Humberside Police officers honoured at bravery awards
‘WONDERFUL EVENING’: Humberside Police Chief Constable Lee Freeman
By Rick Lyon
Courageous police officers have been celebrated at the inaugural Humberside Police & Federation Bravery Awards.
Hundreds of guests gathered at the Mecure Hull Grange Park Hotel, in Willerby, to honour the incredible bravery and selflessness of officers and staff across the force over the last year.
The event heard about officers who risked their own lives to save others and protect the public in the line of duty.
The officers who received Police Bravery Awards at the first joint Humberside Police and Humberside Police Federation ceremony were:
PC Hannah Binnington - PC Binnington gave chase in her vehicle when she spotted a high-risk suspect wanted for domestic abuse offences in his car. When he got out of his vehicle to flee, PC Binnnington continued her chase on foot and, despite a long struggle, she was able to detain him and help bring him to justice.
PC Tom Elvidge - PC Elvidge attended the scene of a car driving erratically the wrong way down the A63. After spotting the car, he illuminated the front blue lights of his vehicle and stopped in the road, attempting to get the offender to stop. Instead, the driver smashed head-on into PC Elvidge’s car, causing him significant injuries.
PC Kieran Farrow - PC Farrow risked his own life to pull a 15-year-old girl to safety from the path of a speeding train. The girl was suffering from mental health issues at the time but the ceremony heard she has recovered and is now doing well.
PC Nick Beal - PC Beal made incredible efforts to try and save a man from a burning vehicle. The man, a domestic abuse suspect, crashed into a heavy goods vehicle after PC Beal had given pursuit. The officer made persistent efforts to extinguish the flames, risking his own safety in doing so, but the driver could not be freed and died at the scene.
PCs Debbie Tipper, Mia Bayar, Paula West and Ross McClean - The officers saved the life of a man who was trying to kill himself by cutting his throat with broken glass. Working as a team, they managed to restrain him and remove the glass, following a lengthy struggle.
PCs Tipper, Bayar, West and McClean were announced as the overall winners, and will now travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards next month.
‘HUMBLING’: Humberside Police Federation Chair Lee Sims
In addition, the following three awards were also handed out at the Humberside Police & Federation Bravery Awards:
PCSO Dawn Brown, Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award - PCSO Brown raised funds and led a project to create a hard-hitting documentary highlighting the devastating impact young people being killed in road accidents has on their loved ones. Impact: The Left Behind documents the case of Macauley Hatch, who died aged 26 after a motorbike crash in north Hull in September 2021, and has been shown in secondary schools across the city.
PC Ellie Downes, Inspiration and Resilience in Policing Award - PC Downes was recognised for showing tremendous determination and courage while undergoing long-term cancer treatment at only 26-years-old. Despite her health issues, she is determined to carry on as a police officer to help others, and has been an inspiration to her colleagues.
Tracey Windas, Outstanding Dedication to Welfare Award - Tracey is Secretary of the Welfare and Benevolent Fund, helping colleagues who find themselves facing difficulties. The ceremony heard she has a reputation for prioritising staff health, welfare and wellbeing, no matter how busy she is, including helping people in her own time.
Humberside Police Chief Constable Lee Freeman told The Hull Story: “It’s been a wonderful evening recognising local officers who’ve once again stepped forward and risked their own safety to protect the public.
“Whilst many of our officers and staff constantly say they are just doing their job, they do it extremely well. It’s really important for us to recognise their bravery, and the risks they take.
“There are a lot of challenges in policing, and we don’t get everything right, but at Humberside we get up to 2,000 calls a day, and our officers and staff deal with the vast majority of them extremely well. It makes an enormous difference to people in their time of need, or in an emergency.
“I’ve never ducked the issue that policing has to regain the trust and confidence of many of our communities, but that doesn’t mean 99 per cent of our officers and staff don’t come to work and do amazing things every single day. They do, and we’ve got to get better at sharing that with our communities.”
It was one of the last events Mr Freeman will attend as Chief Constable of Humberside Police. He leaves the force after six years in charge to take up the position of His Majesty’s Inspector with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in August.
“I’m going to miss it enormously,” he said. “I’ve been part of an organisation and a team of people who’ve done absolutely everything I’ve asked of them over the last six years.
“It’s been a very personal job for me. Knowing when it’s the right time to go is always difficult but I ask myself if I leave the force in better shape than I found it, and I think I do. I also ask myself if I trust the people I leave behind to improve it further, and I do.”
Humberside Police Federation Chair Lee Sims said: “It’s so humbling to see all these brave police officers and hear their incredible stories. It makes you proud to be a police officer.
“It was a real privilege to hear their stories, and why they did what they did.
“We often say that the police run towards danger when others run the other way, and tonight has shown that.
“We’ve heard some truly inspirational stories about what police officers and staff are doing to help our communities. We’ve seen pride, courage, commitment and dedication. It’s been amazing.”
Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison was among the attendees at the awards ceremony.
He said: “The things Humberside Police officers willingly put themselves through to protect the public never cease to amaze me.
“In a world that has so many problems, it’s humbling to see these people who are so dedicated to the cause of protecting others. These people run forward, into danger, to protect us.
“It’s a marvellous thing they do for us all, and I can’t commend them enough.
“I talk to the general public on a regular basis, and I know that the silent majority really support the police, and know what officers put themselves through to protect us in all our communities.
“I’m proud of our officers, and I know our communities are too.”
The Northern Police Healthcare Scheme was the lead sponsor of the Humberside Police & Federation Bravery Awards.
Other sponsors included Serve and Protect Credit Union, No 1 Copperpot Credit Union, Metfriendly, Taylor Law, Niche, JMW Solicitors, New Park Court and the Humberside Police Welfare & Benevolent Fund.