and overall crime in the area has fallen by 30 per cent. PC Spittles also introduced a Pub Watch scheme to the former mining community of Kingsbury, which had been severely affected by alcohol-related disorder. As a result, there have been only two incidents in the last 12 months.

The winning CBO will be announced at the awards ceremony and will receive a £3,000 bursary to enable him/her to travel abroad and examine aspects of community policing in another country.

Probationer of the Year
Warwickshire PC Steven Brown, currently stationed at Stratford, is one of only 29 officers nationally to be nominated for Probationer of the Year.

The Award recognises the outstanding personal skills shown by probationers throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is judged on the probationer's personal skills in interacting with the public and their practical policing skills, including crime investigation skills, making an arrest and dealing with incidents.

Early in his probation, PC Steven Brown identified problems involving drugs at schools and colleges in Stratford-upon-Avon. He worked with the community beat officer to create an action plan involving high-profile policing and a plain-clothes operation and always manages to keep a level head and remain professional.

Displaying a courteous manner and professional attitude on a daily basis, PC Brown has developed the ability to prioritise his own workload in line with the policing priorities and manages it in a systematic way.

All nominees receive an engraved medal and certificate at the awards ceremony and the winner will receive a £3,000 bursary to fund a trip to Europe to study training in a European force.

Diversity in Action
The Diversity in Action Award is a new category introduced to recognise excellent practice by the force in diversity, which has led to successful policing of communities and includes all aspects of equality including gender, race, sexual orientation and disability.

Sixteen teams made up of members from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are nominated for this brand new award, including the True Vision project team, a joint initiative developed by Warwickshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and West Mercia police forces. The team consists of PC Carolyn Went of Warwickshire Police, PC Peter Rigby of Staffordshire Police, Det Sgt Neil Anderson of West Midlands Police and Supt Nick Mason of West Mercia Police as well as Mike Arnold of Birmingham City Council. The team was responsible for the founding, development and launch of the True Vision project, which is now a national police campaign aimed at raising the public's awareness of hate crime. Until the project's launch, there were more than ten different self-reporting forms in circulation in the region. Nationally, there were over 80 separate forms. The True Vision team says victims found these forms confusing and of little help. True Vision now provides a single information pack that gives advice and provides a form to report incidents of hate crime.

The nomination has an operational focus and reflects the success in engaging with local communities. The winning team will be presented with a cheque for £5,000 on the night.

Back row: Neil Anderton - West Midlands, Peter Rigby - Staffordshire, Mike Arnold Birmingham City CSU. Front row: Nick Mason - West Mercia and Carolyn Went - Warwickshire