BRAVE police officers and members of the public were commended by Bexley's police commander.
Chief Superintendent Chris Cerroni presented certificates at the ceremony.
Four men were rewarded for disarming and detaining a violent youth on a B16 bus in Welling.
John Hallett had asked the teenager to stop spitting but when the youth turned on him, David Trotter intervened as he thought Mr Hallett would be assaulted.
When the youth then became violent and produced a penknife, Derek Haines and William Shippam also stepped in and disarmed the teenager. They restrained him until the police arrived.
Eltham teenager Sam Osborn, 17, spent nearly a year trying to bring an older youth to justice after he stole vouchers Sam had been awarded.
After the youth snatched the vouchers on a bus in July 1999, Sam followed him even though the youth threatened to stab him.
Two months later, Sam spotted the youth again and called the police who made an arrest. But it took 10 months and several non-appearances at court before the youth was convicted, ordered to do community service and pay Sam compensation.
Dog handler Police Constable Andy Waitt successfully persuaded a man who was threatening to kill himself, to surrender to the police. The man had rowed with his wife and when she fled with their children, he threatened to jump.
After talking to him, PC Waitt contacted the man's mother and the man surrendered.
Detective Constable Bruce Galbraith and Police Constable Julian Seal used CS gas to arrest a violent man who beat another man in a road rage incident.
The man and his car were already being sought in connection with two knifepoint robberies and a kidnapping.
DC Galbraith and PC Seal tracked him to a flat in Eltham, where they eventually arrested him and the passenger in his car.
Off-duty Police Constable Russell Jones received his certificate for helping prevent a man from stealing more than £500 worth of goods from a store in the Tower retail park, Crayford.
Despite being punched several times, PC Jones held onto the man until more police arrived.
Special Constable Malcolm Raphael spotted three men stealing computer equipment from a Greenwich University campus. He called the police and chased them on foot until they escaped in a waiting car. Thanks to him, some equipment was recovered and the three men were caught and went to prison.
October 25, 2001 16:09
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