Spotlight on difficult, demanding, and unpredictable work of Nottinghamshire Police's response officers

Response officers are usually the first on scene and they are the people who will turn up first when you dial 999 and need help.

Their job never stops and they will often have to show incredible amounts of bravery to ensure the people in our communities are safe from harm.

This was no different for PC Saara Nawaz and her colleagues who stopped a man from harming himself with a knife.

After getting called to reports of a couple screaming and shouting on May 13, in Mansfield, the team headed out to investigate.

Once inside a man at the address became more and more agitated despite their attempts to keep him calm.

Things took a turn when he grabbed hold of a knife and threatened to harm himself.

PC Nawaz said: “I had a split second to react. I tried to see if I could move the knife away however he got the knife before me and gripped it very quickly, so I stepped back in case he lashed out.

“All of a sudden, he then tried to thrust the knife to his chest and threatened to kill himself.

“With one hand I grabbed his arm to try to move him aside and then the other hand tried to stop his hand from penetrating the knife into his chest.

“As I clutched his hand, I was unable to move it completely so used my other hand to grab the knife and throw it behind me so he could not grab it again.”

Once in custody, PC Nawaz calmed the man down, ensuring the appropriate steps were taken around his welfare.

She said: “While he was in our custody, he did not harm anyone else or himself. He had only a minor nick on his chest which could have been catastrophic had I not intervened.”

Welfare is very much part of the job for response officers – and a crime doesn’t need to have occurred for them to respond to incidents.