It’s elementary for detective who wins National Award

THE ‘Sherlock Holmes like tenacity’ of an Essex Police officer has been praised after he picked up the student detective of the year accolade at the Police Federation National Detective Forum awards.

DC James Smith – pictured right with Essex Police’s Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh – has also been described by his colleagues as being “a dogged detective”.

Mark Smith, chairman of Essex Police Federation, said DC Smith winning the award was a “great achievement”.

Mr Smith added: “We are really proud of James for this excellent achievement. We hope it is the beginning of a long and successful career as a detective. It’s good to see detectives coming through the policing ranks.”

Colleagues described DC Smith as being an “investigator with Sherlock Holmes like tenacity” during his two-year secondment to his local CID team as a trainee investigator.

During the awards ceremony at Old Trafford in Manchester, Master of Ceremonies Kieran Diamond, said: “Throughout his time as an investigator he has consistently carried out an above average workload and clearance rate.

“His skills as an investigator have been consistently displayed since he commenced his CID attachment.

“One of his colleagues said ‘the effort that he puts into his work and the satisfaction this ultimately brings to the victims of crime makes him well deserving of his award’.”

In an interview with PoliceOracle.com, Mr Kavanagh said: “I could not be more proud of James and his team in terms of the importance of good detective work and working with both victims and witnesses.

“This is the reason I am here. I believe in good detective work and good detectives can deliver a change in policing.

“James is the epitome of the best of Essex.”