WHEN an elderly people’s complex began being targeted by bogus callers, Newton Heath Police Community Support Officer Ian Chadwick was determined to help.

The 42-year-old dad-of-two bid for £25,000 from the council to fit CCTV cameras and secure key fob access gates to keep the thieves out and the elderly people safe.

Now the attacks have stopped and the thieves who did try their luck after the security was improved are now languishing in jail after the CCTV system provided the evidence needed to convict them.

He also helped cut down on anti-social behaviour and damage to the locks along the Rochdale Canal confiscating more than 40 bottles of alcohol from youngsters and interviewing the parents of all those who had been causing problems.

As a result one of the youths present when a bin was set on fire sent letters of apology to the emergency services and local residents and reports of problems in the area took a nosedive.

Willing to work on his days off and long into the night, he also helped set up an alarm for someone suffering from racial abuse.

Community

And as a result of his detective work out and about among the community, in the space of just one day he was able to point police colleagues in the direction of thieves who had broken into his local police station.

He’s also been known to come in on his day off to work with Eco Youth, a community led project which gets young people involved in building bird boxes and feeders for local residents and planting bulbs to add a bit of colour to the local area.

Today Inspector McFarlane said Ian was one of the first PCSOs to begin work with Greater Manchester Police and had set the benchmark.

He said: “He goes the extra mile, that sums him up. He comes in when he should be off work, I have to tell him off for it sometimes. His enthusiasm is never ending.

“He has built up important links between the residents, neighbourhoods and kids. The kids will take to him because he does a lot of work with them and the local schools. He’s on friendly terms with all the local headteachers.

“Community work is hard to measure, but this is a demanding area and he has done a lot of proactive work.”