Lancashire Police Cadets take first prize at national awards

Police Cadets from Lancashire’s Pendle unit are celebrating their success after winning the National Crimebeat Awards, at a ceremony in London on 21^st March 2023.

National Crimebeat is the youth crime prevention charity of the High Sheriffs’ Association and is governed by trustees who are mainly former High Sheriffs. It aims to give recognition to the most innovative and successful crime prevention projects carried out by young people between five and 25 years.

Pendle Cadets presented their winning project on the day – “By Young People 4 Young People” – an initiative based on safety inputs in schools around East Lancashire.

The Cadets noticed that some of the educational materials used by local officers were outdated and needed modernising. They made their own lesson plans and delivered them to local primary and high schools.

Each lesson included a question-and-answer session where the pupils could ask honest questions and make it as interactive as possible. Subjects created and delivered include peer pressure, internet safety and staying safe while using social media.

The project was a big success with the Cadets’ lessons being used by the local policing teams and youth offending teams. All the recipient schools have asked for them to reattend to deliver their lessons to new pupils, and other schools have invited them in.

Pendle Cadets won a trophy on the day, along with funds to develop their initiative wider across Lancashire.

The Cadets were accompanied by Cadet Manager Chief Inspector Chris Abbott and Force Cadet Supervisor Jenni Watkins. Lancashire’s High Sheriff, Mr Ainscough, and the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police were also in attendance.

Lancashire Police’s Chief Constable Chris Rowley attended the event and presented a highly commended award.

Chief Inspector Chris Abbott, Cadet Manager, said: “I am proud of what our police cadets have achieved. This is a fantastic award and I am pleased they have been recognised on a national level.

“They have made a difference to their communities with their innovative project, creating a safe and open environment for young people. Tackling subjects like online safety is really important to this age group.

“A huge thankyou to the outgoing High Sheriff of Lancashire and everyone involved in the National Crimebeat Association.”

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A day in the life of a PCSO

We recently gave some of our PCSOs a GoPro and asked them to capture elements of their shift to give you an insight into the role.

Applications will open on Wednesday 17th August 2022. Sign up to job alerts to get exclusive content about this role.

Find out more about the role of a PCSO and hear from some of our current PCSOs about why they chose this career.

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Could you get justice for victims of crime like PC Marc?

We wanted to share with you a real glimpse into some of the incidents our officers respond to on a day to day basis.

Once such officer is PC Marc, who along with Police Dog Viper, were the first on scene locate an offender who had stolen a vehicle.

We had a chat with Marc and asked him to tell us a bit more about the shift, and how he put his training, skills and experience into action. Hear what Marc has to say in the next video…

We are immensely proud of Marc, Viper and all the other colleagues who helped to bring the offender to justice and return the vehicle back to its rightful owner.

If you are interested in becoming a Police Officer with Lancashire Constabulary, you can find our about you can also find out about our Police Officer recruitment entry routes here.

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A day in the life of a Police Control Room Operator

We recently gave PCRO Nasra a GoPro and asked her to capture elements of her shift to give you an insight into the role.

Being a Police Control Room Operator (PCRO) is more than just answering calls, it’s about obtaining and providing accurate information to ensure the right decisions are made to help and keep people safe.

PCROs are predominantly the first point of contact for members of the public wishing to speak to the police. Covering the whole of Lancashire, PCROs deal with all emergency (999) and non-emergency calls (101),which have been transferred in via our switchboard team, identifying risk, threat and vulnerability and grading the incident correctly.

Watch what it is like to work on a night shift below…

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Police Cadet shortlisted for national award

A volunteer police cadet from Blackpool who has dedicated hours of his time to supporting policing has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

17-year-old Harry Snelson who lives in the Warbreck area has been nominated for a Lord Ferrers Award, which honours those who provide an outstanding contribution to policing through volunteer work.

He has been a police cadet for three years, working his way through the ranks and is now the Inspector of the north Blackpool unit.

