QPM for West Midlands officer who led pandemic response
31 December 2020
A West Midlands Police officer who played a critical role in preparing her region to cope with the pandemic has been rewarded with the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM).
Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Pearson spearheaded the transformation of an aircraft hangar at Birmingham Airport into a temporary mortuary, bringing in key people and contractors and ensuring the work was completed in good time and £5 million under budget.
She is also the president of the Lichfield and District branch of Soroptimist International, an organisation focused on improving the lives of women and girls, during its centenary year.
DCI Pearson said finding out that she will be among the small group of exceptional officers collecting a QPM at the Palace next summer, was “an amazing feeling,” adding: “It’s a real honour – when your Chief rings and says ‘I know your secret’, it’s like ‘wow, gosh it really is true and I’m not dreaming this’.”
She had to keep the news under wraps ahead of the publication of the honours list yesterday and was particularly looking forward to telling her parents and her eight-year-old daughter.
Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, has expressed his delight for Jennifer.
“On behalf of everyone within the Federation, I would like to congratulate Jennifer on this much deserved accolade. Her efforts during the pandemic have been outstanding and I am delighted that she has been recognised in this way.”
DCI Pearson was a junior member of a British team sent to Thailand to respond to the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 which killed approximately 228,000 people across 14 countries. She was there for 14 months and gained the vital experience that allowed her to take on a lead role in the pandemic response as the bronze lead for mortality.
She assembled a multiagency team involving local authorities, the Army, Air Force and the NHS to build the regional mortuary at Birmingham Airport. DCI Pearson was given a budget of £10 million – she only spent half – and appointed a contractor within 12 hours, ensuring they were not snapped up by other authorities. It was the one she’d worked with in Thailand and her old commander from years ago also came to work for her.
“If I hadn’t had that experience in Thailand there’s no way that I’d have been able to get my head around what was needed,” DCI Pearson said. “One of the biggest achievements for me was being able to get the faith leaders on the same page. I invited them in to see how well it was built and how respectful it was for families. To have leads from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Catholic faiths, and non-religious groups all speaking to each other and agreeing was powerful and a positive for the future.”
DCI Pearson also enlisted the support of local Soroptimists to make washbags, knitted hearts for bereaved and gifts for the NHS. She also trained up 90 Soroptimists to assist in domestic violence courts.
An officer of 25 years, she has previously worked in domestic and child abuse areas and was focused on managing missing people before stepping into the bronze commander role. In January she is stepping into the role of Temporary Superintendent to manage the West Midlands Covid resilience team.
