Berni is 'surprised and humbled' to be Force's Volunteer of the Year

19 December 2023

Berni May has seen a lot in 50 years with West Midlands Police but admits he was “surprised and humbled” to be named the Force’s Volunteer of the Year.

A former police officer, Police Federation member, police cadet, and police staff member, Berni is now one of the people who support the running of the West Midlands Police Museum.

And his work dealing with genealogy enquiries and taking tours at the museum at the Lock Up, in Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham has earned him the title of Volunteer of the Year.

He said: “I was really surprised, because I didn’t know there were any awards, so I didn’t know I’d been nominated.

“I initially thought maybe I’d won it as the museum’s volunteer and okay, there’s quite a lot of us there, but when I found out it was for all the volunteers that the Force has then I was quite shocked.

Volunteer of the Year Berni May (pic credit: West Midlands Comms).

“There are so many people to support the Force as volunteers in so many different roles and somebody chose me - I’m humbled.

“I’ve been chosen for doing something I really enjoy.

“It’s a labour of love. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it, but it’s great fun.”

Berni was unable to attend the awards ceremony as he was flying to Tokyo when it was being held to start a dream cruise that took in parts of Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam and Singapore.

“I was in the air oblivious to it all,” he laughed.

Berni’s involvement with the Force began as a cadet in 1973 when the Force was still Birmingham City Police.

In 1974, Birmingham City Police passed to the new West Midlands Police and Bernie joined the Force as a regular officer the following year.

He spent 30 years as a West Midlands Police officer, and was a temporary chief inspector by the time he retired in 2005.

He returned to the Force as a police staff member, and worked for just short of 10 years in the counterterrorism unit.

After that he volunteered at the police museum at its old site in Sparkhill with the late Dave Cross.

“I learned so much about police history from Dave,” he said.

And Berni has continued to give his time to the new museum at the Lock Up.

“Day to day I deal with the genealogy enquiries,” he explained.

“We’ve got service records, particularly for Birmingham City Police, back to 1839.

“We’ve got other records for Coventry, Wolverhampton, and Walsall, but they’re a bit more patchy. When West Midlands Police was formed in 1974 we only got some of the records from the other forces, that’s because some of those forces split.

“As well as police service records, we’ve also got quite a collection from the late 1890s and early 1900s mugshots of villains.

“They come up from time to time in news articles, and we get people emailing us to say they’re researching their family history and that their great grandad was arrested in Birmingham and ask if we have a picture.

“And sometimes we do. I probably get about a one in 20 hit rate for offenders.

“Then on top of that I volunteer a few times a month at the Lock Up as an engager, meeting the public, talking about the building, the history of the Force and answering questions.

“I love it.”