PC Adam Platt – Uniformed Hero nomination

PC Adam Platt – Uniformed Hero nomination

An off-duty policeman rushed to the aid of a security guard cornered by a shoplifter he believed to be armed with a knife.

Despite being off duty with no PPE or stab vest, he overpowered the man, brought him to the floor and restrained him for 20 minutes until reinforcements arrived.

PC Adam Platt has now been nominated in the Uniformed Hero category of the Your Heroes Awards by senior officers at Staffordshire Police.

A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said: “I submit this for a Your Heroes Award given Adam’s quick reaction and selfless act of tackling a violent offender, whom he thought had a knife. Adam showed great bravery, courage and quick decision making in responding to the threat and risk he saw that day, as he has done so many time throughout his career.

“The fact that there was no knife in no way diminishes how Adam responded to an honest held belief that a member of the public was in grave danger. Adam honestly believed the male had a large knife and still selflessly put himself at risk to protect others. His actions were brilliant that day and I believe he should be formally recognised for them.”

On April 7 Adam was on the first day of a period of annual leave. He was in his car in Victoria Road, Fenton when he saw a male shoplifter running from the ASDA supermarket.

The police spokesperson said: “To put the what happened next into context it is important to remember the Adam was off duty, with no personal protective equipment or stab vest and he was with his wife. Initially due to these factors Adam began to make a phone call to the police control room to report a crime in progress. However after a few seconds Adam saw that the security guard had the shoplifter cornered in a nearby car park.

“Adam then witnessed the male offender confront the lone security guard aggressively and he then observed the offender pull an item out an item from his clothing, which as the item caught the sunlight looked to Adam like a large knife.

“It was at this point that without hesitation and with little thought for his own personal safety Adam told his wife to get into the car and wait for him, so that she would be safe. Adam then courageously ran across the road straight over to the security guard and offender on the car park.

“Adam bravely and without any PPE to protect him from the large knife, challenged the male, arrested him and was able to skillfully use reasonable force to overpower him and take him to the floor before restraining him with arm and ground restraints until on duty colleagues arrived.

“Thanks to Adam’s bravery the security guard was then able to call the police, albeit this left Adam restraining the male whom he thought had a knife for around  20 minutes. This is a very long time to physically restrain someone who is aggressive, during which time Adam was in constant risk from the knife.

“Upon arrival of colleagues the male was conveyed to custody where it was further discovered he was already wanted for two other offences.

“After the struggle Adam realised that the male didn’t in fact have a knife, however the item that he saw catch the sun was in fact a stolen bottle of wine which was smashed on the floor during the struggle. This broken bottle could easily have been used by the offender to cause significant injury to Adam or the security guard if he had not acted so quickly.”