Bravery award for South Yorkshire police officer who chased and detained two offenders

PC Dominic Jones was with colleagues in a police van in Rotherham town centre when a vehicle sped off before crashing, at which point the occupants ran off.

PC Jones pursued them across the road and into a network of underpasses. He detained one after an ‘extensive chase and search’ by pointing his Taser, according to South Yorkshire Police Federation.

When back up arrived he pursued and caught the second man, pointing his Taser until colleagues placed him in handcuffs.

As a result of the incident officers seized cash and cannabis. It emerged that both men were ‘well-recorded for violent offences’ and the vehicle was not registered to either, so police are investigating aggravated vehicle-taking as well as possession with intent to supply.

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Now the federation, which represents 3,000 officers, has given him a bravery award.

Chairman, Steve Kent, said PC Jones showed ‘clear determination and bravery’ to pursue and detain the offenders single-handedly.

He added: “He showed great decision-making and leadership skills to direct officers once the first subject was secured and then to continue in the pursuit of the other man.

“Both individuals were making clear and determined efforts to avoid detention by the police, but Dominic was determined to ensure they were apprehended. This is not out of character for this officer, who regularly goes above and beyond in his duties.”

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PC Jones said he realised the situation was potentially dangerous but his training kicked in.

He added: “There was a point when I thought: ‘something bad could happen here’. But I was just focused and concentrating on my work, wanting to locate them both.

“You know that they’ve got weapon markers on them, so that runs through your mind. What if, all of a sudden, they make themselves present and with a weapon?

“My operational training kicked in, but certainly afterwards, that’s where you sit down and you think about what could have happened.”

PC Jones attended the South Yorkshire Police Federation Bravery Awards ceremony earlier this month.

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