Officers Commended In Machete Incident

Two officers from the West Yorkshire Police's Mounted Section have been commended after they tackled and disarmed a man armed with a machete.

Whilst on patrol in 2005, PC Stephen McGee and PC David Crossley saw a well-built man acting suspiciously in Huddersfield Town Centre.

43-year old PC McGee of Outwood and 42-year old PC Crossley of Birstall could see that the man was concealing a bladed instrument in his clothing and confronted the man who very quickly became violent towards the officers.

After a struggle, the man was overpowered and a machete recovered from him. A 22-year oldHuddersfield man later received two Community Rehabilitation orders for a total of 12 months and two Community Punishment Orders for a further 60 months.

Inspector Trevor Thackray, Head of the Mounted Section said: "This was an excellent arrest in which both officers showed great bravery and determination in overpowering a potentially dangerous male. They are a credit to the section and a perfect example of the positivity that our officers display in carrying out their duties."

PCs McGee and Crossley were awarded their certificates by Chief Superintendent Dick Rothwell, Divisional Commander of the Operations Support Division today at a ceremony that also saw the entire Mounted Section recieve a Certificate of Merit in recognition of its exceptional hard work and high performance over the past twelve months.

"Over the last year the Mounted Section has made 540 arrests as well as playing a massive role in the Force's intelligence gathering, stop-searching and high-profile policing and public reassurance operations in areas that are often difficult to patrol by proactive 'beat officers,'" said Inspector Thackray.

"The section is a small and specialised unit and over the last few years we have overhauled our practices to become a more effective tactical option for the Force. I am delighted that the hard work that has been demonstrated by every officer here has been acknowledged and rewarded with this certificate of merit."

The day-to-day work of the Mounted Section sees it working largely in high-crime areas as well as on high-profile events such as football matches where the strengths the section in terms of public reassurance and intelligence gathering are obvious.

Ceremonial duties are also catered for, as are deployments to the North Yorkshire area where the section carries out occasional patrols in the area's major towns.