A little verse at the Shrievalty Awards

On Friday morning I joined my fellow High Sheriffs of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire at Worton Park for the Thames Valley Police Shrievalty Merit Awards.

These annual awards recognise individuals and teams whose work has brought particular credit to Thames Valley Police over the past year. It was a pleasure to spend time with officers, staff, volunteers and partners from across the three counties and to celebrate the professionalism and dedication that underpin policing across the Thames Valley.

Three teams were recognised this year, each representing a different aspect of that work.

The Safer Langley Team for their outstanding partnership approach in tackling serious violence and rebuilding trust within the Langley community.

The Citizens in Policing Team for their leadership in strengthening volunteering across the force, including the Special Constabulary, Volunteer Police Cadets, Police Support Volunteers and Community Speed Watch.

And the Justice Gateway Team, whom I had the privilege of recognising on behalf of Oxfordshire, for transforming the Caught-to-Court process and dramatically improving turnaround times while strengthening outcomes for victims and frontline officers.

What struck me most was that all three awards reflected a common theme: policing works best when it is rooted in partnership — with communities, with volunteers and with colleagues across the justice system.

When it came to the short speeches from the High Sheriffs at the end of the ceremony, I decided to try something slightly different.

Some readers may remember the wonderfully distinctive poetry of Pam Ayres, who grew up in the Thames Valley and made a career out of showing that a few lines of verse can sometimes say things rather more memorably than a conventional speech.

With apologies to Pam — whose poetry is considerably better than mine — I offered the following reflections on the year.

What Happened When the High Sheriff Tried Poetry

To be High Sheriff for a year
is quite a curious role –
you travel round the county
in pursuit of that old goal.

You meet the courts and prisons,
the police, the volunteers,
and hear the quiet stories
that rarely reach our ears.

You see the work of officers
whose patience never tires,
and partnerships that quietly
prevent tomorrow’s fires.

Not fires made of timber –
those the brigade contain –
but the slower-burning troubles
that lead to loss and pain.

And through the months I chose a theme
to guide me through the year:
Hearing the Young Unheard,
those voices we must hear.

Young people on the margins
whose struggles go unseen,
whose lives might take a different path
if someone steps between.

For youth work and for policing
share this truth, I find:
that listening early, acting fast
can help reshape a mind.

But listening asks for action –
for systems that can move,
for partners working side by side
to prove what they can prove.

And today we’ve heard three stories
of that principle at work:

Of officers and volunteers
who never choose to shirk.

In Langley, where a community
once burdened by harm and fear
has seen new trust and safety grow
through those who serve it here.

A Clear Hold Build approach that shows
what partnership can achieve –
when police and partners stand together
and a neighbourhood can breathe.

We’ve heard too of Citizens in Policing,
those volunteers who give
their time and skill and energy
so safer towns may live.

Cadets and Specials standing tall,
support volunteers who care,
and watchful neighbours checking speeds
to make the roads more fair.

A quiet army of goodwill
whose service proves once more
that policing works far better
when communities join the corps.

And then the Justice Gateway Team,
whose work, as we have heard,
has turned a sluggish process
into something far preferred.

The path from Caught to Court –
once slow and rarely praised –
has seen its wheels turn faster now
through standards newly raised.

Turnaround times cut eighty percent,
an outcome quite profound –
and proof that thoughtful teamwork
can turn a system round.

Now anyone in public life
will know this simple fact:
true transformation seldom comes
from theory neatly stacked.

It comes from people on the ground
who care enough to try –
to fix the stubborn problems
that others pass on by.

And so a moment ago
it was my pleasure to present
this recognition to Detective Inspector Kellie Smith,
whose team has clearly bent

the arc of process just a little
towards something better done –
a system faster, fairer
for officers and victims every one.

But awards like these remind us
that behind the names we see
stand many unseen colleagues
whose work makes victory.

Because justice, like good policing,
is not the work of one –
it’s people working side by side
until the job is done.

So Chief Constable, colleagues, friends,
before our gathering ends,

Thank you for your service,
for the work you do each day,
for the professionalism and care
that quietly lead the way.

And to all the teams we honour
our warm congratulations too –
you show what partnership can achieve
when people see things through.

For when good people work together
with purpose, skill and heart,
the wheels of justice turn the way
they always should have done
from the start.

Thank you.

Moments like this are a reminder that the safety and wellbeing of our communities depend not on a single organisation, but on the quiet professionalism, partnership and commitment of many people working together.