by Graham Tutthill
gtutthill@thekmgroup.co.uk

A Port of Dover police officer has been praised for his work.

Neighbourhood officer PC Martin Dadd was a runner-up at the Kent Community Safety Awards for his work with the Porchlight Partnership in the community safety category of the awards.

The ceremony took place in Ashford.

PC Dadd, pictured above with his wife Susan, has been working with the charity Porchlight which helps homeless people, tackling some of the issues caused by people sleeping rough on the seafront and in the shelters.

He helped set up a neighbourhood watch scheme on the seafront to help stop crime and anti-social behaviour in the area of the promenade from the west end of the Gateway Flats to the Clock Tower and Cambridge Road.

The scheme, which extended an existing scheme at the eastern end of Marine Parade, created a partnership between those who live and those who work on the seafront. Residents are encouraged to report suspicious activity, crime or other matter that may be of interest to the police.

As well as launching a project to warn youngsters of the dangers of tombstoning – diving off jetties, piers and other structures into the sea – PC Dadd is among those trying to promote an organised parkour facility for those involved in free-running.

One of the organisers of the community safety days that are held on the seafront, he also arranges the annual Gurkha Festival of Music at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School which takes place this week.

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