PCSO Peter Field, who works in the north Manchester division, has been awarded for his bravery for tackling and detaining a serious offender.
Peter was patrolling his usual patch in Manchester when a call came in over the radio with the description of a male who had committed a serious crime. The man had climbed into a car with a father and his six year old daughter inside. He made sexual comments to the girl and tried to touch her. The father fought off the offender and called the police to report the crime.
Peter went to the location where the incident occurred and saw a man fitting the description. After following him for some time, the man suddenly got into a car parked at the roadside. Peter quickly got to the car and started to make conversation with the man and held the car door open to stop him getting away.
The offender tried to drive away but Peter grabbed the steering wheel to stop him leaving the scene. Peter’s actions were greeted with violence; the offender started to kick him on the leg.
The man then got out of the car and started pushing Peter to try and get away. Peter relied on his self-defence training to get a safe distance between himself and the offender. He was worried about the behaviour of the male as it was getting more aggressive and erratic, so Peter activated his emergency button.
He was able to keep the offender at a safe distance while directing officers of his location to make an arrest.
Greater Manchester Police awarded Peter with a Chief Constable’s Commendation for Bravery. Peter was presented with the award, by Chief Constable Ian Hopkins at a ceremony held at Sedgley Park.
On being awarded the Chief Constable Commendation, Peter said: “I was so shocked to be presented this award. I was quite shaken about the whole situation. The offender became very aggressive and it was a struggle to keep hold of him and detain him.
“I was so relieved when the officers arrived after I had pressed the emergency button; at that point I wasn’t sure how much longer I could have held him. The adrenaline really does kick in when situations like this happen. I know he had kicked me several times but I didn’t realise how hard until the next day. I was quite badly bruised, but hardly felt it at the time.
“When I heard more detail about the offence, I was so glad I was close by and able to stop him. I have a daughter, she is grown-up now but hearing about what the poor little girl and her father went through, I am just glad I was there.”
After presenting Peter with his award, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “PCSO Field was very brave to tackle this offender single-handed. It took a lot of strength mentally and physically to take control of the situation.
“Knowing that Peter turned to the training he has received to detain the offender is just a reminder of how important learning these skills are. The training our PCSOs and police officers go through is crucial when dealing with a situation like this.
“Because of Peter’s actions the offender was detained, charged with assault against Peter, charged for attempted sexual assault and remanded in custody. Well done Peter.”
