An Ashfield-based police constable has spoken of the positive changes his work has made to local communities. PC Ryan Frew-McGill made the comments after he was named this week as Nottinghamshire’s Police Officer of the Year. The award was presented by Chief Constable Kate Meynell at force headquarters in Arnold, for PC Frew-McGill’s achievements in gaining closure orders for properties that had been taken over by criminals.
“I feel honoured to have been nominated and extremely grateful to have been presented with the award”, 26 year old PC Frew-McGill said. “It’s difficult to express my gratitude.
“What motivates me to work so hard is the change. Being able to see a positive change in an area regardless of size makes all the difference.
“With closure orders I have been able to see positive change in communities. It’s improved the lives of local residents and has also given those living in the properties an opportunity to start over with support.”
The nomination was made by Chief Inspector Jon Hewitt from Ashfield’s Neighbourhood Policing Team. “Ryan has proven himself to be adaptive as well and innovative”, Chief Inspector Hewitt said. “For example, he has led the setting up of a number of test purchase operations for underage sales of alcohol, vapes and counterfeit vapes in conjunction with Trading Standards.
“In relation to a particular local store which persistently sold counterfeit vapes and was linked to underage sales and selling knives to children, Ryan successfully closed the premise for three months. This ultimately led to the alcohol licence being revoked until new management could come in and bring the store back to a premise that served the local community well.
“He has worked tirelessly to make Ashfield a better place to live, work and visit and is invaluable to Nottinghamshire Police.
“He has displayed great resilience, determination, adaptability and personal responsibility and is fully deserving of this recognition.”
Tackling drug crime remains a priority for the neighbourhood police team in Ashfield, and police surveys show this is the greatest concern of local communities. ““In August 2022, I briefed local teams of my desire to utilise premises closures to remove addresses used for drug dealing.
“PC Frew-McGill took to this task with gusto and by June 2023 had personally compiled sufficient evidence and liaised with legal services to secure 18 premises closures”, Chief Inspector Hewitt said. “This was a remarkable total as each closure involves a substantial piece of work, including community surveys, statements taken from local residents and consultation with partners such as the local council, legal services and senior officers.
“We’ve received highly positive feedback on the back of these closures, with messages of thanks received from residents. Intelligence has also been received that organised crime groups are now struggling to source addresses within Ashfield for their criminal enterprises.”
Over the past 18 months, PC Frew-McGill has compiled sufficient evidence to secure closure orders on 25 properties, and he often cancelled days off to complete the necessary workload. Nottinghamshire Police say that as well as helping to reduce anti-social behaviour, PC Frew-McGill has developed a number of educational packages and gone into schools to teach pupils about the dangers of speaking to strangers, as well as the consequences of knife crime and hate crime.