Essex Police marks Armed Forces Day

On Armed Forces Day today, Saturday 29 June, we’re celebrating all our officers and staff who have existing or previous involvement in our forces. 

We’re proud to be part of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which pledges our support to former service men and women and their families.

We have also signed the Armed Forces Covenant, which outlines our strong commitment to support former personnel into careers in Essex Police. 

PC Victoria Price is among the numerous heroic ex-forces personnel who now work with us. Having worked as a theatre nurse assisting with trauma surgery, she joined us in 2021 – and hasn’t looked back.

PC Price is our nominee for the national response officer of the year award, having made more than 100 arrests in the last year. 

She said: “I really enjoy that every job is different in response policing, let alone every day. I get the opportunity to meet different people, from different backgrounds, who need police help and assistance in different ways. 

“I love that I have to adapt to my surroundings, think on my feet, assess threat levels, provide care and reassurance as well as control situations to safeguard others. 

“Response policing truly is a job like no other.”

This week, 24-30 June, we have been celebrating the work of our local policing, or response, officers to help people, keep them safe and catch criminals across Essex.  

And the Response Officer of the Year award is one way policing nationally recognises their work. They are on duty 24/7, 365 days a year and are usually the first officers you will see at the scene of an incident.

While still a student officer, Victoria helped to save a van driver’s life after he collapsed at the wheel. Last year, she was commended by Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington for her professionalism and fast-thinking at the scene in Old Road, Clacton.

In the past 12 months, Victoria has been involved in a sea rescue and, more unusually, helped to rescue an elderly person who was stuck in a bath. 

She assisted in the arrest of a woman on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm to her partner in a Clacton hotel room. With the help of colleagues, Victoria was able to safely arrest the woman while preserving a chaotic crime scene for crime scene investigators to attend.

She has also helped to rescue a woman from the top of a tall building. Fortunately, she’d met the woman a few weeks previously and built a rapport with her.

PC Price added: “I was able to engage with her and, because she knew who I was and trusted me, I managed to talk her down from the ledge and get her the help she needed.” 

As well as saving lives, the job of a response officer involves attending many of the incidents which are reported to police, from domestic abuse and assaults to car crashes and burglaries.

Often, but not always, this will result in the arrest of a suspect. Victoria arrested more than 100 people last year, for a variety of offences, from serious assaults and robbery to drink & drug driving offences and being drunk whilst in charge of a child.

When they are not attending incidents, Victoria and her response colleagues will be searching for missing people, proactively patrolling their districts and investigating crimes which don’t require input from specialist officers in CID, our domestic abuse and investigation teams or the Serious Crime Directorate. 

Their operational activity includes stopping and searching people, if they have reasonable grounds for suspicion that a person is in possession of drugs, a weapon or stolen goods.

The former hero nurse added: “I love working with different people and I joined Essex Police because I wanted to try and help those in need – running towards the problem, rather than away from it.

“Response policing has enabled me to progress and develop myself, both professionally and personally, and to try and truly make a difference to the communities I work in. 

“I haven’t looked back since joining the police, it’s everything I expected it to be and more.”

Read more about the Armed Forces Covenant on our website: Armed Forces Covenant | Essex Police