Sgt Ollie Abercrombie, who has been a Fed Rep for 10 years, is now Treasurer for the Federation, alongside his busy day job as staff officer to Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew.

“It does keep me super busy!” he said, but added: “I like having the mix of Federation work and still having a firm foothold in the day-to-day life of the organisation.”

Ollie first became a Federation Rep because he wanted to support colleagues who were facing the stress of misconduct proceedings.

He said: “We help those people realise the mistakes they've made and then get the right outcome for them. Not everyone deserves to lose their job.

“Of course, some people should never be in the police and they give all good police officers a bad name, so I also assist them out of the organisation.

“But I had a passion to help those people who had made mistakes, to say it's OK, hold your hands up and let's help you through it.

“I want to make sure that that person gets the best service. If it was ever me in that position, I hope someone would look at me that way. The majority of cops are not bad people, and we need to make sure they get the right level of outcome, that we don't hit a chestnut with a sledgehammer.”

Ollie continued: “My dad used to be a local councillor and was involved in Unison. Growing up, I watched his interactions in life and the way he dealt with things, and I think that had an influence on me wanting to help people and to deal with workers' rights.

“When I saw that the Federation was looking for Reps, just as Janice Adam was becoming the first female chair of Devon and Cornwall Federation, I thought it was a good thing to get involved with.

“Over the past 10 years, a lot has happened both nationally and locally, and there have been challenges we've had to navigate along the way. But the whole time, we have to make sure that our members locally have trust and confidence in us looking after them.”

As well as his busy work life, Ollie supports many causes in his local community: “I'm a governor at my daughter's secondary school, and I'm the Chair of the bowls club, because they had no one else to run it. I also manage the winter training schedules for the local football team. My biggest weakness is I just can't say no!”

When he heard he was receiving a Federation Award, Ollie said he was shocked: “I was taken aback, but pleased. I'm not someone who shouts from the hilltops about what I do, but it's nice to be recognised for the work.”

Devon & Cornwall Police Federation Chair Katie Clements said: “Federation Representatives across Devon and Cornwall work incredibly hard both on and off duty, looking after the welfare of our colleagues.

“We all want to thank Ollie for his commitment and dedication to helping colleagues as a Fed Rep, alongside everything else he does within and outside the organisation. He’s a massive asset to our team.”

Ollie will attend the 2025 Devon & Cornwall Police Federation Recognition Awards on Thursday 6 November.

The Devon & Cornwall Police Federation Recognition Awards are in association with Axon.

Also sponsoring the Awards are Niche, Uniform Mortgages, Gallagher, Serve and Protect Credit Union, Warren & Co, The National Police Healthcare Scheme, THB Legal, Police Mortgages, Bluline Health, Pointers Financial and No1 CopperPot Credit Union.