FEATURES
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t’s not unusual for a police officer to be possessed of strength of character but having the physical strength to pull a
truck is a little less expected. Meet PC April Casey, a response
officer in Sunderland and South Tyneside. She joined policing in 2014 as a Special Constable and became a regular three years later. When not policing Sunderland city centre, she has been pursuing her dream to be crowned Britain’s Strongest Police Officer. She explains: “My husband and I fell
in love with ‘strong man’ competitions. You watch these amazing men and women lifting stupidly heavy weights onto platforms and one day we sat there and thought ‘Well, why don’t we try it?’.” April spoke to a colleague who ran a farm and asked if she had a tractor tyre lying around that could be used for training. A few days later, a massive 160kg tyre was at April’s house.
eventually managed to get it off the floor. I took all the skin off my fingers trying to do it and it nearly rolled into my house, but I did it. I persevered and I did it.” April joined a specialised gym and
started competing at an amateur level. “Never had I stood alongside women who were so eager for each other to succeed,” she said. “There was such a huge sense of camaraderie and that’s what made me fall in love with it.” In 2019, April saw an advert for
Britain’s Strongest Police Officer. Unfortunately, she was injured and could not compete at that time but her husband did. Watching from the side- lines made April even more determined to take part in the 2020 event. Then Covid hit and her training had to change. She invested in weights to be able to train from home. “I even went so far as to hooking my
car up to a rope harness and trying to pull it. The neighbours must have wondered what on earth was going on,” joked April. In October last year, April took part
in the competition in London and, amazingly, she won. “I had never won a competition before and here I was winning Britain’s Strongest Police Officer. I think there’s a lot of stereotyping when people see women competing in this kind of sport but, look at me, I’m just a local girl who can lift a bit of weight, and now the national trophy is sitting proudly in the North East.” April comes from a long line of police
She recalls: “It took four of us to get it off the back of the truck! The tyre sat at the back of my house for the best part of a month while me and my husband, Loz, watched YouTube videos, trying to figure out how on earth we were going to lift this tyre. “We spent all day unsuccessfully
attempting to lift it. A month went by and I
officers and is keen to create a legacy to inspire people in and out of work. In May, April and her husband launched the first ever strong man club for Northumbria Police and have more than 100 police officers interested. “One day, I would love to have a
‘service versus service’ competition, with police, Army, fire, ambulance all
competing against each other,” said April. She is now in training for the 2021 competition. April’s training also comes in handy for
her policing role. She added: “I know I can pick someone up and carry them if they are injured and do that safely. I recently came across a truck that had broken down and was able to move it myself. I pushed that truck off the busy road and out of the way – the look on some of the people’s faces was priceless. “I train hard because that is how I like
to train but, honestly, anyone could do this – as long as you are getting the techniques right. I’d urge anyone to sign up and give it a go – you won’t regret it and you’ll make lifelong friends from around the country. Everyone is so supportive and there are no egos – you don’t shine brighter if you dull somebody else’s crown. We are strong in every sense of the word and I couldn’t be prouder to be Britain’s Strongest Police Officer 2020.”
25 I POLICE I JUNE 2021
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