Jarra Highly Commended at Police Officer of the Year Award Ceremony
13th November 2008
Repatriation of the fallen British servicemen and service women from Iraq and Afghanistan has been a regular part of the task proudly carried out by police and the forces in Lyneham since April 2007.

We have witnessed over 125 hearses escorted through the village and then through our neighbouring town of Wootton Bassett, where local residents, serving and former service personnel turn up in their hundreds, to pay their respects for the heroes who have paid the ultimate price, committed for their Queen and Country.

Sadly these somber occasions are getting regular, but the dedication and devotion represented by the people involved has not diminished in any way. The services play a pivotal role in helping the families and loved ones come to terms with their tragic losses and in particular our local police teams provide a superb job by ensuring the bodies are escorted without fuss to the local coroners in either Swindon or Oxfordshire.

The interaction with the families at a time of grieving is not a particularly easy venture and can be very sensitive, but the professionalism of the staff involved is beyond reproach and many families have thanked those involved for their comfort and support.

Sir Ian Andrews, Second Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, made a special visit to RAF Lyneham in September this year, to personally praise the way the repatriation of fallen British servicemen from Iraq and Afghanistan is managed by the RAF base and the police. During his visit he was looked after by PC Jarra Brown, the Ministry of Defence community police officer for the station. While there, he presented PC Brown with the Commendation of the Chief Constable of the Ministry of Defence Police.

PC Brown was put forward as the Ministry of Defence Police Community Officer representative at the annual Jane’s Police Review Awards, which took place in The Royal Horticultural Halls, London today. The host for the evening was Huw Edwards anchorman of the BBC's Ten O'Clock News, who compared the prestigious award evening in front of over 700 specially invited guests including the most senior and influential figures in policing and government as well as chief constables from all forces.

Nominees for five special categories were put forward by the constabularies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (including British Transport Police and MoD Police) Forty-eight forces were represented and nominations were judged by a high profile panel who also attended the awards event.

PC Jarra Brown, one of the top police officers nominated, joined the other 47 nominees on stage, was presented with an individual medal of commendation from the Home Secretary for his outstanding performance over the last year.

After the top three police officers were announced, a special mention was made to three additional candidates who recorded unique and outstanding attributes for the judges, who found the task determining the final winners very difficult.

Jarra recalls the moment when his name was read out as one of the three highly commended officers "I honestly have never felt so proud when my name was called out as one of the highly commended for what we had achieved"

Jarra continues "Karen burst into tears, my Chief Constable's representatives and colleagues stood up and applauded and I was just gob smacked"

The top three awards went to officers from the big forces of Northern Ireland Police Force, Greater Manchester and Cumbria Police Force.

The Community Police Officer of the Year Award was established as a national event in 1992 to promote a positive side of police work which seldom gets the publicity it deserves.  Officers are nominated for the award by their forces and judged on their personal skills and local initiatives to combat crime.  Each nomination also requires evidence of the community’s support for the officer’s work and should include a brief outline to set out what they have achieved.

Nomination for The Community Police Officer of the Year Award: PC Jarra Brown

Career Highlights:  PC Brown (known as Jarra), polices RAF Lyneham and the RAF community outside the base. Since he started in the area nearly two years ago, a key issue has been repatriating fallen service personnel through the base. Through PC Brown's efforts the formal repatriation cortege travels from RAF Lyneham to Oxford, briefly stopping in nearby Wootton Bassett where up to a thousand people line the streets to pay their respects. This involves working with many agencies and PC Brown was instrumental in getting them to work together.

He also organised a safe taxi service and gave presentations on staying safe for female service personnel who wanted to travel out of the base on a night out.

What others say: A force spokesman says: 'PC Brown remains entirely focused on enhancing the quality of life of the people in his community. This is shown by all he has done to enhance the dignity of fallen service people.'