Superintendent’s Commendation for liaison and diversion lead
The team leader of the liaison and diversion service in Barnsley has been presented with a Superintendent’s Commendation by South Yorkshire Police for her outstanding contribution to the development of liaison and diversion services in the borough.
Emma Robinson was nominated by South Yorkshire Police’s Superintendent mental health lead Dan Thorpe after he worked with her at a national liaison and diversion conference in Leeds.
Liaison and diversion teams work within police and court settings to screen and assess young people and adults within the criminal justice system to identify vulnerability.
Dan said: “As South Yorkshire Police strategic mental health lead, I totally recognise the demands coming into the force which are mental health related and that there are valuable opportunities within the liaison and diversion service. Emma has been instrumental at influencing this agenda in so many ways at Barnsley. Emma is well known to probably all Barnsley front line officers because she has gone the extra mile by attending police briefings, advertising liaison and diversion and the benefits of working in collaboration.
“When I visit Barnsley, I often ask the custody officers about the mental health demands, which are always reported back as being considerable and often complex to resolve, yet they all reference Emma’s leadership, passion to assist and to work in partnership, positivity and support. It goes without saying that they all hold Emma and her team in very high regard.”
Emma said: “Through working together with our partners it allows us to work towards reducing health inequalities, and address offending behaviours to ultimately improve health and criminal justice outcomes. I was extremely honoured and overwhelmed to receive such an award and it demonstrates the fantastic partnership that we have developed with South Yorkshire Police.”
The Trust was recently successful in its bid in partnership with Touchstone to provide liaison and diversion services in Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield from 1 April 2019 in addition to its current service in Barnsley.