Police officers and staff who have gone above and beyond have been recognised by the chief constable.
At a ceremony held at the Roundthorn Hotel in Penrith, Chief Constable Rob Carden presented commendations to officers and staff in recognition of their outstanding contribution to policing the county.
Two PCs who helped save a woman’s life after finding her unresponsive in Workington have been commended for their actions by the chief constable.
PC Martine Symes and OC Gareth Cousins received the award for their actions on March 26 this year.
The officers were approached by a member of the public who had found the woman, in her early 20s, in the street, unconscious and not breathing.
The North West Ambulance Service was contacted, but the pair took swift action, beginning CPR.
Their actions resulted in the woman beginning to breathe again. However, her breath was shallow and declined to the point where she again stopped breathing.
The officers recommenced CPR and were once again able to revive her, at which point an ambulance arrived and she was taken to the hospital.
The young woman recovered well in hospital and later contacted police to pass on her thanks to the officers for their actions, which her family felt had saved her life that day.
Inspector Dan Hindle put the officers forward for the commendation. He said: “The officers were confronted with someone who was showing no signs of life. They showed remarkable composure given the circumstances and acted swiftly and decisively to help save the woman’s life.
“Their actions reflect well not only on the constabulary but on policing as a whole. We are all extremely proud to have such officers working here in Cumbria and I am delighted to see them recognised with a Chief Constable’s Commendation.”
Smashing Barrow drug gangs
A detective constable received a Chief Constable’s Commendation for their investigation into two complex drug conspiracy cases in Barrow, resulting in the convictions of all defendants put before court.
DC Graeme Benson was the officer in the case for Op Fashion – a complex, three-defendant cocaine dealing conspiracy in Barrow and Op Frozen – an even more complex, 10-defendant county lines crack cocaine and heroin deal conspiracy which trafficked class A drugs between Manchester and Barrow.
The Op Frozen county line was valued by a drug expert as supplying more than £110,000-worth of drugs in Barrow over four months, with a total weight of crack cocaine and heroin of over 1kg.
Cumbria police said Op Fashion was particularly challenging as the defendants were determined to try and mislead the court. This included one managing to secure bail by lying about an infant son being in intensive care. DC Benson investigated this claim and proved it to be false.
The defendant was convicted of perverting the course of justice and received a 30-month prison sentence for this offence before ultimately being sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his drug supply offending.
Co-defendants were also sentenced for drug supply – one to 11 years and another to seven-and-a-half years.
Detective Superintendent Jenny Beattie said: “DC Benson’s work on both of these cases received praise from both the Crown Prosecution Service and a judge – and is now, rightly, being recognised by the constabulary with a Chief Constable’s Commendation.
“DC Benson has demonstrated remarkable tenacity and thoroughness in his investigations – both in these cases and many more. His efforts have brought a significant number of people who prey on the vulnerable in Barrow to justice, seeing them receive significant prison sentences at crown court.
“His work helps the constabulary to demonstrate how Cumbria is far from a soft touch for those who seek to come here to illegally profit from the misery of others.”
Residents of retirement park harassed
Two officers who secured convictions against a man who had been threatening elderly and vulnerable residents of a licensed retirement park have been commended for their work.
PC Mark Christie and PCSO Graham Kirkpatrick identified that residents at Orton Grange Residential Park near Dalston were being harassed by the then park owner – James Robert Welch.
Welch had previous convictions for exploitation and high value fraud, which resulted in a Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Order against him.
Whilst investigating, they had to gain the trust of many people from a generation who often don’t speak out, the officers were tenacious and gained the park residents’ trust to secure evidence against the owner, Cumbria police said.
As well as securing convictions against Welch, after he admitted harassment and using threats to intimidate residents at the retirement park, the officers were then able to work in partnership and apply to the council to have his park owners licence removed, which effectively forced the sale of the site and caused him to leave the county.
Working with colleagues in the North East Regional Crime Unit led to a financial investigation which saw Welch had outstanding Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) payments totalling more than £78,000.
As a result of the officers’ actions, at the point of the residential park’s sale, Welch’s bank accounts were frozen and he was left with no option but repay the entire amount owed.
The officers were nominated for a Chief Constable’s Commendation by Inspector Peter Aiston. He said: “The officers saw that elderly and vulnerable people were being mistreated and were relentless in their pursuit of the man responsible.
“In order to secure a conviction they went above and beyond to ensure victims felt comfortable in sharing their experiences.
“Their outstanding work not only resulted in the successful safeguarding of a large group of vulnerable people but an offender being held accountable for his actions.”
Expert honoured
A Lancashire Police officer who has shared invaluable support and expertise with other forces, has been recognised with a Chief Constable’s commendation in Cumbria.
PC Alison Suffield is the regional disaster victim identification co-ordinator – a role which involved travelling to other forces areas and training officers in an extremely sensitive area of policing.
PC Suffield operates as an expert in her field as well as a critical friend for the constabulary to call upon whenever its officers need help or advice, as well as assisting Cumbria in several operational deployments.
She had a particularly essential role during the coronavirus pandemic whilst continuing in her operational DVI deployments.
Cumbria Constabulary Assistant Chief Constable Dave Stalker said: “PC Suffield’s work advising and training ourselves and other forces has proven invaluable and without her diligent expertise we would not be as well prepared in our co-ordinated response to disaster victim identification without her.
“When there have been changes to our own DVI staff, PC Suffield has been there to guide those officers through the training and across the many disciplines which make up this important area of policing.
“PC Suffield is not only a credit to Lancashire Police but regional policing as a whole and she is very worthy of this recognition.”
Ch Cons Carden said: “I am extremely proud of our officers and staff and take great pride and satisfaction in being able to recognise their outstanding achievements.
“These events highlight just a small sample of the outstanding work that goes on every day, often out of the public eye.
“I’d also like to thank those officers and staff who have served the constabulary and the community with distinction and were recognised as such as part of the Long Service awards.”
Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner David Allen said: “Police officers place themselves in dangerous situations every day in order to keep our residents safe.
“The Chief Constable awards provide us with the opportunity to celebrate and thank those who go above and beyond to ensure that criminals face the consequences to their actions, victims are supported and protect the public from becoming victims in the first place.
“Cumbria Constabulary is one of the best performing forces in the country and these Officers exemplify why this is the case.
“As a former police officer, I understand the physical, mental and emotional effect the job can have so I commend every officer that goes out and does their job well to keep our county safe.
“Congratulations to all the winners and nominees – well deserved. You should all be incredibly proud of your accomplishments.”
