A Newtown police officer has been presented with a national award for her role in the fight against counterfeiters.
DC Gemma Rees received the Special Commendation Award for Excellence in Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement from the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG).
She received the award last month in Harrogate at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Conference, where the ACG chose to announce its award winners for excellence in anti-counterfeiting.
DC Rees attended full council meeting of Powys County Council last week to also be congratulated by councillors.
The council’s Trading Standards Service had nominated DC Rees for the Special Commendation Award for her outstanding contribution to the fight against Intellectual Property Crime in the county and her commitment being ‘above and beyond’ her demanding duties as an officer in a busy police force.
DC Rees’ level of commitment to partnership working with trading standards officers has proved so effective that in the last two years:
· 60 counterfeit targets have been scoped by the police with intelligence analysis
· 15 warrants and operational visits have been supported
· Ten prosecutions have been assisted with evidence
· Her intelligence and analytical development of targets has led to enforcement jobs where some £300,000 of products has been seized/under investigation.
Cllr Jonathan Wilkinson, Cabinet Member for Trading Standards, said: “Our trading standards team protect consumers in the county from unsafe or shoddy goods and support honest businesses by ensuring that counterfeit goods are not sold in Powys.
“Counterfeiting covers all trades, even in Powys, from fake make-up with excessive lead to fake car parts which pose driving risks. The threat from these criminals means that partners need to come together and legally share information and proactively help each other – I’m proud to say we are doing this in Powys.
“DC Rees is a pivotal link to working with other agencies. Her professional work around this has made trading standards work more targeted, effective and incisive in supporting our Trading Standards Service.
“This award that DC Rees has won also shows that our work in Powys is being recognised at a national level.
“I would like to congratulate and thank DC Rees for her outstanding support and for achieving this award which contributes to keeping Powys safer and fairer.”
Photo: DC Rees with (centre) with (from left to right) DS Simon Lewis and DCI Martin Slevin from Dyfed Powys Police; Clive Jones, Professional Lead - Trading Standards, Community Safety and Emergency Planning; and Steve Hay from Trading Standards Officer.
