A Hemel Hempstead police officer who was nominated for a lifesaving award just three months into his career says building relationships is key to helping the community.
PC Nick Beresford, who now works as a neighbourhood officer in Dacorum, was nominated for a Royal Humane Society award after helping save a woman with serious arm injuries in January 2024.
He and a colleague arrived to find the woman had already lost around a pint of blood and was drifting in and out of consciousness.
While his colleague applied a tourniquet to stem the bleeding, Nick spent about an hour talking to her and keeping her calm.
A senior emergency medical technician later praised the rapport he had built with the woman and his “fantastic bedside manner”.
Nick said: “I always carry two tourniquets with me now.”
He joined Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2023 through Police Now’s neighbourhood programme, having previously studied business and marketing at Sheffield Hallam University.
His route into policing included four years as a reservist with the university air squadron, as well as working as an estate agent and doing bar work.
Growing up in Germany, Turkey and Saudi Arabia because of his father’s RAF service, Nick said his experiences of meeting people from different backgrounds had helped him develop skills he now uses in policing.
He said: “I have fond memories of travelling and meeting new people, and that ability to connect with new people is really important as a police officer.
“One of my best skills is that I can read personalities.”
In his first few years in the force, he has received eight award recognitions, including student awards in 2024 and 2025.
Nick said building relationships with people in the community had also helped police intelligence gathering, including contributing to a major drugs operation.
He said: “For me, intelligence is the name of the game and relationships help with that.
“I talk to everyone, from people on the street to grandmothers at coffee mornings. One of those relationships helped with a huge drugs operation that was a great success for the force.”
His current focus is county lines and drug crime, while he hopes to eventually become a detective working in serious and organised crime or counter terrorism.
However, he said he wanted to remain in his current role for now and continue learning.
Nick said: “Being in the police is a great job. It has its ups and downs, like any other career, but it gives you some great personal qualities and makes you resilient.
“You have to be courageous, which is something many people don’t think they have, but actually they do.
“You don’t always get lots of thanks but it’s so rewarding to feel like you are actually helping people.”
To find out more about the Police Now graduate entry programme, visit www\.policenow\.org.uk.
Feature image: Police Now
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