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The Police Federation of England and Wales has honoured some of the country’s most outstanding officers and investigative teams at its Annual Conference, celebrating both frontline bravery and long-term detective excellence.
PC Greg Blais named Response Officer of the Year
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary constable Greg Blais (pictured above) was named Response Officer of the Year, recognising an extraordinary year of frontline policing marked by relentless proactivity, high-impact results and exemplary victim care.
Described by his nominator as “the most proactive officer I have seen in 24 years of policing,” Blais has combined a tenacious approach to catching offenders with a leadership style shaped in part by his background as a professional ice hockey player. Over the past 12 months he has arrested more than 300 people, attended 422 incidents—being first on scene at 333—and achieved an almost 50% positive rate through intelligence-led searches.
His nomination highlighted a series of standout cases, including tracking down a prolific burglar after spotting suspicious behaviour on top of a passing double-decker bus, and locating a high-risk domestic abuse suspect through persistent foot patrols. He has also demonstrated calm judgement in critical safeguarding incidents, coordinating multiple emergency services to rescue a severely injured and suicidal 76-year-old, and securing cooperation from a reluctant victim in a high-risk domestic abuse case.
Blais is also credited with mentoring new officers and driving the success of proactive operations resulting in multiple arrests, drug seizures and the removal of weapons from the streets.
“This award is truly a career-defining honour,” he said. “Policing is all about turning up early, rain or shine, staying positive and keeping people safe. To be honest, I’m just speechless.”
Joint winners for Detective Investigation of the Year
The Police Federation National Detective Forum (PFNDF) also recognised two major investigative teams as joint winners of the Detective Investigation of the Year 2025 award: Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigations Team for Operation Lion, and West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide Team for Operation Geneva.
Operation Lion centred on the fatal stabbing of Amie Gray and the attempted murder of Leanne Miles on Bournemouth beach in May 2024. Under intense public and media scrutiny, Dorset detectives mounted a multifaceted inquiry involving extensive CCTV, financial and digital investigations, expert forensic and gait analysis, and significant disclosure management. Their work established compelling evidence of premeditation and travel by the offender, culminating in the conviction of Nasen Saadi and a minimum 40-year sentence.
Prosecutors praised the team’s professionalism throughout a complex and fast-moving investigation that involved hundreds of witness statements and demanding courtroom preparation.
Operation Geneva, meanwhile, marked the culmination of a nearly 20-year effort to secure justice for murdered police officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky, killed during an armed robbery in Bradford in 2005. West Yorkshire detectives rebuilt and re-examined the case over many years, developing international partnerships and following financial and intelligence leads that eventually led them to the principal organiser, Piran Ditta Khan.
Following an intricate extradition process and one of the largest disclosure exercises undertaken by the force, Khan was convicted in 2024 and given a life sentence with a 40-year minimum term.
By awarding the accolade jointly, the PFNDF recognised the contrasting but equally exemplary investigative models: Dorset’s rapid, high-pressure major crime response delivering swift justice, and West Yorkshire’s strategic, decades-long pursuit of accountability.
Ben Hudson, Chair of the PFNDF, presented the detective awards, which alongside Blais’s recognition celebrated the breadth of policing skill across England and Wales—from immediate frontline action to long-term investigative determination.
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