PC
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther along others have been awarded the much coveted OBE in Her Majesty the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for services to policing, Vigilance can report.
DCC Crowther who has recently taken up a new role within ACPO as their national lead for suicide prevention DCC Crowther said: “I am very honoured to be recognised in this way. It is traditional to say that this is not only a personal award, but reflects the good work of a great many people – and it is absolutely true. It is my frontline colleagues in BTP who deserve praise for the 31% reduction in crime, the 73% reduction in robbery and almost doubling our detection rate over eight years. It is also due to the good work of local police and the many agencies involved in the ACPO Metal Theft Working Group, that we are now starting to have a significant impact on that crime.”
“I am very pleased for Paul personally and for BTP,” said Chief Constable Andy Trotter. “Paul has helped drive performance in BTP so that we are now one of the top performing police forces in the country. He has also, by sheer determination, raised the issue of metal theft up the police agenda through his Chairmanship of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Working Group, fostered a multi-agency approach and helped Parliament to introduce new legislation, all of which led to a 55% reduction in metal theft last year.
“That alone has saved a great many communities a great deal of grief and that is what good policing is about, making people’s lives better.”
Paul Crowther has been with BTP for 33 years serving in uniformed and CID ranks and becoming Chief Superintendent in charge of BTP’s London Underground Area in 2004. In 2002, he was the Senior Investigating Officer for the Potters Bar train crash, earning much praise from all sides for his handling of a complex investigation.
In 2005, Paul led BTP’s initial response to the terrorist attacks on the Tube, which facilitated an orderly and speedy recovery of the system. Following that he pioneered BTP’s use of behavioural assessment techniques as a way of identifying possible suspects within a mass transit environment, a system now used in many countries.