Police officers honoured in award ceremony hosted by Prince Charles at Sandringham

PC Jim Wells being presented award by Prince Charles. Picture Norfolk Police (Image: Norfolk Police)

The event was held at the Sandringham Royal Estate yesterday (Monday 5 December) where 49 officers, staff and members of the Special Constabulary were honoured.

Special Ch Insp Ray Lumley was awarded for his 30 years' service; supporting frontline policing while playing a pivotal role in training newly recruited Special Constables.

Ray joined Norfolk Constabulary as a Special Constable on 26 October 1986 while in full time employment. His promotion to Special Chief Inspector saw him managing more 100 Specials based in Norwich, Broadland and South Norfolk.

Ray contributed enormously to policing of the night time economy in Norwich on Friday and Saturday nights, co-ordinating the response Specials could provide to assist their frontline colleagues.

Having suffered ill-health over the last 10 years, Ray was forced to retire from his full-time employment but was determined not to give up his voluntary role. He now assists with training new recruits, providing expert feedback and drawing on his 30 year experience and to date has been involved in the induction of more than 400 Special Constables.

Ray has contributed more than 12,000 hours of voluntary commitment during his 30 years of service and is a member of the Specials' Support Team, which is a small team of long servicing Specials of varying ranks who support members of the Special Constabulary and provide any additional training requirements.

Dog handler PC Jim Wells also received a Long Service award having joined the force at the age of 22 in 1995. PC Wells served as a response officer in the west of the county, covering King's Lynn, Downham Market, Terrington and Swaffham, for eight years.

During this time he qualified as a National Police Support Unit (PSU) instructor to enable him to train other officers in public order tactics and also became a tactical advisor, offering guidance to commanders in high profile public order incidents including raves, football matches and demonstrations.

In 2005 PC Wells moved to the Mobile Support Team – a group of officers with specialist skills in public order policing, searching and chemical incidents.

During one public order incident, he witnessed the effectiveness of the dog section when working as part of a PSU and consequently devised a training package for handlers in those situations, which was adopted nationally.

In 2009 he moved onto dog section and in his first year managed to get to the highest standard by qualifying for the National Police Dog Trials with police dog Razor. PC Wells also achieved a Certificate of Good Police work and two further Commanders Commendations for operational police work with Razor.

He subsequently handled several other general purpose dogs and an explosion detection dog, working throughout the UK assisting other police forces at major events including NATO and G8 conferences, the London Olympics in 2012 and the Scottish Commonwealth games. He now patrols with police dogs Shuck and Paddy.

Most recently PC Wells qualified as a national police dog trainer for general purpose and explosives search dogs while continuing to serve the communities of Norfolk and Suffolk with his four-legged companions.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey said: 'This is a welcome opportunity to recognise the dedication shown by Norfolk's officers, staff and volunteers and the time they have given over the years to help keep this county safe.

'It was a great pleasure to have HRH The Prince of Wales attend this occasion, making it all the more special for those receiving awards and they supportive families.'