A DEDICATED police officer has been honoured at the Wiltshire Police Awards for putting the Devizes community at the heart of his work.

PC Tom Crabtree was bestowed with the Dan Cooper Memorial Award at the prestigious ceremony on Tuesday evening for his outstanding service to the public.

The award was first set up five years ago in honour of PC Cooper who died while on duty at a road traffic collision near Bradford on Avon in 2007.

A humble PC Crabtree said he was amazed to hear he was going to receive the award.

“I have nothing but praise for my colleagues and everyone else who has been so supportive of me and without them, I feel like I wouldn’t be in this position to receive this award,” the 25-year-old added.

“I think My personal strength is empathy and I think that is why I’ve been recognised but for me, it is the most normal part of the job.

“It is a difficult climate for policing with resources being stretched but the entire team at Wiltshire Police is fantastic and I feel like I have a second family.

“I’m so humbled to get this award and while I didn’t have the best pleasure of meeting Dan, the values and qualities he had make him such a role model for other police officers.

“We all love the job we do because we want to help people and we have such a comradery between everyone.”

Described as “an officer every team needs”, PC Crabtree has been part of the force for two years and is now the single point of contact in relation to victims of aggravated burglaries, providing them with reassurance and much-needed support.

An example where PC Crabtree’s hard work led to a successful result was in relation to an organised crime group targeting fruit machines.

During a foot chase in the town, he was able to keep his colleagues updated on both the location and the suspect, which showed his determination to detain the suspect and led his colleagues to a bag that the suspect had thrown.

Andy and Heather Cooper, Dan’s parents, attended the ceremony after being bowled over by PC Crabtree’s commitment, professionalism and conscientious attitude to his line of work.

Mrs Cooper said: “When we read over the citations, we are not looking for heroism or anything like that but we are looking for kindness and values that Dan had.

“It is about celebrating him in a way that is really positive. Dan was so young so it is about honouring the officers who bring that maturity to the job no matter their age.”