PC ‘HONOURED’ TO BE GMP’S FIRST RESPONSE OFFICER OF THE YEAR

who enforce the law and engage with members of the public at incidents.

“I will always be incredibly proud to be able to say that I was GMP’s first Response Officer of the Year.” was a dedicated Response officer on the Oldham district who did his best every day to support victims of crime and the community.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle, Head of Local Policing, said: “Prior to his recent move to CTPNW, Lee was the exemplar of Response policing for Greater Manchester.

“He displayed a professional approach to the development of student officers through his role as a Tutor Constable, maintaining high standards which officers in his company took with them when signed off as independent.

“He supported his colleagues as a Tutor Constable and consistently coached student officers to a high standard during their time with him.

“PC Sweetman was one of our Taser officers, and he showed bravery and leadership amongst his colleagues with this role.

“He investigated crimes to a high standard and ensured that he supported the most vulnerable in the community.

Police Constable Lee Sweetman says that being crowned GMP’s inaugural Response Officer of the Year is the biggest achievement of his life.

Officers from across our districts were put forward for the award by their Chief Superintendents.

An awards panel subsequently selected PC Sweetman as the standout nominee, and he was presented with a certificate to mark his achievement by the Oldham district’s Chief Superintendent Chris Goodman-Bowen on Monday 26 June.

PC Sweetman said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be GMP’s first Response Officer of the Year.

“There are fantastic Response officers in every district at GMP.

“Response officers across the force do an amazing job on the frontline day in, day out to keep the people of Greater Manchester safe.

“To have won this award ahead of thousands of other officers who would have been worthy winners is by far the biggest and best recognition I have ever been given.”

He was a Response officer on the Oldham district when he was nominated for the inaugural award but has since taken up a new role as a PC at Counter Terrorism Policing North West based at FHQ.

PC Sweetman said: “I was a Response officer for seven years, and was always incredibly proud to be part of GMP’s frontline.

“Response officers are the heartbeat of the organisation, and they are also the face of the force – the officers

“I was also impressed with his positive outcome rate of 15.9 per cent, which exceeds the force average by 50 per cent.

“This outcome rate is supported by examples provided by Lee’s Inspector when he worked on Response, James Grundy, who highlighted exceptional fieldcraft when dealing with an offence of burglary, bravely confronting threats of the use of a firearm.

“PC Sweetman was held in high regard by his Response supervision and peers, delivered a high-quality service to our communities and was a role model for peers across the service.”

Insp Grundy added: “PC Sweetman

“PC Sweetman has a high work ethic and attended the most incidents of any officer on the shift in a 12-month period.

“He was a Response officer who made sure that he always had professional pride in the role.”

As well as gaining the title of GMP’s Response Officer of the Year, PC Sweetman was put forward for a national award.

Each UK force could only nominate one officer for the inaugural National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Response Officer of the Year.

Unfortunately, PC Sweetman did not win that award. It went to Northumbria Police officer Joseph Furniss.