A night to celebrate great policing in Hertfordshire

A night of celebration was held this week to recognise all that is great about policing in Hertfordshire.

Officers, staff and volunteers came together with Chief Constable Charlie Hall, his leadership team and local dignitaries for his annual Chief Constable Awards on Wednesday (6 November)

Addressing the audience on the night, Chief Constable Charlie Hall said: “These awards are a really special event and to some extent a bit emotional for me tonight as this is going to be my last annual awards before I retire at the end of the year.

“This evening is absolutely the highlight of the constabulary year and it is our opportunity to thank so many of you for what you do day in, day out.”

Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards, who was attending his first annual awards with the constabulary, added: “The absolute highlight of my first few months in office has been seeing and learning about what you do protecting the public and keeping Hertfordshire a safe county. I know you do that work in an increasingly unforgiving environment and media lens.

“This evening I’m really looking forward to hearing more about all that you have been doing. From myself and on behalf of the communities of Hertfordshire I want to say thank you for all that you do.”

The event was held at Tewinbury Farm Hotel in Welwyn with volunteer police cadets welcoming finalists and their loved ones.

The winners:

Commitment to Health and Wellbeing:

Detective Sergeant Katie Stevens from the Joint Child Protection Investigation Team (JCPIT), based in Hatfield.

Detective Sergeant Katie Stevens is a Wellbeing Champion who goes above and beyond for her colleagues every day.

To her credit, Katie has supported numerous colleagues over the past year, often meeting them in her own personal time at different locations across the county.

This year, Katie has undertaken the National College of Policing de-brief training to help enhance her skills and is always first to nominate herself for de-briefs with teams.

Katie will often come to work on her rest days to support colleagues who have been through traumatic incidents. She also ensures that, where required, ongoing support is provided.

Katie also helped organise a welfare training day with the Local Crime Unit (LCU) and Scorpion in Hertsmere, where she was previously based.

Highly emotionally intelligent, Katie is always looking to better her understanding of wellbeing. What she has demonstrated in the past year alone has inspired others around her to undertake wellbeing training or even just open up about their struggles. Without her, the constabulary’s wellbeing would not be where it is today.

Investigator of the Year:

Detective Inspector Justine Jenkins from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.

Detective Inspector Justine Jenkins is regarded as one of the finest senior investigating officers across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire and beyond. In the past decade on the Major Crime Unit (MCU) she has led more than 40 murder investigations as well as many serious and complex crime investigations.

This year she has led many noteworthy investigations to a positive judicial conclusion and earned the gratitude of the victims and their families along the way.

Tenacious and hardworking, one of Justine’s notable investigations this year was Op Reactivate. This relates to the horrific sexual assaults of teenage girls 20 years ago in Harpenden. Over the previous 10 years she had regularly reviewed the evidence hoping that forensic advances would provide DNA opportunities. When the breakthrough happened, a suspect was identified. He was subsequently convicted of numerous offences against two now adult women. Op Reactive was showcased in a BBC documentary series and more than two million viewers tuned in to see Justine and her team bring a predatory offender to justice.

Op Telomer involved the kidnap of a Chinese national by a Chinese organised crime group (OCG) in Welwyn Garden City. Justine’s investigation identified high level criminality involving millions of pounds in cash, property, vehicles and illegal foreign nationals. The victim was kept in a cage, tortured and was close to handing over £10 million when an early arrest potentially saved his life. One man was convicted and a further six fled the country and are no longer able to commit crime in the UK.

Op Shant was the investigation into the murder of a woman whose body was found near Baldock. Identification was an initial challenge but once known, Justine and the team quickly built up a hypothesis that the victim had been murdered by a man who she knew through work. An offender was convicted and jailed for 20 years.

Student Officer of the Year:

PC Beth Corcoran from the Stevenage Intervention Team.

PC Beth Corcoran is an outstanding officer, and her performance way exceeds expectations in terms of what you would expect from someone with her length of service.

