Officer who shows exceptional care for victims and colleagues wins Avon & Somerset Federation Compassionate Officer of the Year Award

15 October 2026

An officer who shows exceptional care for victims as well as her own police colleagues has won the Compassionate Officer of the Year Award at the Avon & Somerset Police Federation Recognition Awards.

PC Sophie Cruse works for Op Bluestone, investigating rape and serious sex offences.

She excels in her care and compassion for people, dealing sensitively with deeply traumatised victims and earning their trust.

One example is when she supported a victim in a very complicated non-recent childhood sexual abuse case. PC Cruse spoke with her multiple times over several weeks, building rapport and trust with her until she felt able to visit the interview suite. She then spent several hours talking to her, explaining her options and making the victim feel in control of her story, and supported to tell it if she chose to.

PC Cruse also goes out of her way to look out for her colleagues and protect their welfare in what can be a challenging work environment. She explained: “We look after people day in and day out, so I recognise how important it is to look after ourselves and each other…to just keep an eye on your colleagues and notice if they're feeling a bit down.

“I’ll say, let's have a wander around the car park, let's get some fresh air. We call it a ‘lappers’, a lap around the car park, and I think that's a good starting point. And then it would be raising it to supervisors if I think it needs to, or signposting to wider places.”

PC Cruse has recently trained to be a welfare officer. She said: “I've taken on two officers who I'm supporting. I support police officers through misconduct cases or any investigation that they may be going through, and offer guidance on the investigation process.”

She said it felt “incredible” to receive an award, “because I know how amazing my colleagues are, and everyone that I've worked with”.

Avon & Somerset Police Federation Chair Tom Gent said: “Sophie is an exceptional officer who goes above and beyond to serve and protect the public, and also looks out for her colleagues in a difficult and often traumatic area of work.

“We are very proud of her work and she is well deserving of this Award.”

PC Cruse will attend the Avon & Somerset Police Federation Recognition Awards 2026 on Thursday 15 October.

The lead sponsor for the Awards is Axon.

Also sponsoring are Serve and Protect Credit Union, Gallagher, Niche, Uniform Mortgages, Accord, Police Friendly, Warren & Co, Ginge Tours, Bluline Health, No1 Copperpot Credit Union and Police Mortgages.