The then Temporary Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police Jim Colwell (now Deputy Chief Constable) hosted two awards ceremonies recently at China Fleet, in Saltash, to celebrate the long service of officers and staff and a leadership award.

He was joined by Colonel Edward Bolitho OBE, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, for the morning ceremony and Colonel Tom French OBE, Deputy Lord Lieutenant, for the afternoon, as well as by colleagues and representatives from across the force.

The citations for the morning ceremony were read by Chief Superintendent Dan Evans and for the afternoon by Superintendent Phil Williams.

Some of those to be recognised are listed below:

LONG SERVICE

Special Inspector Stacey Burch

Stacey joined Devon and Cornwall Police as a Special Constable in 1992, where she was based out of Plympton police station, in Plymouth.

Stacey has witnessed a number of changes in working practices throughout her career as a Special.

In 2001, Stacey was promoted to Special Sergeant and, in 2006, to Special Inspector, where she remains in post.

Stacey provided assistance during the Boscastle floods in 2004, where the Special Constabulary was mobilised at short notice to support and assist the residents of Boscastle to safety.

Stacey has taken a step back from operational duties, but she continues to support the Special Constabulary from “behind the scenes” by managing the increasing administrative tasks. This includes collating and reporting on performance statistics and reports these to the senior management teams.

In 2020 when COVID hit the nation, Stacey continued to provide unfailing support, where her knowledge of admin and organisational skills were utilised and invaluable. She was able to set up events and duties to match the demands from the requests to support sections and events. She reported to the Resourcing Team and Silver commands to keep them up to date with the level of officers coming in on duty. Similarly, during the G7 summit, she worked behind the scenes providing useful updates to senior management. This was no easy task as the requirements changed regularly and often at short notice and keeping on top of the regular information was very time consuming.

Stacey’s support to her team is greatly valued and her length of service is truly a remarkable achievement.

Police Constable Kevin Rowe

Kev joined Devon and Cornwall Police in June 2002. He started his career in Kingsbridge on the beat and throughout his service he has worked tirelessly in uniform at the front end of policing throughout the South Hams.

Born and raised in North East London, in 1986 he joined the Royal Navy where he did his basic training at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint and joined the type 22 frigate HMS Boxer, based in Plymouth.

In 1992, Kev left the Navy and became a field service technician for 10 years before joining Devon and Cornwall Police and was posted to Kingsbridge. Kev worked on the beat in Kingsbridge where he enjoyed front end policing and the wide variety of jobs he would attend.

Kev is a modern policeman, attuned to the 21st century and new methods but with a fondness for good old-fashioned crime-fighting, which is the reason he joined.

With his disciplined Navy background, his beliefs, and the skills he acquired outside the forces as a field technician, Kev proved he was a well-rounded police officer and in 2005 became a tutor constable in the South Hams.

Kev is well known to the community as a Kingsbridge Response Officer and a very experienced Lost Person Search Manager.

Kev is a highly regarded member of D section Response team, not just for his ability and skills he brings to the job each day but for the fact he is a genuine nice and caring guy with good morals that make him a great police officer, who is proud to serve Devon and Cornwall Police.

Detective Chief Inspector James Stock

James joined Devon and Cornwall Police in 2001 with his first posting being to Teignmouth Police Station as a response officer.

Moving onto a newly formed Rural Proactive Unit in 2004, James executed more than 150 warrants in a 12-month period.

Continuing his career in proactive policing, James became a force intelligence officer in 2005 and was the lead intelligence officer for Op Devonia, identifying a missing female five years after she had been reported missing. Overseeing extensive proof of life enquiries, James helped secure justice for Saraya Broadhurst and her family with a successful murder conviction.

Moving across into CID in 2006, James was promoted into custody as a sergeant in 2007, then in 2010 James took up a role within the Public Protection Unit (PPU), managing the Domestic Abuse Units across South Devon.

He has worked as a detective sergeant in the Local Safeguarding Investigation Team, and when promoted in 2017, as an inspector, he took up the detective inspector role for South Devon PPU.

In 2019 James became a temporary chief inspector, remaining in PPU, he was the DCI for South Devon and had force-wide responsibility for the Central Safeguarding Teams before being promoted in post as a substantive chief inspector in 2020.

In 2022 James moved into the Professional Standards Department, where he leads on counter corruption, complaints, and misconduct for the force. He works across two forces and regularly manages sensitive intelligence, cases, and reports into both executive and OPCC level.

James remains a passionate, committed, and professional police officer who is a credit to the service.

CHIEF CONSTABLE’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Reverend Philip Darby

In 2022, the Reverend Philip Darby achieved 25 years of voluntary service with Devon and Cornwall police as a chaplain.

Like many of his colleagues, Philip has seen and been involved in incidents that have been life changing. His entire ethos for the last 25 years is to be there during those life changing moments, to distinguish when his service has been needed and to offer support and a calming presence during such times.

Philip has been present at force funerals and memorial services, gone out in cars with officers whilst looking for missing persons and stood out in the cold during car accidents to assist those shaken up, in order to allow officers to get on with the job of investigating.

Philip would always show up for anything he has committed to and in some cases to on-the-spot situations as they have arisen. For example, Philip was once called out at 10pm to assist with a community situation involving the death of a popular young person in the community. He never questioned the time of night or that it was inconvenient or could it wait until the morning. He simply asked for the details and hopped in his car to be of service.

Philip’s 25 years of service have been exactly that – service. Philip has willingly and graciously been out with officers and staff in all weathers, at all times. When asked why, his answer will revolve around his faith and desire to serve those whom he believes to be heroes in our community. Without his dedication, the chaplaincy service would not be as successful as it is today.

Philip has proudly worn his chaplain’s uniform, not as a way to stand out but to show he is a part of and fully supports the policing family.

pics Deyective Chief Inspector James Stock (top left)

Special Inspector Stacey Burch (top right)

Reverend Philip Darby (bottom left)

PC Kevin Rowe (bottom right)