Beth brings to policing a wealth of experience, including an extended period spent working as a secondary school teacher. She is compassionate, caring and has a victim-focused approach.

Even when confronted by an agitated person, Beth is calm, fair and professional, and extols the virtues of procedural justice. She can establish a rapport with anyone and has de-escalated many a confrontational situation through her incredible interpersonal skills.

Beth has a Prevention First led approach and is always considering what more can be done to safeguard a victim or protect a vulnerable person. Confident in her ability, Beth will take the lead in a difficult situation and within a few weeks of service stepped up to support a vulnerable missing person who had just been found, showing huge levels of empathy and kindness.

Beth’s skills go far beyond communication and supporting victims. In her Intervention role, Beth has been involved in numerous serious and complex incidents, including vehicle pursuits, incidents where loss of life has taken place and the arrest of serious criminals. Beth has even been involved in incidents off duty, intervening courageously despite having no access to a radio or police personal protection equipment (PPE), ensuring public safety and apprehending offenders.

In 2024, Beth was nominated for the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Response Officer of the Year. Despite an already busy working life, Beth has taken on extra responsibilities, including becoming a single point of contact for dealing with dangerous dogs. She also volunteered to become Op Vigilant trained and has participated in plain clothes patrols to improve safety around the nighttime economy for women and girls. Beth is also looking at becoming a Wellbeing Champion and already is the first to reach out when a colleague is in difficulty. She has a very promising future with the constabulary.

Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) of the Year:

PCSO Supervisor Samantha Griffin based in Welwyn Hatfield.

One of our longest serving PCSOs, Sam Griffin has worked in Welwyn and Hatfield for 15 years, during this time she has built up trust, respect and affection from the community that she works in.

Sam comes in to work every day with enthusiasm to serve the public and is a much-loved visible presence in her area.

Every shift she is out on foot patrol or on a bicycle, come rain or shine, ensuring she is accessible to all members of the community. If there’s an issue in her area, Sam knows about it and will be able to talk to residents about what is being done to tackle it.

Sam has seen children at risk of crime grow up and with her guidance, and work with their families and schools, she has helped them take a better path in life.

She has built great working relationships with key partners such as the parish council, Hatfield House and the rural communities. She organised a successful Barn Meet which bought farmers and landowners together with partner agencies and rural crime experts to discuss issues affecting them.

Sam is highly respected by her team and was recently promoted to the PCSO Supervisor role, which she embraced immediately.

She also receives high praise from those she works with outside of the organisation including local schools where she runs the popular Mini Police scheme. These events have played a key part in Sam building up early relationships with children living in her area, so that they recognise her as a friendly and approachable figure.

Sam is also trained in delivering water safety training to children in schools and regularly organises and delivers these sessions alongside the fire service during the summer months.

An exemplary PCSO, Sam goes above and beyond in her role to build relationships within her community, with those who are vulnerable, those who are often not willing to engage or talk to the police and children who therefore grow up to view Sam and the constabulary as a positive influence in their lives.

Neighbourhood Policing Officer of the Year:

PC Fiona Hitchcock from the St Albans Neighbourhood Policing Team.

PC Fiona Hitchcock was nominated for her hard work and proactivity in finding solutions to local issues, as well as building excellent relationships with two local mental health inpatient units in the area.

As the dedicated Police Liaison Officer for both Kingsley Green and Albany Lodge, both of which oversee formal and informal patients with mental health difficulties, Fiona carries out frequent in-person visits to build rapport with staff members and patients.

Fiona’s excellent work ethic is epitomised through her involvement in attending virtual meetings with staff at Kingsley Green on her days off, as well as gathering feedback from both units on how to improve joint working relationships and work practices.

In addition to this she is actively involved in any investigations that are recorded there as well as managing investigations in both her wards, London Colney and Colney Heath.

In her role as a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) PC, she diligently works with partner agencies to improve the lives of her community including managing and resolving on-going neighbour disputes.

