A police inspector from Watford has received a chief constable’s award for his “outstanding contribution to public service and community focus”.

Neighbourhood Inspector Nick Lillitou, who leads the Watford Safer Neighbourhood Teams, was presented with the Public Service and Community Focus award.

Inspector Lillitou was nominated for the award for his “leadership, commitment and dedication to making Watford a safer place to live and improving the day to day lives of those who live in the community”.

In the last 12 months, he has introduced a number of initiatives to protect the most vulnerable residents.

For example, in September 2014 he began the Safer Street Campaign, which has signed up thousands of residents to neighbourhood watch schemes.

Inspector Lillitou also started training for staff in the town’s hotels to identify instances of child sexual exploitation and introduced vulnerability training for people working in nightclubs and bars to identify people who are vulnerable to becoming a victim of crime and ensuring they are helped.

Speaking after receiving his award, Inspector Lillitou said: “It was an honour to be in a ceremony and I was delighted to receive the award.

“I accept the award on behalf of the Safer Neighbourhood Team officers and PCSOs because they work tirelessly, day in, day out, to keep our communities safe and ensure that we keep crime and anti-social behaviour low in Watford, alongside our partner agencies.”

Inspector Lillitou was also congratulated on another project that involved officers working with the Polish community and Operation Catapan, proactive high visibility patrols to prevent anti-social behaviour and criminal damage during school holidays.

Chief Inspector for Watford, Dave Wheatley, was at the presentation.

He said: “Nick is a credit to this organisation. I rate him extremely highly and he is fully deserving of this award because he has contributed immensely to the safeguarding of our community.

“I was proud to be at the event to see Nick receive the award. Nick leads a team of very dedicated officers and PCSOs, and this award just confirms to me how fortunate we are to have the people we do who work to keep the district safe.”