A REDDITCH police officer who has served the community for his entire career will be hanging up his helmet and retiring next week.
PC Richard Waterhouse has served in Redditch for his entire 30 year service, working as a response officer for six years before taking the role of police officer for the remaining 24 years. He works his final shift on December 17.
Starting out at the age of 19, PC Waterhouse happened upon his career by chance when he applied for a job advertised on a poster: “Going into the Police Forces was never something I’d really thought about as a youngster, but I saw a poster and went for an interview and found myself getting in,” he said.
“It was only ever my intention to stay here for a couple of years, but I liked it so much that 30 years later, I’m still here – so it was obviously the right thing to do.”
Throughout his time in Redditch PC Waterhouse has received a number of commendations for his work, including West Mercia’s ‘Local Police Officer of the Year’ award and West Mercia’s representative for ‘National police officer of the year’ in 2009.
His work with young people and the Ditch Youth Project has also helped hundreds of youngsters and motivated much of his work: “When someone comes up to me on the street and thanks me for something that I did years ago – that’s what makes it worthwhile,” he said.
“Knowing that I’ve made a tangible difference to someone’s life means so much. They might not thank me at the time, but in hindsight, they are grateful for the job we do.
“It has been a real privilege to serve this community and I have worked with some fantastic people over the years, both police, partner agencies and our community. I hope that along the way I have been able to make some positive differences.”
Covering the south west of thee borough, PC Waterhouse will take some time to decide what his next step will be.
“I haven’t decided exactly what that will be yet, but I’m going to continue working with the community in Redditch, managing the force band and our Ditch Youth Club,” he said.
