Hartlepool 'Top Cop' helps vulnerable people suffering medical episode outside town's police station

At 10.40am on Friday, July 5, local Hartlepool residents noticed two vulnerable males laid out in-front of Hartlepool’s police station on Avenue Road.

The pair appeared to need medical attention. However, the nearest ambulance crew were some distance away, so Cleveland’s Chief Constable, Richard Lewis, stepped in.

The ‘Top Cop’ offered medical attention to the men and then assisted the ambulance crew, who arrived at 10.55am, until the pair were left in the care of the ambulance service.

Mr Lewis is originally from Carmarthenshire in west Wales and joined Dyfed Powys Police in 2000, before being appointed Chief Constable of Cleveland Police in April of this year.

A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “Chief Constable Richard Lewis regularly takes part in patrols across our four local authority areas, getting to know our communities and residents.

“Whatever his job title he remains a police officer and, like any Cleveland Police officer, his first duty is to the public that we all serve. On this occasion, although it was not a police matter, he acted as any officer would and offered assistance to those who needed it.”

Before taking up the new role, CC Lewis gained a Fulbright Scholarship in 2010, a prestigious educational programme at Pennsylvania State University and New York Police Department, where he studied Taser use in the USA. In July 2018, he was also appointed the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Lead for ‘Age Related Matters’ within the wider Diversity Portfolio.