Senior Constable Sarah Edwards was a standout amongst the December nominations for the Far North District (FND) Police Officer of the Year award.
“Nominations again this month were excellent and included officers from across our district.” said Rotary Club of Cairns President, Gail Seymour.
“Residents in our district continue to embrace these awards and recognise the great work our dedicated police officers are doing.”
“We are pleased to announce this months’ winner as Senior Constable Sarah Edwards from Manoora Police Beat here in Cairns. Sarah has been described in the nomination as always going above and beyond her duties within the Manoora area. She has established numerous working relationships within the Manoora community and through these has helped to prevent further offences in the area. Additionally, through providing valuable information at neighbourhood watch meetings and to the elderly Manoora residents, she has provided many in the community with peace of mind. ” Ms Seymour said.
Sarah joined the Queensland Police in 2004, during that time she has worked in general duties at the Cairns Police Station, the Far North District Drug Squad, the Far North Tactical Crime Squad and as a community Beat Officer at Manoora Police Beat. Sarah has also performed relief duties at Cape and Tableland communities at Laura, Pormpuraaw and Milla Milla.
Extremely focussed on community policing, Sarah has worked at the Manoora Police Beat for over four years. Sarah acknowledges the high amount of senior citizens in her policing area and strongly believes that after their years of contribution to their community the seniors in particular, deserve to be looked after and feel safe in their retirement years. Sarah is also a regular at the Mooroobool/Manunda Neighbourhood meetings and makes the most of the opportunity to speak to people who care about the future of their community.
“I enjoy the learning aspects of managing a small station; this is a career path that I am keen to follow however I am also considering doing a bit more work in plain clothes, in particular with the Drug Squad”
“Working at the Manoora Police Beat has provided me the opportunity to become familiar with locals (naughty and nice), good community relationships can often be the key to solving crimes. Networking with groups like our local Neighbourhood Watch allows me a chance to discuss face-to-face the issues that are directly affecting our community members” said Sarah.
Senior Constable Edwards looking after the Manoora community by providing security information to owners of unsecured vehcles.
Sarah forms part of the formidable two-person operation at Manoora Police Beat with her ‘partner-against-crime’ Senior Constable Carl Erhardt. When asked the question, “What do you want to instil in the troops at your station?” Sarah’s response was, “There is only Carl and I! I wouldn’t mind if I could somehow make his jokes a bit funnier, fake laughing all of the time is really an effort!”.
Sarah was also asked about the funniest job she had ever attended, it of course involved Senior Constable Carl Erhardt, “Carl and I attended a noise complaint where some traditional island music was being played. We didn’t deem the noise excessive but thought we would just speak generally with the party-goers seeing as we were there. As we walked up the driveway, Carl all of a sudden turned around (practically on bended knee) and asked me to dance. Well needless to say I accepted with a laugh and we danced in the driveway.”
Sarah accepting an award from Acting assistant Commissioner Paul Taylor for her outstanding contribution to Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) at the NHW District Awards in Cairns, 2013.
Whilst sharing many laughs with Carl at the Manoora Beat, Sarah never forgets some of the more serious jobs that she has attended. A particular story that Sarah recalls is when she and her partner were called to a domestic disturbance at a residence. Sarah and her partner were faced with a man threatening self harm following a custody dispute. Sarah’s partner was speaking to the man when he suddenly recognised her and stated that he would only speak to Sarah because she is always honest with him. Sarah quickly developed a rapport with the man and de-escalated the situation. Sarah was able to coax the man out of the house and get him to hospital without incident.
When asked what she thinks other people think about her, Sarah replied, “I know a lot of people say, “I don’t care what other people think of me”; I personally think that it is important to care. I would hope that people think of me as someone who can make them smile and that I am fun to be around. I try never to be too serious but I can be serious when the situation calls for it”.
Sarah is extremely well regarded by not only her community but also by her work colleagues. It has been said that a red hot tip for winning Sarah over is with Salt and Vinegar Chips; she has claimed that she will go without water before she will go without these chips!
We are now looking for nominations for December and will continue to seek monthly nominations till June 2014 when the Yearly winner will be announced.
Nomination forms can be obtained from your local police station or downloaded on this website by clicking here
Thank you to all those who’ve taken the time to acknowledge the good work done by local officers.