Taking a problem-solving approach, Fiona has been pro-active in organising local plain clothes operations to tackle shoplifting at Colney Fields Shopping Park and has arranged meetings with the businesses there to provide target-hardening advice and to give guidance on improving crime recording practices.

Fiona listens to the concerns of the community through feedback received from Echo and Herts Connected and ensures they are acted upon. She has carried out a number of vehicle operations, involving targeting those speeding and exceeding the weight restrictions in Colney Health.

The breadth of her work also sees Fiona engage with local early years providers, such as nurseries and primary schools and carry out numerous visits to introduce the Mini Police Scheme this academic year.

Response Officer of the Year:

PC Esa Kar from the Hatfield Intervention Team.

PC Esa Kar is a committed and inspiring Intervention officer. Even in the face of professional adversity he has an infectious positivity and is well known for offering support to colleagues as they deal with operational pressures.

In the last year alone, Esa saved a man’s life following a road traffic collision. He bravely entered a damaged and smoking vehicle and opened the airway of the unconscious driver. Esa’s efforts led to him being presented with a Royal Humane Society Award.

In July this year, he received further recognition as our local finalist for the NPCC Response Officer of the Year award.

He has also supported police colleagues in London through mutual aid during a period of intense protest activity and was first through the door to detain a violent suspect who had threatened his colleague with a weapon.

On another occasion, he tended to a critically ill stab victim and completed ‘golden hour’ enquiries to ensure that justice was served. He is a compassionate initial contact officer for sexual offences and strives for positive outcomes for vulnerable victims.

As a tutor officer, Esa guides our new starters through an often turbulent and distressing environment, instilling high standards and flagging good work to supervisors.

Esa routinely goes above and beyond to support and inspire others through his role as the national lead for the Hertfordshire Black and Asian Police Association, encouraging those from under-represented backgrounds to flourish, acting as a trailblazer for those who aspire to a career in policing.

Special Constabulary Officer of the Year:

Special Constable Andrew Harley based in Hemel Hempstead

Joining the constabulary in November 2016, Special Constable Andrew Harley quickly gained the confidence of his regular and Special Constabulary colleagues for his intelligent approach to policing and his calm and considered demeanour.

Andrew is an exceptionally high performing Special, who spends the majority of his time with Intervention in Dacorum. His volunteer hours average around 80 hours each and every month since joining us which is testament to his commitment to policing.

Andrew is an exemplary officer who is very integrated at his home station. He generally works the same shift patterns as his regular colleagues on Team two and is a highly regarded member of the team.

The trust that supervisors have in Andrew results in him frequently driving the area car, and as a result of his considerable experience and skill, unofficially tutoring student PCs.

Andrew was the recipient of a Royal Humane Society Award in 2020 for saving the life of an unresponsive female. Aware that the woman was inside a locked property, he used his skills to gain entry, and, along with two of his regular colleagues, performed live-saving CPR.

Andrew is recognised by his team for his skilful management of those in mental health crisis and has frequently been recognised by supervisors for preventing individuals from causing themselves, or others, serious harm.

He is a strong supporter of his Special Constable colleagues and frequently engages in Special Constabulary operations, always taking a lead in coaching those who are less experienced than himself.

Leadership Excellence of the Year:

Sergeant James Wingate from the Hatfield Intervention Team.

As an Intervention Sergeant, James Wingate has shown remarkable leadership and vision. From the outset he has formed strong professional relationships with his team, supporting their development.

He is well respected by his peers and those on his team, as well as the wider Welwyn Hatfield-based teams.

James is not afraid to have difficult conversations to raise performance and standards. He leads by example and sets clear expectations. He is a sound decision-maker and remains calm under pressure.

Joining Intervention from a specialist team, James has shared his knowledge from that role to upskill officers. He has a natural ability to identify and nurture talent, pushing colleagues to reach their professional goals.

James is a visible leader, deploying to incidents to support and guide officers, ensuring the best outcomes for the public. As a result, victim care has improved significantly and out of court disposals, which are shown to improve public satisfaction and reduce reoffending, are now considered as part of normal daily business.

