Police cadets and volunteer officers awarded coin

Devon's police cadets and volunteer police officers, also known as specials, have been presented with a unique coin to thank them for their contribution.

The officers received the coin at a recent awards event where Ch Supt Roy Linden described the group as "invaluable".

Police cadets are made up of young people aged 13 to 17 years old, with 55 active cadets in South Devon.

The same area has 24 specials who volunteer a minimum of 16 hours per month.

Ch Supt Linden, who heads up policing teams across south Devon, said: "Specials and cadets are invaluable to our policing service.

"I'd like to recognise the selflessness of the specials we are lucky enough to have.

"Whilst they usually have regular day jobs, they choose to dedicate their spare time to support the force and our aims to keep people safe.

"The volunteer cadets are also a fantastic asset to our police teams too.

"These young people work regularly with us to engage with the public, educate people on useful crime prevention advice, give valuable information out about how to report crime and support our regular officers at local events.

"The way they connect with local communities is vital and helps us to build the public's confidence in the police work we do."

Cadets recently joined officers during a plain clothes operation, where the cadets attempted to purchase knives as underage people without ID.

This formed part of the police's effort to prevent knife sales to young people by educating shops around the laws of knife sales, the force said.

Specials have the same powers of arrest as police officers and work alongside officers to carry out high-visibility patrols, getting involved with targeted operations and community engagement, such as door-to-door visits.

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