TWO members of Essex Police staff have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for 2021.

Brian Jaggs, Head of IT Service Delivery, and Eddie Clarke, now retired and formerly of Emergency Planning, will each receive a British Empire Medal (BEM), it was revealed in the list published last night (Friday, 11 June).

Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said: "It really is a privilege to see two of our longest-serving colleagues being recognised for one of the nation's highest honours for their hard work, commitment and long service to our force and the people of Essex.

"Each day, our officers, staff and volunteers help people, keep them safe and bring criminals to justice and Brian and Eddie's stories are real examples of this. It makes me really proud to be their Chief Constable."

Brian Jaggs

Brian has a 50-year career as a police officer and a member of police staff, demonstrating exemplary public service and dedication to ensuring that Essex Police and Kent Police officers are equipped to serve the public, using the best technology available.

He is currently responsible for providing a range of critical IT solutions that directly support operational policing and the wider public. Never has this been more important than during the Covid-19 pandemic, where his expertise, commitment and innovative flair enabled the workforce across two forces to remain able to serve the public, with record low absence levels during this period.

Within a three-week period, Brian created a team who worked seven days a week to build and deliver more than 2,500 additional laptops for officers and staff who needed to work from home.

He is one of Essex Police's most long-serving employees, with a distinguished career, starting as a police cadet, then serving 30 years as a police officer, retiring at Chief Inspector rank, before re-joining us as a member of police staff.

Brian was tasked to establish the Essex Police IT department almost 20 years ago, acknowledging his expertise in implementing technology to transform policing processes. He is now the Deputy Head of IT for the joint Essex Police and Kent Police IT Services department, overseeing service delivery to ensure that IT solutions are working effectively to maximise the ability of all our officers and police staff to carry out their roles.

His energy and enthusiasm for policing remains, as he continues to excel after 50 years in service to the people of Essex.

Brian says: "My first reaction was that it was a spam email. I still can't believe it. I come here to do my job and so many colleagues do the same. I'm no different to everyone else but I'm so grateful to be recognised.

"I have enjoyed every single role I have held as an officer and police staff member. The first couple of years, the new experiences, like your first solo arrest or walking up the high street by yourself and everyone's looking at you."

[Eddie Clarke

Eddie retired from Essex Police in August 2020, just days after his 75th birthday, after 55 years of outstanding service to Essex Police. He started his policing career in Southend on Sea Borough Police in 1964 - before it merged with Essex County Constabulary to become Essex Police - and ended it in Emergency Planning.

Eddie served in a number of roles and was instrumental in launching the careers of many roads policing officers, serving as the head of traffic law training for many years. After his retirement in 1996, he became one of our emergency planning officers, a job that he excelled at for more than 22 years.

His commitment to Essex Police remained undiminished over his entire career. His continual hard work formed a link with industry that has proven crucial in the development of multi-agency work across the country. He also bridged the generational gap, tutoring and training new staff, no matter their experience or backgrounds.

Across his service, Eddie was always there to provide advice and share his immense experience, which has proven to be invaluable to colleagues of all ranks when faced with extreme circumstances, including during the Jaywick floods eight years ago when he supported the specialist operations control room out of hours.

Eddie was very widely respected by all of his colleagues, both in his command and across the force. The passage of time never weakened his level of enthusiasm to help a colleague or his willingness to develop a better service for the public.