Devon & Cornwall Police News site

Over 30 officers and staff from Devon & Cornwall Police and three members of the public in Plymouth have received an award for their extraordinary efforts in keeping their local communities safe. 

Thirty-two police officers, six police staff, three members of the public and a community group were recently honoured for the work they have done to save lives and safeguard communities.

Stories were shared about police officers performing critical lifesaving first aid, police investigations into historic cases and the remarkable bravery from a 17-year-old who tackled a machete wielding offender.

Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, who heads up the policing teams in Plymouth, said: “It was truly inspiring to hear the stories during the awards, highlighting the dedication of our police officers and staff, and the incredible courage and selflessness of the members of the public who took quick action to protect the community.

“I am very proud of the commitment, dedication and professionalism of our officers and staff who work exceptionally hard to keep the local community safe.

“On a daily basis, teams are undertaking complex investigations, supporting victims of crime, and reaching out to local communities all whilst apprehending criminals and putting themselves in potentially dangerous situations. I would like to express my gratitude to the officers who have gone above and beyond in their roles to serve their community, and to the members of the public we have heard from, for their support and dedication to their communities.”

 

A selection of those who received awards include:

Police Sergeant (PS) David Curtis

Whilst off duty, PS David Curtis witnessed a serious road traffic collision involving a man on a bicycle. PS Curtis was one of the first people to arrive on scene.

The cyclist, who was in their late 60s, was unconscious as a result of a serious head injury. A member of public was about to commence CPR using telephone guidance from emergency services, when PS Curtis arrived on scene. He remained calm and quickly began administering first aid himself in order to save the man’s life. PS Curtis successfully cleared the man’s airway and started performing CPR for around 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived. He remained at the scene while emergency services started to arrive, informing them of the first aid that had been given to the cyclist.

The man is in recovery and continues to make health improvements. The family have passed on their thanks to PS Curtis and the investigation team for all their help and support throughout the incident.

PS David Curtis has been commended on his professionalism, selflessness and quick action in assisting the critically injured man, undoubtedly helping to save his life.

Police Constable (PC) Caroline Kelly, PC Marissa Rogers, Detective Constable (DC) Yvonne Wilkinson and Detective Sergeant (DS) Tim Wright

PC Caroline Kelly, PC Marissa Rogers, DC Yvonne Wilkinson, DS Tim Wright and another officer who wishes to remain unnamed, recently worked together on a criminal investigation into historic reports of abuse against young women dating from 1990 to 2011.

During the investigation, six victims were identified. The evidence they gathered showed that the offences lasted anywhere from a period of months to years in some cases. The team were able to build a collection of evidence that showed a pattern of grooming behaviour from the suspect towards the women.

All officers involved in the case showed dedication and resilience throughout. They built successful relationships with the vulnerable victims, which ultimately helped them to develop a strong prosecution case.

A 17 -day trial was held in February last year. The offender was brought to justice and was found guilty of 24 offences – receiving a sentence of 28 years in prison, and an additional 6 years on licence. This means that after being released, the offender is required to follow certain conditions.

It was down to the officer’s determination and the victims support for the investigation that this outcome was achieved. DC Yvonne Wilkinson said: “This case was very much a team effort, with every person going over and above to secure evidence and provide support to the victims. As a result of the team’s persistence and dedication to the case, we were able to serve justice to the victims”.

 

Detective Constable (DC) Pablo Beckhurst, Temporary Detective Inspector (T/DI) Ben Ferguson and DC Gareth Jones

DC Beckhurst, T/DI Ben Ferguson, DC Jones and two other officers from Plymouth’s Priority Crime Team (PCIT) who wish to remain unnamed, have been awarded for their involvement in an investigation that took place last year.

A known offender in her 30s began deliberately defrauding and burgling a number of vulnerable people in the community, including an elderly blind couple. Some of the offences included forging signatures in cheque books, stealing bank cards and taking items from victim houses.

The officers involved in the case worked tirelessly to pull together a strong collection of evidence. A gold-standard service was given to victims, which included face-to-face updates, personal visits when completing ID procedures which are normally completed within the police station. They also provided exceptional aftercare, sharing a wealth of crime prevention and security advice, along with local neighbourhood interaction to provide support to those affected in the community.

