On the 27 th February 2010 Police were alerted by the CCTV Control Room to a male being detained for shoplifting. This male was then seen to make off from the members of the public who had detained him and move to a nearby bench. Upon the arrival of officers the male made off from police, followed by PC Timothy Smart who passed commentary to the Police Control Room. As PC Smart followed the male he was seen to hurdle the metal railings at the side of the river and jump into the River Ouse.

The male was immediately dragged by fast flowing water, which began to pull him under. The river was raised due to previous rainfall and was cold and fast flowing. The river conditions have been described on that day as extremely dangerous.

PS Ian Stoughton observed the male who was having extreme difficulty from keeping himself going under the water. By now the male was in the middle of the river, at a point which is very wide.

PC Martyn Hynes observed the male from the other side of the river from PS Stoughton. PS Stoughton removed items of uniform and entered the water. He then swam over to the now drowning male and took hold of him. PC Hynes swam over from the other side of the river joining the male and PS Stoughton. Both officers have worked together, managing to get the male to the safety of the riverbank.

PC Smart continued to keep his commentary going and ensured other emergency services, fire and ambulance have been dispatched. PC Smart was able to throw a life buoy to assist the officers.

Once the male was brought safely to the riverbank PC Smart has assisted in recovering the male from the water and then assisting his colleagues out of the river. First aid was provided to the male who did not receive any serious injuries.

The Divisional Sergeant who attended the scene said ‘I have attended the scene where I oversaw what had taken place. I found both officers soaking wet from head to toe and freezing cold. Both were checked by paramedics prior to going back to the station, changing and completing statements. I am in no doubt that if the officers had not gone into the water the male would have drowned. He was immediately struggling from the moment he entered the freezing cold water. The officers acted without hesitation and in entering the water placed their lives at risk to save another.

At 0230 hours on Saturday 16 January 2010 PC 3367 Phil LEMM was at the Waterfront, Merry Hill Centre, Brierley Hill

It was a dark night and extremely cold. The ground was heavily frozen, temperatures well below freezing.

He was advised that a lone female was standing on a nearby canal. The waters had frozen over. Suddenly, the girl fell through the ice and was approximately 3 metres from the canal bank when Phil arrived there.

She was screaming, flailing her arms around, but unable to progress to the bank.

PC Lemm scaled the 4' high safety fencing and shouted at her to swim to him.

She only had her head above the water and was going into shock. She went limp, her head shook and she was unresponsive. She was suffering with hyperthermia and was in real danger.

Phil eventually managed to take hold of her hand. She was unable to assist as he pulled her to the bank. Other officers arrived and took hold of her hands to stop her sliding back from them. Phil grabbed the back of her trousers and physically pulled her from the water. She was unconscious and Phil put his jacket around her and attempted to keep her warm until the Ambulances arrived.

The Ambulance crews had to treat her at the scene to save her life. They continued working upon her en route to hospital, because her condition was so serious.

Had it not been for PC Lemm's prompt actions, the girl could easily have died in a very short space of time. PC Lemm's actions in dangerous circumstances saved her life and are worthy of formal recognition .

At 2:05pm on Thursday 22 July 2010, a member of the public reported that a male was drowning at DILWORTH UPPER RESERVOIR, LONGRIDGE.

Patrols attended and within 10 minutes PC 2557 CHEW and a second officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, were on scene reporting that the male was now floating head down on the surface of the water. PC's CHEW and the second officer made a quick risk assessment and swiftly made a decision to go into the reservoir and recover the male who had now been in the water for around 10 minutes. Both officers entered the water and PC CHEW with a rescue line attached bravely made his way out to the male. The other officer stood in the shallower water and kept hold of the rescue line whilst PC CHEW swam out some 80 foot, having to let go of the life line which had reached its maximum length for the final 20 foot to reach the male. PC CHEW turned the male over and swam back to the shore line where he and the second officer dragged him onto the banking. By this stage PC 3787 TAYLOR had arrived and with the assistance of ambulance paramedics PC TAYLOR performed CPR on the male for around 10 minutes until the arrival of the Air Ambulance paramedics.

Despite the heroic efforts of PC CHEW, the second officer and PC TAYLOR, the male was sadly pronounced dead at the scene after a further 15 minutes CPR by the Air Ambulance paramedics.

It transpires that the male had entered the water of his own accord apparently in order to intentionally take his own life and this was confirmed by the eye witness testimony who observed the male enter the reservoir and calmly place himself face first into the water.

