New Year Honours: Medal for pioneering digital forensics police sergeant
Sergeant John Price, of West Midlands Police, who has played a leading role in enhancing digital forensics has been recognised with the King’s Police Medal (KPM) in the New Year Honours.
He has been at the forefront of introducing technology improvements to help the police force catch crooks, protect the public and get justice for victims.
Sergeant Price joined the force over 20 years ago and has worked in various teams such as neighbourhood policing, CID, tackling acquisitive crime and the counter-terrorism unit before moving into digital forensics in 2016.
He has since helped improve ways of working to assist not only policing but other law enforcement agencies.
Sergeant Price developed the role of digital crime scene manager to provide on-the-spot digital advice to officers investigating serious crimes and ensure potential evidence is gathered at the earliest opportunity.
It included the introduction of digital scene triage - ‘digivans’ - which provide officers, investigators and forensics staff with faster and easier access to tools and technology to allow them to examine digital devices at any location.
Sergeant Price has also used his knowledge to introduce a better way of processing digital data and ensuring it is stored safely, and cost effectively, to assist ongoing investigations across a wide variety of cases.
This has proven best practice and been recognised at industry awards with requests for the expertise to be shared internationally.
Sergeant Price said: "It was a huge surprise to be told about the award but I'm extremely honoured.
"It's a privilege to be part of the forensics unit and everything we do is very much a team effort."
