The winner of the individual category was Constable Courtney Roberts, from Murdoch Police Station for her high arrest rates, going out of her way to engage with the community and providing assistance to victims of crime.

The winners of the team category were Roebourne Police Station, from the Pilbara District, for their passion and commitment to combating local crime issues and improving perceptions of police in their local community.

Finalists in the individual category were:

• Sergeant Clinton Brennan, Officer-In-Charge of Cue Police Station, Mid-West Gascoyne District; and
• Senior Constable Carol Pulford, State Family Violence Unit, Crime Investigation Standards and Family Violence.

Finalists in the team category were:

• Balgo Multi-Functional Police Facility, Kimberley District; and
• Perth Bike Team, Perth Police Station – Central Metropolitan District.

Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said a significant number of nominations had been received this year across different areas of policing. “All finalists are exemplary officers, having carried out their work selflessly and going that extra distance to deliver excellent services to the community,” Commissioner O’Callaghan said.

Constable Courtney Roberts

Constable Roberts is a Local Policing Officer who has the highest arrest rate at Murdoch Police Station and has contributed to a 36% reduction in crime in the Coolbellup area. She is also credited with having a very high success ratio at court. She possesses excellent people skills, has a generous capacity for empathy and performs all of her duties with passion and commitment.

Although Constable Roberts is a relatively junior officer, only graduating from the WA Police Academy in December 2013, Officer-In-Charge Senior Sergeant Glenn Swannell described her as “the best police officer I have seen for her age and experience in my 31 years of policing”.

Constable Roberts works towards excellent outcomes in every case she is involved with. She leads the way in terms of her drive and determination to get the job done, all the while maintaining high levels of professionalism with a positive disposition.

Roebourne Police Station

Roebourne Police Station is comprised of 17 police officers, including Officer-In-Charge Senior Sergeant Gemma Hennigan. The team service Roebourne, Wickham, Point Sampson, Whim Creek and three additional Aboriginal communities. The team are also the only government agency to reside and work in Roebourne.

Roebourne sub-district experiences very high rates of personal crime per capita, in particular family domestic violence (FDV) assaults. The team at Roebourne are extremely passionate about making a real difference to the lives of their community, recognising that women and children are especially vulnerable to acts of violence which is often inter-generational in nature. The team have championed significant change to the way in which they respond to FDV incidents, employing proactive intervention and prevention strategies to achieve a marked reduction in domestic assault.

The team were nominated for their efforts to improve the community perception of police by actively involving themselves with community groups and Aboriginal corporations, as well as playing an active role in external organisations such as PCYC and Yaandina Youth Centre. Roebourne Police regularly attend youth centres to participate in activities and build relationships with service providers and youth.

Roebourne Police display outstanding team work at a local and district level. Despite their busy work load, the team have adopted a unified approach, completing compound investigations to a very high standard which ordinarily would be allocated to inquiry teams or detectives.

Awards and prizes

The awards are judged by a panel according to criteria including excellence in a policing role, the core WA Police values of honesty, respect, fairness, empathy, accountability and openness, as well as the extent to which nominations raise the public’s confidence in policing.

The winner of the individual award receives a $5,000 prize and the two finalists each receive a $1,000 prize courtesy of sponsor P&N Bank. The winning team receives a $5,000 prize and the two finalists each receive a $1,000 prize courtesy of sponsor Nine News Perth, to be spent on team development.

WA Police would like to thank everyone who took the time to nominate a WA Police officer or a police team.

Find out more about the Nine News WA Police Excellence Awards.

Nine News WA Police Excellence Awards

The awards are made possible thanks to this year’s sponsors.