A FORMER Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Police Inspector has received the King's Police Medal in the new monarch's first New Year's Honours List.

Kelvin Shipp devoted more than 40 years of his life to public service, first joining the force as a Special Constable in November 1981 and then as a full-time regular serving officer in June 1991.

Throughout his career he served in a wide range of roles, most recently as a Response and Patrol Team Inspector in Portsmouth until his retirement in March 2022.

SEE ALSO: New Year's Honours list 2023 Basingstoke and Andover recipients

The 62-year-old from Southsea has also provided his skills and experience to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Nations by joining international policing deployments to Iraq and South Sudan.

He was even awarded with a commendation by the Chief Constable for bravery after coming to the aid of a UN colleague who was confronted by a hostile crowd in South Sudan.
Kelvin also took part in many European Union Police Services Training courses and exercises, which took him across the continent before returning home to feed back valuable insights to the force.

In 2019 he assisted with the D-Day 75 anniversary event, which saw the Queen and leaders from across the world, including the American President, visit the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth to honour veterans.

His enthusiasm for policing never waned and he gained a reputation as an inspiring leader by supporting younger colleagues with mentoring and advice, passing his knowledge on to the next generation of policing as he reached the end of a career spanning four decades.

Even in retirement he has continued to support the National Association of Retired Police Officers with his passion about safeguarding the history of the police and his dedication to preserving the memory of fallen police colleagues.

Reflecting on this honour, Kelvin said: "I had absolutely no idea I was being nominated for this honour, so to find out about this after my retirement was very humbling. It's a tremendous honour.

"I have been so lucky in my career to see so many places but Portsmouth is my spiritual policing home really as I have spent half my career there."