THAMES Valley Police are once again running a competition to find the best Community Police Office, and we at ThameNews.Net think that the town’s very own, PC Russell Hounslow, deserves to be nominated.
All officers who have made a significant contribution to the communities which they police are eligible and the overall winner will go forward to a national competition.
Residents, community organisations and businesses can all put nominations forward but they must be in by Friday 17 June.
Being the modest chap that he is, Russell is slightly embarrassed at all the fuss but we think he deserves your vote and so does his boss, Inspector Stuart Dunbar, who described Russell as “my eyes and ears around Thame” and an invaluable member of the team.”
PC Hounslow has lived in Thame since 1988 and worked at Thame Police station since 1995, becoming the community officer in 2000.
As well as his duties as Community Officer, he is currently one of Thames Valley Police?s wildlife crime officers, having completed the National Police Wildlife Crime Officers course with the Ministry of Defence Police, during September 2004. He has also completed Birds of Prey awareness and handling courses over the last couple of months and will be participating in a further animal handling course to at Heathrow Airport in July. In this role, Russell undertakes wildlife crime enquiries for Thame and Southern Oxfordshire and has taken part in a joint operation with RSPCA, vets and Customs and Excise officers with regards to the illegal importation of endangered species. He has also undertaken several enquiries together with officials from DEFRA (Dept for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs).
Russell is currently working together with PC Paul Gregory (community officer for Wheatley) and Lesley Nesbitt (Crime Prevention Officer at Thame) to put on a ?Bogus Caller? production aimed at vulnerable members of the community. The event will bring together different sections of Thame?s community to draw attention to distraction burglaries. Drama students from year eight at Lord Williams?s School, Thame, will act out different scenarios and it is hoped that children from Barley Hill School will provide musical entertainment, and that local companies will provide transport to and from the venue (Thame Leisure Centre) and refreshments. The event takes place during the morning of Wednesday, June 22. This is a similar event to that staged two years ago.
Russell recently took part in the recent fun day at Barley Hill School, taking fingerprints of the children, and has previously visited to give talks to the pupils on citizenship and honesty. He also occasionally has a school lunch there, sitting and talking to the children. I have also given talks to pupils at St. Joseph?s School and the nursery in Windmill Road.
He regularly attends the senior citizen coffee mornings held at Thame Masonic Hall on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and tries to do as much town centre foot patrol as possible. He is also in the process of tutoring a new recruit after successfully tutoring a trainee police officer last summer/autumn.
Part of Russell’s duties include taking part in Thame Community Safety Group meetings and he was instrumental in helping to set up the Thame town centre ?drinking ban? together with contributing to the setting up and re-vmping of the Thame pub watch sceme.
The Thames Valley Community Beat Officer of the Year competition, sponsored by West Oxfordshire Motor Auctions, is now in its fourth year and aims to highlight the important role of community officers. Nominees will be judged on initiatives they have introduced to reduce crime and disorder and the relationships that they have built with local communities. The more public nominations they receive, the more likely they are to succeed.
Five officers ? one from each of the Force?s basic command units ? will be short-listed and the overall winner will be put forward for a national community officer of the year award offering a prize of a