Merton Police Commendations Recognise Outstanding Service
Honours for those who have "made a big difference in our borough"
Merton borough commander Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Macleod has recently awarded 16 Commendations to officers, staff and guests, recognising outstanding professionalism, commitment and public service.
Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Macleod said: “I am very proud of my officers and teams here at Merton, and tonight’s event is all about some very special people who have made a big difference on our borough, and to the people that live here”.
“I’d like to thank our Volunteer Police Cadets team and volunteers for supporting our Awards tonight and also Lisa Peterkin, Principal, and all our friends at St Marks Academy for their warm welcome and hosting my Awards event.”
All the uniformed PCs who received Commendations are based at Wimbledon Police Station, as are the detectives.
Commendations awarded include:-
Lorelle Wilds - Volunteer - Dedicated volunteering with the MPS volunteering hundreds of hours to Merton police supporting victims and officers.
Pc Maggie Brownlie - Outstanding service, dedication and professionalism - managing missing person enquiries, sensitive cases and looking after families.
Nav Bhachoo-Smith - police staff Commitment and dedication to the MPS recognising dedicated public service to the Metropolitan Police Service for over 30 years. Service
Pc Gareth Lewis - Outstanding bravery, courage and professionalism - Gareth faced a large fight involving armed suspects, whilst alone. He bravely managed to detain and disarm one suspect whilst calling for assistance. Other officers quickly responded and all suspects were arrested, preventing serious injuries or worse.
Kris Okruszek - staff - Dedication to services to the MPS - excellent work within the building resources department whilst working at Merton
A/DS Vicky Allen - Professionalism, investigation and tenacity - dealing with a serious assault, dedicated victim care and comprehensive investigation resulting in suspects arrest, charge and conviction.
Kate Marney - staff - Dedication and teamwork - cleaner at Mitcham who always goes above and beyond her duties to keep the working environment clean and suitable for officers and guest to the station.
Pc Beth Inglis - Compassion, courage and generosity - Beth responded to help a victim of domestic violence. The suspect had stolen the victim’s mobile phone leaving no means of contact. Beth immediately bought a PrePay phone from her own money, which she gave to the victim. This made a huge difference to the victim and enabled immediate contact with police and other agencies. On another occasion, Beth went to the home of an 83 year old man - she found he had no money or food in the house. She went and got food for the elderly man, again out of her own money, to enable him to be safe and with food until social services were able to put help in place. This is outstanding care and compassion making a difference to vulnerable people in need.
Felicity Connolly - Compassion and dedication to victims of crime - whilst working as a police volunteer at Merton for the past 10 years She has worked tirelessly for victims of domestic abuse, building bridges of trust which have proven invaluable.
Pc David Pilkington, Pc Omar Raad, Pc Ed Shemming, Pc Rob Fenly - Professionalism and compassion in saving life - These officers attended a venue of a suicidal male, who was already subject to a suicide protection order. The officers located the man, who was drunk and wanted to kill himself, Whilst en route to hospital care, the male collapsed in the police van. Pc Raad and Pilkington immediately started CPR and were joined by Pc Shemming and Fenly. The four officers kept the man alive until a paramedic arrived and took over. The man survived. Had the officers not acted as they did, he would have lost his life. Outstanding care and first aid by four PCs (it was also PC Raad’s first ever day on Response Team, having just finished training)
C/I Mark Lawrence - Outstanding leadership & Partnership work - C/I Lawrence was commended for his years leading local partnerships and community work at Merton.
Insp Darren Mercer - Leadership and Commitment - Inspector Mercer led neighbourhood policing teams and local reorganisation at Mitcham and Morden, through a substantial period of change, leading his teams and responding to local community concerns.
Pc Sue Webb - Commitment, Professionalism and Dedication - PC Webb has consistently maintained a solid, reliable support capability to the borough commander’s team, with good humour and resilience. She has done all this whilst experiencing poor health, without complaint.
Ds Shirley Kennett and Pc Alison Way - Professionalism, tenacity and determination supporting victims of crime - DS Kennett and PC Way dealt with a protracted and complex domestic violence investigation, in which the suspect was arrested but later bailed. Due to their dedicated, full victim care and personal diligence, through a range of challenges, the offender later received a long custodial sentence and the victim was protected.
Cadet Staff Ragavendira Jeyamohan, Cadet Staff Hubert Mensah, Cadet Staff Saline Rahman, Pc Tim Mann, Pc Jon Thompson - Professionalism, first aid and victim care at a serious motorway road traffic collision - This team of Cadet volunteers and two PCs came across a multiple vehicle road traffic collision which blocked the M40, in exceptionally bad weather. With no resources or police equipment, the team dealt with eight casualties, protected the scene and coordinated full 999 response. All those injured later made full recoveries. The Cadets were praised by Thames Valley Police for their actions.
March 1, 2016