James also recognises the importance of the Special Constabulary and has engaged with volunteer officers and delivered training to them. They now work alongside the Intervention team, allowing them to also further develop their policing skills.

Passionate about his team’s welfare, James ensures they feel valued and despite the challenges facing the frontline, morale is high, and this is down to his positive leadership.

Excellence in Prevention First:

PC Matthew Henry-Randell from the Cheshunt Intervention Team.

PC Matthew Henry-Randell is recognised for his ‘great enthusiasm and tenacity’ in finding a preventative approach to identifying cars being used in the supply of drugs.

Matt, who was working as a Scorpion officer within Broxbourne at the time, identified gaps in intelligence for vehicles that were not registered to an individual, such as hire cars. If an individual known to be involved in the supply of drugs was in a hire or newly purchased vehicle, they would not be proactively stopped, due to a lack of intelligence. This allowed drug suppliers to continue to offend.

Matt took ownership of this issue and devised a process to overcome it. Within the first 90 days of introducing his new approach, 48 people had been arrested for possession with intent to supply class A drugs in the county and 19 vehicles were linked to these investigations.

Realising the clear benefits of this initiative and the hunger to expand this project countywide, Matt obtained support from the wider constabulary and a three-month trial named Op Despan was launched within the force Central Intelligence Bureau.

Matt showed great enthusiasm and tenacity in realising the preventive prospects of this initiative. He is the epitome of the Prevention First ethos having found an innovative solution to reduce demand, prevent offending and ultimately keep people safe.

The success of Op Despan continues. Of the identified vehicles proactively stopped to date, 81% led to a positive outcome, 44% led to an arrest and 56% were indeed linked to drugs.

Team of the Year:

Hostage and Crisis Negotiator Cadre

The negotiator cadre are a team of officers from across the constabulary who specialise in hostage and crisis negotiation. This role is voluntary and in addition to their normal policing duties.

The team is 24-strong with three of them always available to call on at any time of the day or night, 365 days of the year. They provide specialist support to incidents where individuals are in crisis, someone has been the victim of kidnap, to assist in the execution of firearms warrants or any other crime that requires negotiation skills.

In the last financial year, the team were called out 96 times to a variety of jobs. Of these 41 were to people in their homes and 20 were to individuals in crisis on bridges.

They aren’t run by a unit or department, the team is all led, organised and actioned by those who make up the cadre. They work seamlessly together, arranging the on-call rota, running recruitment events and providing training inputs to ensure everyone has a basic knowledge of negotiation but to also empower individuals to know when to call the negotiator team out.

In addition, the team volunteer to be course directors or role players at national training courses to enable others to train as negotiators but to also minimise costs to the region and the constabulary.

With a strong focus on wellbeing, the team has a strong bond and rally to support each other. At the end of this year two of the force’s longest serving negotiators will retire - Inspector Pete Edwards, who has been a negotiator for almost 19 years and T/Chief Inspector Richard Lilley, who has racked up 15 years. Their long-term commitment demonstrates the dedication of our negotiators and evidence of what a great team it is to be part of.

While the team quietly gets on with what needs to be done, often unnoticed, their dedication, commitment and support is invaluable to the constabulary and the wider public.

Unsung Hero Award:

The constabulary’s team of personal assistants

Not all heroes wear capes and working doggedly across the constabulary is a cohort of professionals whose dedication and eye for detail helps keep the corporate machine rolling every day. But like many unsung heroes their contribution can be over-looked or taken for granted because individuals in this team tend to get on with the job in hand with very little fuss.

Masters of the art of diary management and graduates from the university of seamless planning, every senior officer and police staff leader will tell you how much they depend on the talents of their personal assistants. Highly skilled and always diplomatic, our PAs have some of the highest information access levels in the constabulary and always act with huge discretion.

From chasing actions that drive force business to keeping organisational plates spinning on long term projects, they are the buffers between success and failure and make every day count.

Our force’s PAs do a sterling job and are worthy recipients of the Chief’s Unsung Hero Award.