‘Dedicated and hardworking’ East Lancs police officer praised for award win

A Lancashire police officer, who has been described as “dedicated and hardworking” has been given an award.

PC Rowan Nelson has been named Lancashire Police’s 'response officer of the year', an award that highlights the role officers play in protecting the public and keeping communities safe.

He works in the police’s east division, which covers the Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale areas.

The nominations for the award were police constable Hannah Speakman from South Division, PC Rowan Nelson from East Division, and PC Alison Clarkson from West Division.

Assistant chief constable Karen Edwards said: “Our response officers play such a crucial role – they are at the forefront of delivering our force priorities of preventing and fighting crime and keeping our communities and people safe.

“On a daily basis I am made aware of positive examples of the professionalism, commitment and courage demonstrated by our response officers.

“Over the past 12 months we have made significant changes to our operating model. These changes have had a really positive impact on the service we are delivering for victims and communities across Lancashire.

“Lancashire Response teams are now offering a far better quality of service to our victims and our communities. Our responding time of answering calls of service to our victims has reduced, our positive outcomes for victims have increased, and the targeting of those who blight our communities through criminality has improved.

“I want to thank all my officers working on response and the response investigation teams, who continue to make a real difference to our victims and communities across Lancashire.

“We have outstanding response officers across the force, and so it was no surprise that the standard of the nominees for our 2024 response officer of the year were so high.

“My congratulations go to the worthy winner of the award, PC Rowan Nelson."

PC Nelson's nomination describes him as: “Dedicated, hardworking and passionate about providing a quality victim-focused service whilst all delivered with a smile and can-do attitude.

“Rowan has proven himself repeatedly to go above and beyond to ensure that victims receive an outstanding service from Lancashire Constabulary.

“Rowan identifies vulnerabilities early and ensures that everything possible is done to safeguard victims. He is committed to ensuring that criminals are brought to justice as quickly as possible, which he achieves by investigating crime diligently and expeditiously, ensuring that the evidence presented to the courts is of the highest standard.

“Rowan has achieved a detection rate which is over and above the divisional and countywide average. This is testament to his work ethic and commitment to fully investigating every crime, ensuring the best possible outcomes for victims."