Janet Ratcliffe 6244 Over & Out

Janet, as a 19-year-old, joined Lancashire Constabulary in 1987 and her designation was WPC6244. She was 9.5 years in uniform until she became a detective constable dealing with serious crimes. On occasions, she acted as a Family Liaison Officer helping bereaved families, which she described as a very tough role requiring much empathy. She was an Enquiry Officer on murder cases and an Exhibits Officer responsible for evidence gathering. She described the need to be sensitive at all times when dealing with people and to expect to have to deal with violent individuals who would often try to assault you. On returning to uniform she described how aspects of the job had changed with much more reporting via input to an often slowly responding computer system. The job was fast moving with many different jobs issued during the course of a shift and there was always the need for a sensitive approach especially in domestic abuse situations. Her reward continues beyond her service when people approach her in the street or supermarket and thank her for helping them.

Janet's audience was very attentive and thanked her for an extremely interesting presentation.