Bravery awards for top police officers

Bravery awards were presented to some of Rochdale's top officers at the Town Hall this afternoon.

The Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Robin Parker, and Mayoress Ann Jones, together with Chief Constable Peter Fahy, presented commendations for bravery along with long service and good conduct awards.

Among the recipients were Constables Michael Dermody and Jack Roylance and their police dogs Dusty and Toby who received the Chief Constable’s High Commendation for their outstanding courage and bravery when they entered an unsafe building to search for missing people following a fire.

In November police received an urgent request from Warwickshire Constabulary to assist them in their search for three fire officers who were missing following a serious fire at a vegetable factory.

Constables Dermody and Roylance immediately travelled down to Warwickshire with their police dogs, with the intention of using Dusty and Toby to locate the specific area where the fire officers were believed to have met their death.

The factory was extremely unsafe and was physically moving so any search had to limited to a maximum of 30 minutes at any one time.

Constables Dermody and Roylance acted as spotters for each other and entered using their dogs. The dangerous nature of the search meant that each officer had to work their dog in a slightly different way to the preferred trained method. The officers had to be able to read and trust their dogs, whereas the usual method involves rewarding a dog after it has indicated the presence of a body. This was impossible to do due to time and physical restraints.

Dusty and Toby indicated in four separate areas, with the strongest indication being in the hardest area to access, resulting in the need to build a further walkway. Because of this the dogs were able to indicate an area of human remains believed to be that of the missing fire officers.

Due to the team’s outstanding efforts, the Fire Brigade were able to transport the remains of their colleagues out of the building in a dignified funeral cortege, which was broadcast on national television.

Other officers who were awarded included Constable Andrew Jackson for his outstanding dedication and commitment during an extensive fraud investigation into a series of thefts carried out throughout the North West of England and Scotland. He received the Chief Constable's Commendation.

The Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal was awarded to Inspector Gary Hall, Sergeant Simon Dawson and Constable Kay McCaffrey.

Sergeant Paul Walsh and Acting Sergeant Jacqueline Shove were awarded with the Armed Forces Veterans badge, is awarded to all staff who have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces serving their country.