Police Staff Week of Celebration and Recognition 2025: Edward Epton

Edward Epton plays a key role in keeping the Force ticking over as an Administrator in Support Services, by making sure the practicalities are catered for so that staff and officers can do their job.

It covers everything from keeping up stocks of the stationary our staff are using at their desks, traffic cones or kits to execute warrants, to the maintenance of our fleet of vehicles and stocks.

Ed joined in 1997 – and he says things have changed a lot.

He said: "My role as is really varied – and a lot has changed since I started!

"I joined Lincolnshire Police in January 1997 and for most of my career here have worked in Administration/Support Services.  When I started, we had one office computer and an electric typewriter. Most things were still paper-based and use of the inter departmental shared fax machine was a regular occurrence.

"Now, I get involved with all types of things and you can never really plan too much as anything can crop up during a working day. My core work involves ordering, stock control, maintenance of store rooms, taking deliveries and issuing items. This can range from stationery, furniture, forensic items, method of entry kits used for officers to carry out warrants, or computer consumables.

"I am also involved with the maintenance of the vehicle fleet at South Park. This includes liaising with Fleet Services at HQ to get our cars booked in for inspections, services and MOT’s, dealing with contracted suppliers to get tyres repaired, and every getting the less savoury things like bodily fluids cleaned from our vehicles. I also order and maintain stock levels of traffic cones, signs, stands, brushes, shovels which are carried by our fleet here.

 

"Other duties include dealing with office enquiries which

can be numerous during the day. Sometimes they are simple things such as issuing a car parking permit or an earpiece, and sometimes it’s a bit more complicated like assisting an officer with a radio fault, taking in details of building faults such as blocked or leaking toilets.

"We’re not always office-based and need to be able to be flexible during the day. We might have to attend to a vehicle with a flat battery, helping out by running a car up to HQ for a service."

Edward also has to look after income which comes in from a variety of sources, doing the banking once a month, as well as other finance-related work such as raise purchase requisitions, or request birth or death certificates if they are needed for ongoing cases.

He also carries out duties which keep everyday policing going, like ensuring there is gas in the custody breathalyser, arrange the disposal of seized drugs, complete and issue South Park custody CCTV requests and liaise with our internal CCTV contractors if there are any technical issues.

Edward added: "For me, it is the variety and the interesting work that has kept me here all this time. At times you have to juggle your workload around and get used to plenty of interruptions. It all goes with the job. I have met some great people and got on fine with most of them and enjoy being part of the police family."