Queen's police medal for A/DCC Derek Cake

Acting Deputy Chief Constable of Warwickshire Derek Cake has been awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the New Year's Honours List.

The Queen's Police Medal is awarded for distinguished service to the Police Service and recognises Derek Cake's 34 years as a police officer and his considerable contribution to policing during that time.

On hearing the news, Derek Cake said: "I am deeply honoured to have been awarded this medal and to have had the opportunity to serve the public and the Police Service for more than 30 years. I have experienced some very challenging situations in that time, and in particular when working in Bosnia Herzegovina. I am humbled to receive the award as there are thousands of police officers who meet similar challenges on our streets every day.

"I would also like to pay tribute to the emergency services and relief agencies who are currently working in the aftermath of the tsunami earthquake in the Indian Ocean. My heart goes out to colleagues who are currently dealing with this tragedy and to all of those who have been affected."

Chief Constable of Warwickshire John Burbeck said: "I am very pleased that Derek Cake's contribution to policing, not only in Warwickshire but nationally and internationally has been recognised in this way. Whenever the situation has become difficult and challenging he has been the first to step forward and take on greater responsibility than was expected of him. He fully deserves to be honoured in this way."

Chair of Warwickshire Police Authority John Rennie said: "I am absolutely delighted for Derek and I believe that no one deserves this honour more than he does. He has been a tremendous tower of strength in Warwickshire Police and his work at local, national and international level has been widely recognised. He postponed his retirement twice last year at our request to carry out urgent tasks which required his expertise, and now has postponed it a third time to take on the role of Acting Deputy Chief Constable. In all of the roles he has undertaken he has shown remarkably consistent high quality and dedication. This is a great honour for him, richly deserved, and we will miss him greatly when he finally retires in a few months time."

Derek Cake, 56, joined Warwickshire Constabulary in 1971. He has spent the majority of his service in a strategic operational role, having worked during his early career in many parts of the county specialising in CID, counter-terrorism, training and public order. He has served as the operational commander for Leamington and became Head of Personnel and Training in 1990.

He went on to join the Police Staff College at Bramshill, Hampshire, where he set up the first police leadership programme, and in 1997 he was appointed Chief of Operations for the United Nations International Police Task Force in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, where he led the deployment and performance of 3200 police officers from 33 countries at more than 200 locations. He was awarded the United Nations Medal for Peace in 1999.

He returned to Warwickshire in 1998 to become Area Commander (South) and was promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief Constable (Operations) in 1999.

He was appointed ACC (Service Development) in September 2001 with responsibility for Judicial Services, IT management, media and public relations and corporate projects. In autumn 2004 he was appointed to his current post of Acting Deputy Chief Constable.

Since 2001 he has represented the Association of Chief Police Officers in the design, development and delivery of the National Custody Case Preparation system, which is already reducing bureaucracy and ensuring that offenders are efficiently dealt with.

Derek Cake has a BA honours degree in economics and a postgraduate diploma in applied criminology, and is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute. He is married and has two grown up children.