Our final Community Police Officer of the Year nominee is PC Mike Griffiths.

He was nominated by Erin Hicks, of Douglas, who said he has a ’reasonable approach to people in a very calming manner’ and explained his great attitude to his work.

Mr Griffiths said of the nomination: ’It’s always nice to be nominated for any award.

’It’s nice to be recognised by members of the public, to be recognised by those outside the organisation.’

He has been in his current role as community officer in Douglas for 10 years but his career in the island has spanned longer.

Mr Griffiths explained why he felt his role was so important.

He continued: ’It’s the ability to help people, so we can help people in our job at any time, however as a community officer you tend to be given more time to deal with people and I think that’s what’s needed sometimes - it’s more time with people.

’Obviously we also go into schools and work with young people, it’s a big plus for us.’

The police officer felt the public valued the work community officers do in the island.

He said: ’I think people value it.

’It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time.

’I don’t think people realise how involved we are with the schools, even lessons, we’ve been doing this for a long time now.

’The word community policing has been bandied about for a couple of years as a reinvention but I’ve been doing it for 10 years so I’ve always been at it, it’s just that people don’t realise what we do.’

Mr Griffiths’s favourite part of the role is his work with the island’s police cadets.

’It’s also always nice to see people who you have dealt with who have gone on to do well in life because effectively that’s what you want,’ he added.

Mr Griffiths won the Isle of Man Newspapers’ Community Police Officer of the Year award alongside his colleague Paddy Moore in 2018.

Nominations are now closed for the award and the winner will be announced soon.

The annual award will be presented at the Chief Constable’s Awards at the Gaiety Theatre on November 8.