The female was later arrested, charged and remanded in custody in May 2023. As a result of the thorough investigation, she received a 52-month custodial sentence and was also issued a seven-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) to safeguard the community. The order restricts her from certain behaviour and outlines activity she is required to carry out.  

The officers were commended for their commitment and diligence in this exceptional investigation. Detective Inspector Ben Ferguson said: “We are pleased that our efforts were able to produce a positive outcome and that we were able to bring this person to justice before she was able to target any more vulnerable people.”

Police Constable (PC) Sarah Harvey, Police Sergeant Keith Parkinson, and other members of the Serious Collisions Investigations Team

PC Sarah Harvey, PS Keith Parkinson, and nine other members of the Serious Collisions Investigations Team (SCIT) have been commended for their dedication and commitment to their work in investigating serious and fatal road traffic collisions.

The SCIT are a small team of investigators who manage the investigation of serious injury and fatal road traffic collisions across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The team manage the whole investigation, seeing each incident through from the initial collision, the investigative stages and up until their conclusion at Criminal Court and His Majesty’s Coroner Court. They investigate complex road traffic collision investigations, including those that now carry a life sentence.

Over the past twelve months the team have successfully investigated 26 fatal collisions and 13 serious injury collisions.

The SCIT have achieved a Chief Superintendent’s Commendation for their dedication, commitment, and determination towards investigating and solving complex road traffic collisions. The team carry out vital work to bring drivers who have committed serious offences to justice, as well as providing much-needed answers and closure for victims and their loved ones.

 

Plymouth Night Patrol

The Plymouth Night Patrol team have been commended for their safeguarding of the local community and the vital work they do as partners of Devon & Cornwall Police.

Plymouth Night Patrol are a group of trained volunteer students from Plymouth University who patrol the city in small groups from 9pm to 4.30am on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The team provide welfare and medical support to student peers as well as the wider community. The team started off with 12 volunteers, which has grown over the past three years to 86 student volunteers.

Plymouth Night Patrol promote safe behaviours on nights out, which includes raising awareness around substance misuse and violence against women and girls. The early intervention and additional safeguarding provided by the Plymouth Night Patrol has supported hundreds of students across the city, supported vulnerable members of the community and prevented many members of our community from becoming victims of crime.

The volunteers work in partnership with key members of the night-time economy, including the police and health services, to help safeguard people at night and continue to make Plymouth a safer place to enjoy a night out in.

 

PC Tracey Weston, and members of the public Ryan Hammond and Niamh Taylor-May

After spotting two suspicious men, PC Weston and her colleague tried to stop the individuals, however they ran in different directions. 17-year-old Niamh Taylor-May and Ryan Hammond both intervened by tackling one of the offenders, preventing him from getting away. Unknown to Ryan, Niamh, and PC Weston at the time, one of the offenders was carrying a machete, putting them all at risk of serious harm.

Niamh, Ryan and PC Tracey Weston have all been recognised with a Chief Superintendent’s Commendation award for their bravery and selflessness.

To read more details about this story, please click here.

 

Member of the public, Andrea Cox

In October last year, Andrea Cox helped to save the lives of two dogs who were being cruelly treated and attacked by their owner in the street, causing severe injuries to the animals. She confronted the owner without hesitation and managed to stop the owners attack on the dogs, saving them from any further violence or injuries. The owner was later located and arrested, and the dogs were seized and taken to the vets to be treated for their injuries.

Andrea received a Chief Superintendent’s Commendation award for her selflessness and courage in such a distressing situation.

 

Police Staff Geoffrey Holmes, Gill Pennington, Jane Russ and Kelly Sutton

The Records Management team look after and maintain Devon & Cornwall Police records management centre which contains millions of records including physical data for major operations, crime reports, suspect interviews, all of which must be retained and managed throughout their life cycle from creation through to disposal.

Geoffrey, Gill, Jamie, Jane, Kelly and one other colleague displayed extraordinary effort and commitment to their roles early last year after successfully migrating over all the records to a new purpose-built facility. This involved co-ordinating the movement of millions of physical crime records within a deadline of eight weeks. The scale and complexity of this task was huge, but as a result of the team’s extraordinary level of personal commitment beyond their normal roles, they managed to complete the move within four weeks.

