Special Inspector Laura Hart receives Lord Ferrers Award

Merseyside Police is proud to report that Special Inspector Laura Hart has been awarded the prestigious Lord Ferrers Award at a ceremony in London hosted by the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Priti Patel.

The award highlights the vital role that volunteers play in support of policing, by giving their free time to make communities safer and enhance the effectiveness of policing across England and Wales. This particular accolade is the ‘Lord Ferrers Special Constabulary Individual Award’ which recognises Special Constables who have demonstrated a sustained and significant contribution to policing within their local community.

Special Constables are volunteers who hold the same powers and wear the same uniform as a Regular Constable. They are required to perform a minimum of 16hours per month and receive regular training to ensure they have the right skills and tools to do the job. They face the same challenges and work on the frontline of policing alongside their colleagues.

Special Inspector Hart has been a member of the Special Constabulary since 2008 and does this alongside her day job as a Detention Officer within the custody suites for Merseyside Police. Laura has used her own skills and experience to increase the diversity within the team and has developed a programme for mentoring new supervisors taking on leadership roles. She has been instrumental in using the skills she has obtained from her day job to implement a training course for new Special Constabulary recruits within the custody environment and for a sustained period of time has filled gaps in supervisory roles and provided strong leadership for her officers through a period of change.

In addition to this, Laura has worked hard to diversify the opportunities available to Special Constables by integrating her officers within Investigation Teams, Abusive Images Unit, Liverpool Airport Policing Team and Roads Policing which has been a real success.

A second Merseyside officer, Special Inspector Nathan Selby, was also recognised at the awards and came runner up in the 'Technical Innovation Award' category for his work in developing a public facing platform to apply for roles. The recruitment platform, designed entirely by Inspector Selby, went live in December 2018 and over 300 applicants have since applied online.

The pilot is currently being evaluated and has already has fantastic feedback, complementing the ease of Nathan's design.

Assistant Chief Constable Jon Roy, who attended the event said: “I am absolutely delighted that both Laura and Nathan’s dedication and significant contribution to policing in Merseyside has been recognised, and it is fantastic that Laura has received such a prestigious award.

“Special Constables play a key part in ensuring that Merseyside Police delivers an effective service to our communities whilst giving up their own time to support the force and keep people safe.

“I would like to congratulate Laura and Nathan for all that they have done and thank them for their continued effort on behalf of the whole of the Merseyside Police extended family.”

Special Inspector Laura Hart said: “This award is testament to the hard work that all of my Special Constable colleagues right across England and Wales do on a daily basis.

“Being a Special Constable has given me so many opportunities to develop my own skills, particularly around leadership and decision making, but most importantly it has allowed me to give something back to the community.

“Within Merseyside we receive strong support from police officers and staff and we are just one piece in the puzzle. I would encourage anybody thinking of becoming Special to apply – because you won’t look back and you’ll enjoy every minute!”

You can apply to become a Special Constable. To find out more about the volunteering opportunities within Merseyside Police, follow this link: https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/merseysidepolice/special-constables/home/index.html