Officers honoured

12 October 2020

Three West Midlands officers were among those listed in the Queen’s Birthday Honours on Saturday.

Sergeant Joe Trusselle was one of only seven police officers across the UK to be awarded a British Empire Medal. He receives the award for services to community policing.

PC Rani Gundhu and Sergeant Mo Najib have both been honoured with the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) which is awarded to police officers in the UK and Commonwealth for gallantry or distinguished service.

“I would like to congratulate all three officers on this achievement. It is great to see their efforts recognised in this way, ” says Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, “

Joe, who moved to Small Heath and Highgate earlier year, is recognised for his work in Wolverhampton over 14 years during which he secured Home Office and Sport England grants to run projects aimed at keeping children out of trouble and a dedicated police van tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB).

His work led to anti-social behaviour falling by more than half during one notable school summer holiday period as the schemes kept young people engaged with sports and other activities.

“It was a complete surprise when I heard I’d received the medal,” said Joe, who is one of the Force’s former PCs of the Year.

“It’s lovely when your efforts are recognised but there is great work going on by colleagues across the West Midlands every day that’s also worthy of recognition.”

Rani has been with the Force for 33 years, making her one of its longest serving female officers. She has worked in specialist departments from serious complex crime to neighbourhood policing and has also been involved in many Home office projects. She thrives on building confidence and trust in community cohesion and collaborative working.

Rani now works in the Positive Action team taking steps to improve equality and increase diversity along all protected characteristics within the Force.

She said: “I am delighted to receive this honour, I so wish my late father was with us to witness this, it truly is a huge shock. Thank you so much to all the people that made this happen, for I am but a humble soul doing my part for humanity.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes in policing over the last three decades, but my desire to make a difference remains as strong now as it did when I first joined.”

Former Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott also receives a QPM.