First Asian female officer given award

First Asian female officer given award

Thames Valley Police's first Asian female officer has received a distinguished long service award for 22 years of work.

Pinder Parkes' greatest achievement in the force was catching the thief of a charity collection for a young cancer-sufferer - whilst raising thousands of pounds to help send the boy on holiday before he succumbed to cancer at just 14 years old.

Detective Constable Parkes also passed her firearms course while her leg was in plaster, having broken it in training.

Later duties included protecting Lord and Lady Tebbit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital after the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

'Worthy career'

Ms Parkes started her career at Maidenhead, Berkshire, and after three years moved to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where she became a founder member of the "A Div" divisional team.

She later wrote one of the first papers on witness protection in the Thames Valley.

Ms Parkes said: "I am proud to be a part of Thames Valley Police and receive this award alongside other colleagues I joined with all those years ago.

"I am also pleased to see more Asian officers in the force and hope my example can show that it is a career worthy of choosing.

"I'd like to thank my parents, who have been fantastic and supported my career from the outset, and also my younger sister, who is a police officer with Thames Valley Police."