A Surrey police officer injured in the line of duty has received a prestigious national award for his contribution road policing.
PC Geoff Newman won the Outstanding Contribution to Roads Policing Award at the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) 2020 Awards on Tuesday night (January 28).
Newman, who works as a road cop for Surrey Police, was injured in 2018 during a car chase with a gang involved in cash machine thefts.
While performing a stopping manoeuvre against the gang's vehicle known as a "Tactical Pursuit And Containment" (TPAC), Newman severely injured his back.
“Well that didn’t go to plan...!” PC Geoff Newman from @SurreyPolice was honoured tonight with the @PFEW_HQ Outstanding Contribution to Roads Policing Award https://t.co/j5RFBXKQue #RoadsPolice20 pic.twitter.com/eX5uXDKkU3
— Police Federation (@PFEW_HQ) January 28, 2020
He was rendered office-bound for 18 months, something he told PFEW was "frustrating", but refocused his energies on road policing from behind a desk during his recovery, and continued to make important contributions to road policing in the county.
"It's a huge shock. I'm really humbled to be walking home with this (award) tonight," Newman said after receiving his award on Tuesday evening.
He thanked his senior management team and Sargent before reflecting on the time his spent recovering from his injury while continuing to work.
"It's been a hard 18 months but the rewards have been well worth it.
"I'm really enjoying getting back into the swing of things after my injury and making a real difference.
"I'm made up for this, thank you very much," he said.
PC Newman was nominated for the award by his sergeant, Chris Schultze, who said in his submission:
“Geoff is persistent, some would maybe say obsessively so! His tireless work against vehicle-enabled organised crime is immense. His diligence, passion and knowledge of vehicle crime is incomparable to anyone else in both [Surrey and Sussex] forces.
“He conducts in-depth, intelligence-led enquiries, often with little or no notice that are then fed into significant investigations resulting in serious disruption of extensive organised crime networks."
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