Policeman helps retired traffic officer with dementia ‘relive’ his past
‘Just seeing Geoff smiling made it all worthwhile,’ West Midlands police officer says
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Your support makes all the difference.A policeman has helped a retired traffic officer with dementia “relive” his past.
Constable Dean Wainwright from the West Midlands police force, organised a “blue light breakfast” event for Geoff Brown, who lives in the same care home as his father.
Wainwright tracked down and invited some of Brown’s former colleagues and organised a ride in a vintage police car.
Wainwright said he wanted the traffic police-themed event to raise Brown’s spirits and rekindle happy memories of his time in service.
Brown is a resident at the Knowles care home in Coventry, which helped put the event together.
Alongside the old-style police car, Wainwright also brought with him one of the current motorbikes used by traffic police in the area.
“It was great to see Geoff enjoying himself and being able to recall his time in policing,” Wainwright said, adding that “the police family never forgets one of its own”.
Brown worked for the force in the 1970s through to the 1980s, and his son is now also a traffic officer.
“The care home came up with the idea of a ‘blue light breakfast’ and I tried to create a traffic police theme as much as possible,” Wainwright explained.
“I managed to track down some of his former colleagues, who kindly came along, and was able to source a vintage car.”
Dressed in a pinstriped shirt, Brown beamed as he donned a police officer’s hat and sat in the front seat of the car.
“It was only a few weeks beforehand I found out Geoff’s son had also been a traffic officer and I’d worked alongside him for a while,” Wainwright said.
“We also had some of the current Coventry neighbourhood team pop in, and all the other care home residents seemed to enjoy the occasion. Just seeing Geoff smiling made it all worthwhile.”
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