Each team member was integral to the success of the move to the new building. Without the team’s consistent ability to problem solve, plan and organise, this move would have been a very difficult and lengthy task to complete. Thanks to the team, the Record Management Centre is now up and running with new efficient systems in place.

A representative from the Record Management team said: “It was a huge task to pull off - without the dedication and support of everyone in the team, including invaluable support from the Evidential Property team, we would not have been able to complete this four weeks quicker than our original deadline.”

 

Detective Inspector (DI) Marie Daykin

The Central Safeguarding team are responsible for processing public protection notices (PPNs) in Plymouth to safeguard children potentially at risk of harm or exploitation. PPNs share information about children with partner agencies so that support can swiftly be put in place to safeguard the child.

DI Daykin was instrumental in ensuring the PPN process was not impacted by a change in police computer system. Emergency protocols were created to tackle IT issues and increasing workloads, both of which were essential to make sure children and vulnerable adults were safeguarded as effectively and quickly as possible.

She also assisted in designing an improved training package and feedback process for colleagues to ensure that all PPNs are completed and issued efficiently for the benefit of the child/adult involved.

DI Daykin has been commended on her leadership and diligence during a demanding period.

 

Police Constable (PC) Beth Vinnicombe

PC Beth Vinnicombe has been commended for her determination and dedication to improve efficiency and standards within the patrol department.

PC Vinnicombe identified it was difficult and time-consuming for officers to track down contact details for partner agencies, which was causing a rise in calls to the already busy control rooms for support. In an effort to reduce the number of calls officers make to the control room for partner agencies’ contact details, PC Vinnicombe successfully created an app for police mobile phones which contains frequently used external telephone numbers.

The new app has not only improved the speed officers can respond to queries but has reduced the number of radio transmissions into the control room, reducing the need for the Command Resolution Centre to make phone calls to external agencies on the officers’ behalf AND freeing up more time for other tasks.

PC Vinnicombe’s efforts to find a positive resolution to this issue has helped to improve the service provided to the public as officers have the autonomy to be in direct contact with partners, and this process is much more efficient than it used to be.

PC Vinnicombe has been commended for her determination and personal dedication to developing the app without any prior training or assistance.   

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Due to the sensitive nature of some of our officers’ roles, we are unable to share the names of everyone who was awarded at the recent ceremony. Here are a selection of stories from members of the Force who wish to remain anonymous: 

 

• Three officers were deployed to assist a member of the public who was suffering a mental health crisis and threatening to jump from a bridge onto the A38. The officers managed to persuade the person to climb back over the railings to a place of safety. Once returning to safety, the person became violent. The officers were able to help save the person from further harm to themselves by swiftly detaining them under the Mental Health Act, taking them to a place of safety, where they received vital support from mental health services. The officers were commended for their resilience and determination in difficult circumstances, saving the life of the individual.
• A sergeant, two detectives and a police staff member held key roles in investigating a high profile and complex murder investigation. The team had to manage the key witnesses to the case, who all supplied differing accounts of the incident. The four officers corroborated and evaluated significant amounts of information and presented this in a manner to enable jury members to assess the detailed evidence. The team were commended for their commitment and professionalism in handling the case, which resulted in the case being successfully brought to trial within six months, resulting in a guilty verdict.
• Two detectives were crucial in investigating and building an evidential case in relation to a complex manslaughter investigation. The detectives were faced with many challenges during the investigation and the team worked diligently to ensure no opportunities to gather evidence were missed, all while supporting the next of kin of the victim. Both detectives were commended for their commitment to investigating this case where the offender pleaded guilty.
• To support with Devon & Cornwall Police’s response to making communities safer for women and girls, a police officer volunteered to lead Project Vigilant, which is a perpetrator-focused, proactive initiative designed to tackle violence, abuse and intimidation against women and girls in the evenings and late nights. Collaborating with Thames Valley Police, the officer coordinated all aspects of Project Vigilant, including seeking funding, identifying training for police officers, partners and Specials, whilst overseeing all deployments of trained officers. The officer has been commended for his commitment and dedication to support the prevention of offenders, who look to target women and girls, protecting many from potential harm and improving trust and confidence within the community.