PC CHEW, the second officer and PC TAYLOR showed immense courage, strength and tenacity in their attempts to save the male and although all three have understated their role with the standard "All in the line of duty" they very much deserve praise indeed for this outstanding police work.

At approximately 0155hrs on Sunday 16 January 2011, Police were called to a woman reported in the River Cleddau, Haverfordwest. There had been heavy rain over this weekend, thus the river was fast flowing and very cold. PC Evans attended the scene with colleagues to see the woman float over a weir into deep fast flowing river. Officers threw a life buoyancy aid to her but she was unresponsive and was now floating down river.

PC Evans ran along the river bank to get ahead of the woman and entered the river swimming some 30 ft across the river and clung on to the column of a bridge. Colleagues continued to throw the buoyancy aid but there was no response from the woman, the officers shone their torches on the woman in the river in order for PC Evans to see her.

PC Evans then swam some 15ft and caught hold of the woman and swam to the shore with her. She was un responsive and h was able to get her head and torso on to the steep river bank.

Colleagues threw down the buoyancy aid and Pc Evans tied this around the woman and they managed to pull her up the steep bank.

The officers at the scene provided first aid and utilised their uniform fleeces to keep the woman warm paramedics arrived and the woman was taken to hospital.

Of note is that PC Evans was suffering from the cold and exhaustion and was taken to the Police station, where after a hot shower of some 40 mins, he found fresh uniform and went out on patrol.

Clearly the actions of all officers attending are commended, however PC Evans's actions were truly brave and it is evident that his actions saved this woman's life.

At 9.50 pm on 15 January 2011 PC Ingram was on foot patrol duties on Broadgate, walking alog the river. There had been heavy rain that day and the river was flowing very fast.

As PC Ingram conducted his patrol he heard a female shouting for help. It was established that the cries for help was coming from the Penwortham side of the river. PC Ingram quickly crossed the river via Penwortham Bridge and it was at this point that he discovered a female waist deep in the river where she was holding onto the side of the bank. PC Ingram could see that the dfemale was looking very weak.

PC Ingram radioed for assistance and a short time later he was joined by PS Pearson and the OSU team. The officers then linked belts and made their way down to the riverside. A rope was tied around a tree and placed around the waist of the female. The officers then hoisted the female out of the river, made even more difficult due to a 4 foot sheer drop between the female and the officers on the bank. The officers were able to lift the female out of the river at which point she lost consciousness.

Without the quick thinking of the officers it is strongly believed that the female would not have survived much longer and would have been carried away in the fast flowing river.

At around 02:45 on Saturday 12 February PC Alleway was on patrol with PCSO BYRES from the Safer Transport team. They accepted a call from a female who had received a call from her friend who was asking for help and seemed to be distressed.

After collecting the enforcer equipment they arrived on scene with another local unit. There was no answer to knocking and after a few minutes the decision was made to break the door down. Searching the flat the officers found that it was in a state of disarray. In the main bedroom there was a lot of blood over the bed sheets. The officers noticed that in the front room the balcony doors were wide open. This lead onto a communal courtyard 12 feet below. Another resident on their balcony shouted across to the officers that they had seen a male jump into the river around five minutes ago.

Fearing the worst PC Alleway ran down to the courtyard and jumped over the barrier to the Quayside. Around ten metres from the jetty in the water the officer could see a body floating. PC Alleway shouted to PCSO BYRES for assistance asking him to call for an ambulance, request more units and locate a buoyancy aid. PC Alleway took off his stab vest, belt kit and boots and jumped into the water. It was absolutely freezing as he swam over to the lifeless body, that was face down and sinking into the river. The officer pulled his head up above the water, the male was blue and his eyes grey. PC Alleway put his arm around the male so that his head was resting on the officer's shoulder and pulled him back towards the jetty.

PC Alleway managed to pull the male to the jetty, however there was a three foot drop from the jetty to the water. SPC James Newbury, a Safer Transport Special and PCSO BYRES, lifted the male (who was 6ft 7!!) up onto the jetty before helping PC Alleway out of the water.

The male was still, lifeless and wasn't breathing. Without prompting SPC Newbury began chest compressions on the male with PC Alleway providing resuscitation. After the second breath PC Alleway stopped to check his airways. The male coughed up a mixture of river water and sick and started fluttering his eyelids.

The officers placed the male into the recovery position ,which allowed him to cough up the remaining water still inside him. The male's breathing was very shallow and his body started shaking. The officers continued to care for and monitor the male until the arrival of the London Ambulance Service arrived.

The male was transported to hospital and made a full recovery.

Without the quick thinking and bravery demonstrated by the officers this story may well have had a more tragic ending.