Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police
A group of heroic officers who put their own safety at risk to help a seriously injured man have been recognised for their bravery alongside Met colleagues nominated for their outstanding fundraising efforts in the 2023 BBC local radio awards.
The group of four officers from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit (Padp) were among the finalists in the inaugural bravery category at this year’s awards. In addition, the Met’s director of Commercial Services, Mark Roberts, and his team, were finalists in the fundraising category.
The Met nominees had beaten off stiff competition as BBC Radio London received the most nominations out of all the BBC local stations nationwide – around 1,000 for each of the eight categories.
The Met bravery finalists were PCs Dom Ooi and Steve Hudson, Sergeant Nicholas White and PC Anwar Kasasa, who all work as part of Padp teams. Sgt White and PC Kasasa were on duty in Westminster in July 2020 when they spotted a road collision nearby that involved two cars. It resulted in a pedestrian being hit with such force that he was propelled through metal railings surrounding a building into an open basement below.
The two officers raced down to the man, discovering he was unable to move and that his leg was very seriously injured. They were soon joined by their colleagues PCs Ooi and Hudson, who acted immediately to stem the bleeding with a tourniquet and give the victim oxygen.
Meanwhile Sergeant White dashed back up to the street to help colleagues quickly free the driver of the crashed vehicle, which was at risk of catching fire imminently.
The metal railings had been dislodged and hung perilously above the group to such a degree that when London Fire Brigade arrived, they advised the officers to come out of the basement for their own safety. However, because they were unable to move the victim until further medical assistance arrived, the Padp officers insisted on staying with the man despite the risk in order to provide comfort and ongoing medical support whilst awaiting an ambulance.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, PC Ooi carefully held the pedestrian’s leg in place to try and minimise further damage as he was carried up to street level to enable him to be airlifted to hospital.
PC Ooi said: “When you arrive at a scene to find someone in a very bad way, your human instinct and police training take over. You just want to do the best you can to help the person who’s in need. I’m glad that my colleagues and I were there to help that day. We were flattered to be nominated for a bravery award – it means a lot to us.”
The BBC Radio awards were launched two years ago following the pandemic as a way to publically recognise individuals and groups who go the extra mile to make a real difference to the lives of others, with every BBC local radio station taking part.
Nominations were assessed over a period of months by a panel of distinguished judges with London’s winners revealed at a ceremony at the Tate Modern art gallery on Wednesday 4 October. While neither of the Met nominees won their category, both said they felt honoured to have their work recgonised.
The Met’s other nominee Mark Roberts has led the Commercial Services (CS) department to deliver social value through a raft of commercial processes over the past three years – including via the innovative scheme recognised in the submission.
CS spends over £850m a year on contracts for a huge range of goods and services to buy in everything needed to keep the Met operational, from helicopters to horse-feed. Mark identified that his team could harness the high value of these major supplier contracts to contribute to supporting MPS initiatives around community engagement and tackling violence.
He then spearheaded a scheme that involves firms being asked to divert up to one percent of the value of their future contracts with the Met to third sector organisations supporting police initiatives around community engagement and tackling violence.
To date, over £850,000 has been committed, with the potential to exceed £1m if other activities are pursued. The first two organisations to benefit were Redthread and Groundwork, awarded nearly £100,000, while a third, Street Games, will soon receive around £75,000. The charity, which works to transform young lives through the power of sport, is planning to relaunch its London ‘Us Girls’ network next week as a direct result of the Met funding.
The programme will collaborate with Local Trusted Organizations (LTOs) to establish secure and enjoyable sports avenues for young women and girls, with the overarching goal of nurturing a sense of belonging and empowerment, as well as positive physical and mental health outcomes.
Redthread specialises in breaking cycles of violence and exploitation for young people, embedding specialist youth workers in hospital A&E departments, while Groundwork is a federation of charities mobilising practical community action on poverty and the environment. Groundwork helps people who are isolated or suffering health problems get active, whilst also encouraging re-connection with nature, understanding the importance of biodiversity and the benefits of fresh, local food.
Mark Roberts said: ‘I’m delighted that the Commercial Services team was recognised by BBC Radio London in their Make a Difference Awards. Our aspiration in launching this initiative was to play a small part in providing support to our communities that we hope would contribute to reducing crime across London.
“The efforts made in working with our suppliers to identify value from our contracts that could aid Londoners through the work of our beneficiary charities is proving truly transformative in supporting victims of violence and helping improve neighbourhoods.”