It’s hard to hear the words “police” and “Burngreave” without also hearing the words “Inspector Jon Ekwubiri”. Although Jon was brought up on the other side of town – the famous Havelock Square to be exact – his connections with Burngreave will remain for a good while into the future. Would he be thinking (as a young black man who had just graduated from Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1982 with a HND distinction in electronic and electrical engineering) that he’d be here now?
For four and a half years, Jon has been the local commander of the Burngreave & City Centre police team; the Burngreave & Firth Park police team and then finally the Burngreave, Fir Vale, Firth Park, Shiregreen & Brightside police team – or safer neighbourhood area as it’s nowadays called. The transformation that Jon has led on the police side has been to win them over to recognising that the police have to work alongside others – other agencies and the communities of the area.
Secondly, under Jon’s leadership, we’ve also seen the beginning of a change in the fortunes of Burngreave as it ceases to be a “high crime area”. While everyone in this room knows the tragedies that have resulted from the deaths of Jonathan Matondo and Younis Khan last year, we are less likely to know that reported crime in Burngreave has dropped, that the fear of crime has declined, and that the perception of crime is altering. Jon's straightforwardness (his public statements about his own wider family’s experience of criminal justice) and clarity of message has meant a real change in how the police are viewed; some may disagree with what Jon says – but no one can ever allege that Jon Ekwubiri didn’t have a view on matters connected to safety and crime in Burngreave!
His nominator says:
“Jon has 25 years exemplary police service during which time he has regularly broken new ground in respect of embracing new ways of working in order to make communities feel safer. His staff are united in their support for everything Jon does and such is his charisma that they believe he “walks on water”. He has an excellent business brain whereby he is able to gain support for his ideas in a very subtle unassuming way but also, when the need arises, Jon is first to lead by example and his command and control skills are second to none. Jon has a wonderful sense of humour which he used to good effect to break down real and perceived barriers and he is role model for very many people across the organisation. He is quite simply a superb police officer, a husband, father and grandfather and he is an absolute pleasure to work with.”
We will all miss Jon’s sartorial elegance; his uncritical love of the English rugby team; his memory for names and faces; and his genuine fondness for enjoying helping this community.