Twelve cadets from Sutton were up against rivals from 30 London boroughs in the Met’s Volunteer Police Cadets Competition at Hendon between 11-13 July.
As well as drill, they competed in a number of challenging scenarios including dangerous substances, firearms, traffic and entering properties to catch criminals. Whilst being placed fourth overall, they came second in the firearms scenario and third in the traffic incident.
Youth Engagement and Volunteer Police Cadet Coordinators PCs Gill Nolan and Lorraine Roche said the cadets worked well as a team and were an absolute credit to Sutton and themselves with tremendous support provided by PC Jacky Cole, PC Ollie Breen and Special Constable Grant Fulker, who together undertook the vast majority of their training.
“The cadets and officers worked incredibly hard in the run up to the competition, putting in many hours of extra training which contributed significantly to their success,” said PCs Nolan and Roche.
Only a month earlier, Sutton cadet David Akindipe, aged 15, won best player in a five-a-side football tournament in Lambeth on Saturday 21 June. Eight of Sutton’s cadets took part and won through to the final, but lost on penalties to a team from Hackney.
Over the last few weeks, 13 of Sutton’s cadets have passed their assessed expedition as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s bronze awards.
Cadets have also been busy supporting London and local events this summer including Trooping The Colour, the St Helier Festival, Belmont Festival and a number of local police operations including test purchasing for underage sales from licensed premises.
The picture shows Acting Chief Inspector Neil Tyre with David Akindipe who won a football award with Sutton Police Cadets