South Wales Police’s finest honoured as #TeamSWPAwards returnsV

Bravery, innovation, leadership, selflessness.

These are just some of the attributes that were celebrated last night with the return of our #TeamSWPAwards.

Back after two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic the awards, held at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, recognised officers, staff, volunteers and partners who have gone above and beyond for the force and the communities we serve.

The winners on the night were:

• Learner of the Year Award – PC Leanne Taylor, who pursued a career in policing later in life, having previously worked in the finance industry. Her “incredible dedication” to learning is described as “an inspiration to colleagues”.
• Community Officer Shrievalty Cup – PC Stuart Styles, who was posthumously awarded the Community Officer Shrievalty Cup for his work in Adamsdown, Cardiff over eight years. Nominating his late colleague, Inspector Gerallt Hughes said: “Stuart was a good old-fashioned Neighbourhood Beat Manager, someone who walked the beat, knew everyone, knew everything, and they all knew him. He is much missed by his friends and colleagues, and the communities he served.”
• Extra Mile Award for Volunteers – Special Inspector Andrew Suter, who joined the Special Constabulary in 1997. In that time he’s played roles in mentoring, planning, events and demand reduction. He’s also been recognised for his bravery.
• Police Youth Volunteer of the Year Award – Danny-Boy Wheadon, who was said by his nominator to “Epitomise what it is to be part of the PYV scheme”. Danny-Boy has helped promote campaigns, been involved in operations, volunteered with flood relief efforts & worked to encourage reporting of hate crime.
• Heart of Gold Award – PC Katie Butler who, while recovering from cancer and with the help of friends and family affectionally referred to as “the posse”, has raised more than £6,000 for Maggies Cancer Centres in Swansea.
• Exceptional Service to People Award – DI Matt Powell, whose ‘crime scene to court steps’ ethos of supporting victims and witnesses through the criminal justice process – often in the most harrowing of cases – has won praise from bereaved families & colleagues alike.
• Innovation Award – PC Richard Thomas, who devised a scheme to prevent old and damaged riot shields ending up in landfill. He works with schools and community groups to build greenhouses with them.
• Equality & Inclusion Award – Sarah-Jayne Bray, chair of the South Wales Police Gender Equality Network (GEN). As part of her role she’s helped others to challenge perceptions, introduced a series of personal development webinars and worked to shine a light on men’s health.
• Best Use of Social Media Award – The Canton Neighbourhood Policing Team, who have developed podcasts to deliver messages in a wide range of languages and on a variety of platforms to meet the needs of the diverse local community.
• Police and Crime Commissioner Partnership Award – The joint winners of the award are the SWP Court Volunteers and the the multi-agency team who secured convictions and a lifetime ban for two people who mistreated a number of animals.
• South Wales Police Team Work Award – SWP’s ICT Department, who were recognised for their all-team approach to transforming the force’s IT provision as demand more than doubled overnight due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and continued to rise rapidly.
• Leadership Award – Det Supt Mark O’Shea who, over the last three years, has led teams in a number of high profile, complex investigations. His nominator said: “Mark is a naturally supportive, empathetic and inclusive leader who makes his team feel truly valued.”
• Investigation of the Year Award – #OperationFairfield, which saw detectives work alongside our Joint Scientific Investigation Unit – and, ingeniously, with colleagues at the radiology department at the University Hospital of Wales – to recover a gun and prove it was used in an incident in Cardiff. Two people were jailed as a result.
• Exceptional Bravery Award – PC Nathan Davies, who answered a call for help at the River Clydach during treacherous stormy conditions. Despite injuring himself and knocking himself unconscious, PC Davies crawled to the casualties after regaining consciousness and carried out CPR until further assistance arrived.
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Staff – Major Crime’s Dawn Bellshaw-Jones who joined in 1984. Her nominator said: “Dawn is caring and supportive, really looking after the team’s wellbeing which is particularly poignant due to the nature of the serious investigations they’re involved in.”
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Officers – former Ch/Supt Dorian Lloyd, who served with pride for 29 years. During his time he had notable tenures as Head of Serious and Organised Crime, Head of Professional Standards and Mid Glamorgan Divisional Commander.
• Special Recognition Award – The Special Recognition Award was given to each of our three Joint Enforcement Teams (JETs). JETs were set up in each division – Cardiff and Vale, Mid Glamorgan and Swansea and Neath Port – during the pandemic alongside local authorities to in order to engage, explain, educate and carry out enforcement; a difficult task when restrictions changed so regularly.