Nikki Leigh, coordinator for the Blackpool and Fylde police cadets, nominated Harry for the award. She said: “Harry leads from the front. He’s helpful and kind to the newer cadets and commands the respect of the longer standing cadets who look up to him and seek his guidance.

“He has clocked up over 70 hours of volunteering since the beginning of May, taking part in charity fundraising, gardening, beach cleans, bike coding and countless other things. He is a wonderful example of a police cadet.

“Harry has also done a lot of work to celebrate diversity amongst our workforce. Based on his own experience of being transgender, he gave a talk to the police cadets talking about gender identity, encouraging people to be themselves. He has plans to continue to champion diversity in the workplace too and hopes to continue to share his personal experience amongst police officers and staff to evoke empathy and knowledge when dealing with the trans community.”

The awards are run by the Home Office. There are eleven award categories in total, with Harry being shortlisted for the Volunteer Police Cadet – Individual Award, which is awarded to those who have demonstrated a significant and sustained contribution to youth led social action in support of police or their communities.

The ceremony will take place in London on Thursday 14 October.

Harry said: “I enjoy sharing my experiences and helping my peers.

“Being nominated feels amazing and I’m very grateful. It shows that all of my hard work has paid off.”

Volunteer police cadets are aged between 13 and 18 and are based in local colleges across Lancashire, meeting one night a week. Cadets are taught basic knowledge in a variety of policing activities and the law, gaining an insight into road safety, first aid, personal safety, conflict management and problem solving.

West Divisional Commander Chief Supt Karen Edwards, who is also the strategic lead for the police cadets, said: “It is inspiring to see Harry using his personal experience to champion diversity and help others.

“We are very proud of Harry and commend him for all the fantastic work that he has done and continues to do. His actions are admirable and he should be an inspiration to other young people.”

Find out more about becoming a Police Cadet here.

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New Deputy Chief Constable joins the force.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Sacha Hatchett, who has taken up the position of Deputy Chief Constable on Monday 27th September.

Sacha was sworn in at an attestation ceremony first thing on Monday morning (an attestation ceremony is an oath made by police officers to uphold the law).

Sacha Hatchett joins us from North Wales Police where she was Assistant Chief Constable.

After joining the police service in February 1997, Sacha has worked within a variety of different roles across North Wales Police and Cheshire. As Assistant Chief Constable for North Wales Police, Sacha had overall responsibility for the Force’s Crime Operations portfolio.

Speaking about her appointment to Lancashire Constabulary, DCC Hatchett said: “I am hugely proud to have served as North Wales Police’s first female Chief Officer and to have been involved in many of the Force’s developments and successes during my 24 years of service.

“It is now time to move on to the next opportunity and I very much look forward to the new challenges of the Deputy Chief Constable role at Lancashire Police.

“I look forward to bringing my own wealth of experience over to the Lancashire Chief Officer team, having worked across a variety of departments and specialist roles during my career.

“I am incredibly proud to work in policing and am excited to continue to serve and protect communities of Lancashire.”

Chief Constable Chris Rowley said: “I am delighted that Sacha has joined us in the role of DCC. She showed she was the right person for the job against a field of really strong and high quality candidates.

“Sacha’s passion and commitment for policing really shone through and I am looking forward to working with her and the rest of the Chief Officer Team to help Lancashire Constabulary deliver an excellent service to the public so we can best protect our communities, especially those who are vulnerable.”

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One Team Different Roles… which will you choose?

As part of the newest Police Officer recruitment campaign to join the Degree Holder Entry Programme, applicants have a choice of routes to apply for. The Detective Entry Programme or Uniformed Officer.

To help you make your choice, we interviewed some of our uniformed officers and detectives so they can introduce you to some of the different roles and departments you could work in…

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Thinking about becoming a Police Officer?

We caught up with some of our officers to talk to them about the recruitment process and what it is like to be a Police Officer at Lancashire Police.

If you are thinking about joining us on any of our entry pathways, get the inside knowledge from some of our officers about choosing this exciting and rewarding career…

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