During the Forensics Awards Day there will also be a graduation ceremony for those students who have achieved a Durham University Diploma in Crime Scene Examination. One of the students receiving the diploma will also be given the Ustinov Award (named after the late Sir Peter Ustinov, the former Chancellor of the University of Durham). The Award is given to the student whose work has been judged the most worthy of merit. The Student of the Year Awards will be given to students judged to have made the most significant contribution to their course. This is not necessarily mean the student with the highest marks, but one who has contributed most to the whole learning experience. Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, said: 'The contribution of forensics to crime investigation has never been greater with major innovations taking place, such as the wireless transmission of finger print images directly from the crime scene to the national fingerprint database. "Developments such as these are increasingly reliant on the skills and knowledge of police forensics staff as their role becomes more and more complex." "Those receiving Awards and diplomas today can therefore take great pride in showing the highest level of commitment and expertise in attaining these awards. Today's ceremony is a celebration of this significant milestone in their career development." The annual Forensics Awards Day is designed to recognise excellence and celebrate the achievements of CSI students and Award winners. Alan Woods OBE, Chief Executive, Skills for Justice, said: "In the demanding world of forensic science, high standards are the bedrock of performance and credibility. The awards given today have all been designed with the Forensic Science National Occupational Standards as their starting point. The Harperley Hall team's work is an exemplar across the justice sector in taking these common standards and building a framework to train, educate and assess forensic students to the highest standard." "The Forensic Science regulator's Quality Standards are raising the bar even higher for UK forensic scientists. The awards that the students receive today will give them the very best start to their career in this fascinating and vitally important area of the criminal justice system." The Police Photographer of the Year competition, which aims to promote excellence in police photography and reward high-quality images of operational policing, attracted many entrants from England and Wales. The judging panel was looking for photographs that portrayed forensic policing effectively. They were also looking for artistic ability and creative techniques to make an interesting photograph. The event was sponsored by Nikon UK who supplied the prizes to the award winners. Commenting on their sponsorship of the Photographer of the Year awards, Colin Inglis, Senior Professional to Business Manager, Nikon UK Ltd, said: "Nikon are proud to support the Police Photographer of the Year Award. This prestigious event tests the ability of all those competing as they have to demonstrate technical competence with artistic ability. The excellent standard of entries shows the skills of those police and support staff, often working in difficult circumstances, and their ability to produce stunning images." Notes to Editors NPIA is a single national organisation created to support effective policing. It provides expertise in areas as diverse as information and communications technology, support to information and intelligence sharing, core police processes, managing change and recruiting, developing and deploying people. Full details of all the Award winners and images from the Police Photographer of the Year are available from the NPIA Press Office. The Forensics Awards event will be held at the Great Hall of Durham Castle. The press will be able to attend from 1pm. To register for the event or for further information, please ring the NPIA Press Office on 020 7147 8308/ 8297/8424/8310. If out of hours please call 07827 309361. ENDS
NPIA works for the police service and is governed by a tripartite board comprising ACPO, APA, Home Office and independent members.
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