Tomorrow will see day one of our annual Police Federation National Detectives’ Forum where we celebrate and commend the remarkable work of the nation’s detectives.

We will be hearing from experts on subject matters as well as colleagues who will be sharing their own personal experiences. DI Sabjit Kaur, who was made an MBE in 2017 due to her dedication to the police service, will be sharing her own experience of life in the UK as a daughter in a Sikh family as well as speaking about honour-based violence and killing. Richard Haycock of Surrey Police will be opening up about his own battle with PTSD as a detective – something that can creep up on us without realising. We’ll also be hearing from the detectives behind Operation Dove, Operation Wainwright and Operation Arena. Hearing their accounts of these operations is fascinating and sometimes shocking but most importantly, it’s an invaluable opportunity to learn from.

But we’re not just going to be gathered in Birmingham to hear and learn – we’re going to be awarding “the outstanding work of detectives over the past year” Glyn Pattinson, Chair, PFNDF. There are five awards to be won; Smart Detective, Services to Detectives, Trainee Detective, Detective Investigation and Regional Recognition, all with first, second and third place nominations.

We know the job can be exceedingly challenging and straining, so we hope that with events such as this, it allows us to show our unmeasurable gratitude to the indisputable determination and unquestionable commitment of detectives.