Alumni Impact Awards 2024: Outstanding innovation in frontline policing
Monday 7th October 2024
Eight police officers from forces across the country were recognised at Police Now’s Alumni Impact Awards for their outstanding frontline policing and leadership.
The annual awards celebrate the achievements of officers who have graduated from one of Police Now’s three national programmes and have gone above and beyond to reduce or solve crime, problem-solve in their communities, or innovate and lead within policing.
The award winners were addressed by Chief Constable Craig Guildford QPM of West Midlands Police on Friday (4th October) at a ceremony in London. The winners and runners up span Cheshire Constabulary, City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police Service, Sussex Police, Thames Valley Police and West Midlands Police.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “The impact these inspiring officers have had on our streets shows that through their training and efforts, we can reduce crime and restore confidence in policing. I congratulate all of the winners and nominees for their service and dedication, and I know they will play an important role in our mission to keep our streets safe.”
Read more about their brilliant work on the policing frontline below.
Transformative Innovation
Winner: Police Constable Matthew Cooper, West Midlands Police
When Matt joined the West Bromwich Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team, street-drinking and associated anti-social behaviour was a significant issue affecting residents – including rowdiness, physical disorder, littering, swearing, and intimidation.
Thanks to his creative approach to policing and strong partnership working, the amount of time that individuals were seen to be street drinking reduced by over 60% between September 2023 – February 2024, and several former offenders are now actively giving back to the community through volunteer work.
Matt joined West Midlands Police in 2022 via Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme.
Read more about his innovative neighbourhood policing work here.
Runner Up: Police Constable Annabella Perfect, Sussex Police
Annabella is one of the hate crime engagement leads for Sussex Police, alongside her regular duties. During her time in this role, she has continuously strived and advocated for organisational and cultural change to increase inclusion and support for all.
One of the initiatives that Annabella created was focused on improving trust and confidence with the local LGBTNBI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-Binary, and Intersex+) community. After extensive research and engagement – both internally and externally – was conducted, she developed and delivered a pilot training package to local frontline policing teams aimed at preventing instances of unconscious bias and improving public-police relationships and engagement.
Annabella then compiled and presented a report based on the data findings and feedback; recommendations have been made force-wide to further embed and develop her training due to the overwhelmingly positive response.
Annabella joined Sussex Police in 2019 via Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme.
Outstanding Leadership
Joint Winner: Police Sergeant Gemma Holley, Sussex Police
Gemma is an innovative leader, dedicated to improving care for victims of sexual offences across Sussex.
Gemma proactively identified ways to improve Sussex Police’s Sexual Offences Liaison Officer (SOLO) role. Her work resulted in improved force-wide training, more inclusive and bespoke care for victims in the community, and a 175% increase in SOLOs across the force.
When further tasked with providing national training to 51 officers across the force she trained over 330 officers – exceeding the target by so much that she garnered attention from the Home Office and Operation Soteria, a national operation designed to improve the police’s response to rape, sexual offences and violence against women and girls.
Gemma joined Police Now’s Frontline Leadership Programme in 2022 to develop her leadership skills, build the confidence to innovate and drive change in policing, and progress from constable to sergeant rank.
Read more about her outstanding leadership here.
Joint Winner: Police Sergeant Kiran Patel, West Midlands Police
Kiran was commended for his role in piloting West Midlands Police’s – ‘Operation Elevate’ in Washwood Heath, Birmingham. The operation saw significant crime reductions in the area, including 60 fewer reported victims of all crimes a month, a 38% reduction in serious youth violence, and a 17% reduction in overall crime since November 2023.
The operation also saw two new community street watch groups created, including the first ever women’s-only group in the West Midlands. Due to its success, the operation is being rolled out to other areas of the West Midlands and Kiran was asked to share learnings with regional and national forces, the Home Office, and at crime prevention conferences.
Kiran was also commended for his passion for building public trust and confidence and strengthening relationships with the diverse local community, as well as his ability to inspire others and lead with inclusivity.
Kiran joined Police Now’s Frontline Leadership Programme in 2022 and scored 100% in his sergeant board interview.
Read more about his outstanding leadership here.
Brilliant Community Problem-Solving
Winner: Police Constable Juliet Taylor, Cheshire Constabulary
Juliet led a successful community policing project which reduced reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Warrington Town Centre by 78% over a seven-month period.
Juliet’s long-term problem-solving included working closely with businesses and community partners, identifying and disrupting key perpetrators of ASB in the area, and utilising a combination of enforcement and creative deterrence tactics.
Formerly a pastry chef at Michelin Star restaurants, Juliet decided to make a career change and joined Cheshire Constabulary in 2022 via Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme.
Read more about her brilliant community problem-solving here.
Runner Up: Police Constable Shaireen Khan, Thames Valley Police
Shaireen has been praised for her significant involvement in ‘Operation Jankle’ – which launched last summer to manage the offending of ten children in Banbury, Oxfordshire, who were responsible for over 60 live criminal investigations and increasing instances of anti-social behaviour (ASB) across the area.
Shaireen engaged with three of the perpetrators and, together with the Youth Justice team and Social Services, used a mixture of enforcement and deterrence tactics to divert them away from ASB. A key part of her work was ensuring better safeguarding measures were in place for the children involved who had particularly difficult home lives.
Operation Jankle saw that average offending from the group reduced from 83 reports to 13 reports per month across the summer period of 2023 – an 84% reduction.
She has gone above and beyond to extend this work and build public trust and confidence in the police amongst youth in the community.
She runs regular educational workshops at local youth centres and organises football matches with children who typically have low trust in the police – opening an important community dialogue and providing avenues for building strong and trusting relationships.
Shaireen joined Thames Valley Police in 2022 via Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme.
Outstanding Investigation
Winner: Detective Constable Olivia Hall, City of London Police
Olivia was Officer in Charge of a thorough investigation following a violent attack and stranger rape in London last year.
Through tirelessly gathering evidence including damning forensics, multiple witness statements and mobile phone data, Olivia ensured the offender was charged with three offences and sentenced to almost seven years behind bars.
She was particularly commended for the support she provided to the victim throughout the highly sensitive and multi-layered investigation – whose bravery in coming forwards helped bring a violent man to justice.
Olivia joined City of London Police in 2021 via Police Now’s National Detective Programme.
Read more about Olivia’s outstanding investigation here.
Runner Up: Detective Constable Sophie Higgins, Metropolitan Police Service
Sophie expertly managed an investigation into a violent assault which has resulted in an individual being arrested and convicted of Section 18 and Section 20 Grievous Bodily Harm.
As Officer in Charge (OIC) of the investigation, Sophie led a team of officers to ensure that essential evidence was collected from the crime scene and thorough searches of the area were conducted. She ensured intelligence was gathered, mobile data and CCTV footage was analysed, and witness and victim statements were taken – building an exceptionally strong case file.
She was commended for her dedication to providing victim support throughout the investigation, which included working with social services and a domestic violence charity.
She was also commended for her excellent investigation strategy, which managed multiple and complex moving parts and has been presented to trainee detectives in the team as an example of an outstanding investigation.
Sophie joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 2020 via Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme and is currently developing her leadership skills further on Police Now’s Frontline Leadership Programme.
