Mid North Coast Police officers who go above and beyond their normal day-to-day duties on the frontline are set to be acknowledged for their heroic and selfless actions.
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The Mid North Coast Police Awards will be held in August, with the call going out for nominations.
Mid North Coast Police District Acting Superintendent Joanne Schultz said the local awards will mirror the state NSW Police Force Awards.
"All of the nominations for our local awards feed into the state awards and hopefully we will have representatives here who will be shortlisted for the awards night in Sydney," she said.
A/Sup Schultz said these awards are important to showcase the dedication of officers.
"The role of police is vital and what we've been through over the past few years has highlighted that the police do more than their day-to-day work," she said.
"Officers do often go above and beyond and I think it's important to recognise that."
Categories for the Mid North Coast Police District Awards will include:
- Police Officer of the Year (nominated by peers)
- Police Officer of the Year (nominated by the community)
- Overall Police officer of the Year
- Team of the Year
- First Responder of the Year
- Proactive Officer of the Year
- Investigator of the Year
- Supervisor of the Year
- Crime Prevention Officer of the Year
Rotary will also be sponsoring three of the awards.
Barry Hacker from Rotary E-Club of District 9650 said he first got involved in the Mid North Coast Police Awards in 2014 when he was a member of Rotary Club of Port Macquarie West.
"This project is an idea by the Rotary Club of Sydney and they throw it open to all the Rotary clubs in the state to go to their police districts and promote it," he said.
"I found out that West Port Rotary no longer sponsored the awards and so I grabbed it again and got it started."
Mr Hacker said it's a good opportunity to "raise the flag for local police".
"I don't think there's enough appreciation shown for what police officers do," he said.
The community is being encouraged to get involved in the awards and nominate an officer for Police Officer of the Year.
"We are asking people to name an officer who they've interacted with and tell us in a few words why they believe this officer has excelled in their role over the past 12 months," A/Sup Schultz said.
"It could be things that they've done outside of their day-to-day duties as a police officer."
Nomination forms are available at the Port Macquarie and Kempsey Police stations. The community can also submit a nomination as an email to midnth@police.nsw.gov.au.
Nominations will close on June 12. More information about the awards will be available on the Mid North Coast Police District Facebook page.
Recipients will be announced at the awards night in August.
"We don't come to work seeking recognition and often police are reluctant to be showcased and have that recognition," A/Sup Schultz said.
"It's nice to be able to hold awards like this to recognise the work our officers do."
