Royal medal for officer who brought calm after chaos

Alan Humphries - Queen's Police medal.

A RETIRED policeman who helped to rebuild the community’s confidence in the force after the Oldham riots has received a royal honour.

Alan Humphries said he was excited and humbled to be awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the New Year honours list for distinguished service.

The 54 year old, who has two children and two grandchildren, joined Greater Manchester Police in 1985 and spent much of his career in neighbourhood policing in Oldham. He was the force’s longest-serving neighbourhood inspector when he retired in April.

Alan became Oldham Neighbourhood Central Inspector in 2002 — the year after the Oldham riots.

“I came back to a tense town and a lot of work had to be done to restore confidence in the police,” explained Alan.

“A large part of my work was making sure the way we policed the area was with the confidence of the community and people understood what we were doing and why we were doing things. It didn’t stop us from making policing decisions, but people understood why we were doing them.”

Alan, from Manchester, lived in Oldham for many years before moving to Stalybridge. But his links with the borough continue and he helps out at an Oldham primary school.

Alan received a lifetime achievement award from Oldham police last year and said his latest honour was a tribute to the excellent relationship between the police and the community in Oldham.

“It’s a lovely surprise and it will be nice for my family too, especially my wife and my children who had to put up a lot of difficult circumstances and missed occasions and family events.”