Tuesday, 18 June, 2024

Two members of West Yorkshire Police have been given a King’s Police Medal and another has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours announced last week.  

Chief Inspector Alan Rhees-Cooper KPM was awarded the King’s Police Medal for his work in the NPCC (National Police Chiefs’ Council) staff officer role for Missing People.  

In this role he has brought together representatives from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, the Department for Education, police forces and the voluntary sector to develop the Children Missing from Care Framework.  

He holds regular national discussion groups on key issues relating to missing people and, as part of the National Police Race Action Plan, has pulled together a ‘Listening session’ for families of Black people who had been reported missing to explain their concerns to policing.  

 

Jim Rudge KPM, formerly a detective sergeant and now a police staff member, was also given a King’s Police Medal for a protracted, complex investigation he conducted into non-recent child sexual exploitation.  

He developed a model of working that has been seen as good practice for all large-scale child abuse operations. His hard work, dedication and commitment was demonstrated by the recent convictions of 17 suspects to a total of 275 years in custody.  

 

PC Shamza Butt BEM was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to young people as part of her work with the National Citizen Service Trust’s Youth Voice Forum.  

She joined the programme to learn English after moving from Italy to Bradford at the age of 14. As part of her role with the NCS, Ms Butt has been involved in a number of community projects and has campaigned against knife crime with project Peer Action Collective. She was the youngest person named in this year’s Birthday Honours.  

West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable John Robins QPM DL, said: “I congratulate all three of our recipients in the King’s Birthday Honours.  

“Alan and Jim have both been awarded the King’s Police Medal and at the heart of both of their work has been a key theme of protecting the vulnerable.  

“It shows their commitment to public service that Alan delayed his retirement to take on this NPCC role, while Jim has returned after retiring as an officer to continue serving as a Police Staff Investigator.  

“Shamza has been awarded the British Empire Medal for her voluntary work prior to joining the police. Her drive to help others and sense of community are exactly the values that we need in policing and I wish her all the very best for her future career in West Yorkshire Police.”