A number of Devon and Cornwall Police team members, including those who provided supoprt during the 2004 Boscastle floods, were honoured at a special ceremony this month.

On Friday, December 2, the then Temporary Chief Constable Jim Colwell (now Deputy Chief Constable) hosted two awards ceremonies 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.

One of those to be recognised was Special Inspector Stacey Burch who provided support during the Boscastle floods in 2004.

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

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.

Gavin Gardiner, who also supported teasm during the Boscastle floods, was also recognised.

Gavin joined Devon and Cornwall Police in October 2002, starting as a call handler in what used to be called the Force Enquiry Centre at Crownhill Police Station and after six months moved into the Force Control Room to become a Resource Deployment Officer.

Gavin joined the Royal Navy in 1983, at the age of 16. When he left in 1996, he was a Leading Radio Operator, having served in several conflicts including the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War and in the Bosnia-Serbia War.

When Gavin left the Royal Navy he worked in the MOD, again in radio communications, before briefly moving into the banking sector, and spending some time working with ITV Digital and BBC Licensing before joining Devon and Cornwall Police as a call handler.

In his time in Comms, he was deployed to a church hall for the Boscastle flooding in 2004 and in his three years as a Temporary Radio Supervisor he supervised multiple talk groups for the Olympic Torch relay through the force.