As we head towards Christmas, I believe it is appropriate to concentrate on the good and some extraordinary acts by people who describe themselves as ‘normal’, ‘just doing my job’ or ‘it was nothing’!
Let me start with the extraordinary acts of three young men – Charlie, Ben and Callum. I was privileged to accompany them to the National Police Public Bravery Awards where they received a Silver Award for their courageous actions in 2021.
At that time, they were only 15 and 16 years old but when they heard a woman call for help as a man attacked her, the boys intervened, chasing the man off and preventing the victim from a further serious assault.
Just a few days prior to this I hosted the Lincolnshire Police Commendation evening.
I handed out two Royal Humane Society Parchments, and a Royal Humane Society Certificate of Commendation, eight Judge’s Certificates of Commendation, as well as 25 Certificates of Chief Constable’s Commendation.
Some of the work recognised included:
lThe extraordinary quick-thinking of officers and an outstanding response from our drone team who went to the aid of a woman in the sea, locating her and bringing her back to safety.
lAn officer who was first on the scene and spent 11 minutes giving CPR until a LIVES responder arrived. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the officer the man was resuscitated and saved.
lAn off-duty officer attending a coronation day celebration with their family intervened in an altercation which involved a man with an axe. The extraordinary courage and bravery shown by the officer stopped the situation from escalating any further and prevented any harm from occurring.
This must have been traumatic for his family and children who had to witness the incident, but I hope the overwhelming sense they all have is one of pride for their dad.
lThe extraordinary work undertaken by two officers to develop (off their own back and through their own drive and determination) a scheme introducing dedicated support to secondary victims of child sex offenders (the family, children and other close relatives who are often unaware of the offending and left in a state of shock and trauma). The scheme has been recognised nationally and is now considered best practice across UK policing.
Chris Haward
Chief Constable Lincolnshire Police
