Police officers and staff from south Worcestershire received crimefighting awards at West Mercia police HQ in Hindlip, near Worcester.

Thieves traced

A vigilant community support officer has received a superintendent’s commendation for his role in tracking two thieves.

CSO Mark Dodkin was on cycle patrol on the Blackpole retail park in Worcester last August when a power washer worth £200 was stolen from the Homebase store.

CSO Dodkin located the suspect, a well-known offender, and his companion, who immediately ran away.

He followed the pair, providing radio commentary – despite being subject to numerous threats of physical violence, having a dustbin thrown at him and having his bike damaged when the male suspect kicked it several times – until police officers arrived to arrest them.

river rescue

A PC has received a superintendent’s commendation for his role in rescuing a man who fell into the river at Upton-on-Severn in the eary hours of September 9 last year.

PC Tony Freeman began searching the area and found the man in the water at the bottom of an almost vertical bank, clinging on to foliage.

PC Freeman climbed 10 feet down the bank and held on to the man and reassured him until officers arrived and pulled him up with a rope.

Officer dedication

A police officer has been recognised for her dedication to educating children across south Worcestershire.

PC Val Ferreira, who has been a police officer for just over 20 years, received the first Edward Sheldon MBE Memorial Trophy for working tirelessly in the area’s schools for the past 10 years. A year ago she became the divisional youth inclusion officer.

PC Ferreira has helped many schools to get across important messages to children and young people about drugs, alcohol, bullying, road safety, fireworks, personal health and internet safety.

Officer impaled

A PC has received a superintendent’s commendation for his quick actions in helping a badly injured colleague.

Police were called to a burglary at Droitwich Cricket Club on August 7, 2010.

Sgt Oliver Moore pursued a suspect through undergrowth in the dark. As the officer climbed over the top of a hedgerow, the vegetation gave way and his leg became impaled on a six-inch spike on an old wrought-iron fence.

Sgt Moore alerted PC Barry Hale, who used his belt to form a tourniquet to slow the flow of blood. He then helped his colleague to free his leg, and remained with him to provide support.

When paramedics arrived, they couldn’t reach Sgt Moore and passed first aid equipment to PC Hale, telling him what to do. He removed the tourniquet then packed and bandaged the wound.

Sex offences

Four police officers and a CCTV operator have been praised for the parts they played in an investigation into a number of serious sexual offences.

The incidents took place in Worcester in September 2009. In the first, a man made sexual advances to an 18-year-old woman walking alone along The Shambles.

Two days later, two sisters in their 20s saw a man standing in the entrance of an alleyway, exposing himself.

The two offences were immediately linked.

The investigation was led by acting Det Sgt Tony Garner, Det Con Paul Harvey and Det Con Matthew Cartwright. T/DC Matthew Cartwright and CCTV operator Eloise Heeks meticulously viewed many hours of tape and eventually found evidence which tracked the suspect to an address.

Det Sgt Jim Bayliss took over the supervision of the investigation at the arrest phase.

On August 19, 2010, the offender was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court to six years’ imprisonment, after which he is to be deported to Pakistan. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Drug dealers

A Worcester detective has received a superintendent’s commendation for an investigation into drug dealing.

A drugs warrant was executed in Worcester in August 2008 after it was suspected an address was being used to sell crack cocaine.

Drugs were found, five people were arrested and Det Con Andrew Follett became the officer in the case.

Det Con Follett was a relatively inexperienced detective at the time, who had to deal with an extremely challenging issue during the trial in relation to the intelligence which led to the search warrant.

Custodial sentences were given to two drug dealers.

Serial burglar

A detective has been awarded a superintendent’s commendation for her work in securing the conviction of a prolific burglar.

About 30 burglaries took place in the Primsland area of Droitwich in 2004/2005.

The offender was eventually arrested in 2004 as a result of DNA left at one of the scenes.

He would not admit to any offences, resulting in only two charges of burglary and associated offences for which he was sentenced to two years in prison.

On his release he targeted Tesco Express stores, threatening staff with weapons before tying them up and stealing items. He received six years in jail.

Det Con Sally Harrison visited the man in prison and showed great tenacity and dedication before he finally admitted to 21 burglaries.

Fatal Crash

Four officers have been commended for their roles in the investigation into a fatal road accident in Leigh Sinton, near Worcester.

The incident took place in July 2009 when Sgt Carl Walsh and PC Glenn Jones attended the scene to find five casualities from one vehicle wandering around and two trapped in another.

Following a breath test, one man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

PC Graham Powell, from the collision investigation unit, carried out a skilled and thorough investigation over many weeks.

PC Glenn Jones took evidence from 25 witnesses and produced a water-tight file that was presented to CPS in just six weeks.

PC Stuart Allen acted as family liaison officer to the family of the deceased.

After a guilty plea, the man was given six years in prison.

robber traced

Two officers have received a superintendent’s commendation for their work in apprehending a robber after an incident in Malvern last year.

Police received reports of an armed robbery at an off-licence in October. PC Luke Papps and PC Gethin Venn were looking for a missing man at the time.

The shopkeeper had been threatened with a knife and cash taken from the till.

PC Venn found how the offender escaped, provided an updated description, and secured the scene. As a result, forensic investigators were able to find and preserve a distinctive footprint.

PC Papps linked the offender to the missing person enquiry. The offender, who was the missing person, was found soon afterwards.

Cannabis farm

Three police officers and a member of staff have been praised for their work on an investigation into a cannabis farm.

PC Sarah England received intelligence that cannabis was being produced at a farm in Leigh, near Worcester, last January.

Officers, led by Sergeant Phil Norbury, discovered a substantial, well-organised cannabis cultivation factory hidden underground.

More than 600 fully grown plants were found with a street value between £30,000 and £90,000, as well as an unauthorised firearm.

Four people were arrested at the scene. Sgt Norbury took the lead in interviewing the two main suspects, a husband and wife, and it soon became apparent that money from the sale of drugs was being used to fund business and buy property.

The man admitted setting up the farm and supplying the drugs.

Last November, the man was given a suspended prison sentence, based on his early guilty plea and no previous offending.

Lorry Kidnap

Five officers have been awarded a superintendent’s commendation for their work on a complex case in which a lorry driver was robbed and kidnapped in Worcester on October 10, 2008.

A Polish lorry driver was asleep in his cab when he was suddenly woken by two men with knives. He was punched in the face, dragged from his cab and thrown into the boot of a nearby car, then driven way before being left in remote countryside.

Sgt Bob Nairn, who was on patrol, later arrested three men in a white Transit van.

The investigation was then handed to Det Con Will Brimmell and two other officers who do not wish to be named. They were assisted by Det Con Jim Neale.

Over the next 14 months the team gathered evidence to charge five suspects with robbery and kidnap.

In July 2010, the offenders were given custodial sentences totalling 36 years.