PC assigned her late father’s collar number
APOLICEWOMAN has spoken of her pride at being assigned her late father’s collar number after his sudden death earlier this year.
Tributes poured in for popular rugby player, policeman and beloved father Mark Dicks after his sudden death in January.
Aged just 53, he had spent almost three decades as a police officer, initially in South Wales before transferring to Gwent Police in 1996.
Mr Dicks died after falling ill. He had been racing motorbikes around a track in South Yorkshire.
At the time of his death the policeman, from Merthyr Tydfil, was 10 months away from retirement following 28 years of service.
Father to Christian and Jemma, Mark was a former rugby player for Merthyr RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and South Wales Police.
Now his daughter, Jemma – a serving police officer with South Wales Police – has inherited his collar number after the force permitted the move.
Jemma, 25, is fulfilling a childhood dream by following her father’s footsteps, and wanted to know if she could be assigned his collar number.
Such requests are usually not possible, but South Wales Police made an exception in this case.
The gesture meant that since May 1, Jemma has been PC 1115, having had Mark’s Gwent force number assigned to her – something she is tremendously grateful for.
Jemma joined Gwent Police as a special constable in 2013 aged 21, which saw her father become her colleague and mentor. She later moved to South Wales Police and became a full-time officer almost a year ago. She now serves as a constable in Cardiff.
“Since I was really little he came home with all these stories,” she explained. “I have never thought about doing anything else. Everything has always revolved around the police. He worked in Gwent Police as a traffic officer, and his collar number was 1115. Seeing as I followed my dad’s footsteps into the police force, I just thought it was worth asking if there was any chance of having his collar number reallocated.
“We always joked about having the same number, and so in the circumstances I thought it would be worth asking.”
Chief Superintendent Belinda Davies supported Jemma’s request, but the approval wasn’t always going to be a certainty.
Jemma said: “I was told it would be unlikely, but to leave it with HR. Three weeks later I had a phone call to say that there was no news – but that no news could be good news. Then I was told at the start of April that it had been agreed.
“I was chuffed to bits. It’s not something that might mean much to many people but it means so much to me.
“One day I was 5891 and the next day I was 1115. It does feel like my dad is with me, in a sense. What has happened is never going to go away, but this does help.
“I’m completely chuffed. It just feels amazing to be able to wear his collar number on my shoulder. I wear it with pride.”