Officers Win Awards For Keeping Children Safe
Monday, 10 May, 2010
Two senior West Mercia Police officers have won awards for their work in the area of child and public protection.
Detective Superintendent Martin Lakeman and Inspector Philip Shakesheff, both based at force HQ Hindlip Hall in Worcester, attended the first ever West Midlands Safeguarding Awards event at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham city centre last week (Thurs 29th April).
Det Supt Lakeman was nominated by all three Safeguarding Children Boards across West Mercia and was recognised for his work in the field of e-safety. He won an individual award in recognition of his services to safeguarding.
He explained: "The Safeguarding Boards across West Mercia work hard to make sure that every child matters. The groups are made up of people from various agencies including the police who work to protect children and keep them safe from harm. Protecting vulnerable persons, including children is a key priority throughout West Mercia and safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
"One of the exciting initiatives myself and colleagues have been involved in is raising awareness around use of the internet. This has focused on keeping children and young persons safe while online and understanding the difference and risks between the real and online world.
"We have delivered our e-safety presentation to more than 5,000 people over the last two years. I am extremely proud of the work we have done in this area and know we have made a real difference. It's a great honour to have won this award and it's a reflection on many other people who have supported and worked with me to protect children."
There were eight categories of awards and every local authority in the West Midlands region was invited to the special black tie dinner, as well as other blue light services such as West Midlands Ambulance Service. More than 200 people attended the event.
Prize winner Insp Shakesheff won the Focus on Innovative Practice category for his work with the charity Missing People and the Textsafe scheme. This initiative encouraged missing people aged under 18 to text someone at home and let them know they were safe. The scheme was so successful it is now being extended to any missing person of any age.
Insp Shakesheff said: "I was pleased to receive the award and glad we could help several missing youngsters through our work with the charity Missing People. We have also been working in conjunction with The Samaritans to help adults who may be feeling suicidal and are missing or thinking about going missing. With the permission of the next of kin we would pass the person's phone number to The Samaritans and they would text the missing adult and offer support. We feel this could be of great benefit to someone who is perhaps feeling they have nowhere to turn."
Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire all have Safeguarding Children Boards and Det Supt Lakeman sits on each of those boards. The Children Act of 2004 required each local authority to establish a Safeguarding Children Board.
Visit www.missingpeople.org.uk or www.samaritans.org.uk for more information on the charities' work.
