A detective has won an award for her work to improve the support provided by Sussex Police for the victims of sex offences.
Detective Sergeant Gemma Holley, a sexual offences liaison officer (SOLO) in the public protection team in Littlehampton, was recognised for her “outstanding leadership” by the charity Police Now.
Detective Sergeant Holley identified ways to improve the role of liaison officers like herself across the whole force to provide a better and more consistent service for victims.
She also worked with the force’s learning and professional development team to provide more training to ensure that there are always several SOLOs on shift across Sussex at any one time.
And as a result of her work, the number of liaison officers has been boosted by 175 per cent.
Detective Sergeant Holley successfully applied for funding and worked with other organisations to provide bespoke training for the force’s sexual offences investigation trained (SOIT) officers.
This work focused on supporting victims with different protected characteristics such as those with learning disabilities, people who are neurodivergent, people from different ethnic backgrounds and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Those officers also committed to being the single point of contact – or SPOC – for their teams to share this knowledge and understanding more widely across the force.
Her work follows the setting up of Operation Soteria to improve the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore said: “When Gemma was tasked with delivering the national rape and serious sexual offences investigative skills development programme in the force, she trained over 330 officers – massively exceeding the assigned target of 51 officers.
“Having significantly delivered against the national requirement, she garnered national attention for the work from Op Soteria’s joint unit and the Home Office.
“The impact of Gemma’s work will make a real difference to victims of rape and serious sexual offences.”
Detective Sergeant Holley won one of the annual “Alumni Impact Awards” which celebrate the achievements of officers who have graduated from one of Police Now’s national programmes.
She joined Police Now’s one-year Frontline Leadership Programme in 2022. It supports talented constables to progress to the rank of sergeant, with a focus on inclusive and innovative frontline leadership.
The awards recognise those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to reduce or solve crime, problem-solve in their communities or innovate and lead within policing.
