Behind the Nominations: Josh Maguire
Every nomination has a story. In this series, we go behind the words on the page to explore the people behind our Outstanding Policing Award nominations…
When Patrol Officer Josh Maguire talks about policing, the first thing that comes across is compassion.
Josh didn’t set out planning to be a police officer. Back in 2019, while managing a busy restaurant, he signed up as a Special Constable, mostly out of curiosity. “I didn’t really know what policing was,” he says. “I thought it would just be something different to do in my spare time.”
But the reality of the job, the people he met, and the difference he could make hit him immediately.
“I got the bug for it really quickly,” Josh admits. “Even with the highs and lows, I loved it. I realised this is what I want to do.”
By 2020, he had joined the PCDA programme and thrown himself into response policing in Bridgwater. It’s where he’s spent almost his entire career, getting to know the community not only as an officer, but as someone who lives there too.
Josh, alongside his teammates, demonstrated great courage, decisive action and clear thinking during an extremely dangerous and rapidly evolving incident in Bridgwater.
Responding to a 999-call involving a man in possession of a weapon, police constable Josh and his colleagues were immediately confronted with highly volatile and unpredictable behaviour. Maintaining calm under extreme pressure, they took all possible steps to de‑escalate the situation, despite the subject throwing a large boulder at them and later attempting to ignite and throw a homemade explosive.
When asked about the incident that led to his nomination for an Outstanding Policing Award, Josh doesn’t start with tactics, he starts with openness about the impact it’s had on him.
The call that came in that day was vague, but serious. Josh and his colleague, both Taser officers, made a plan and headed out. What they walked into was far more chaotic and dangerous than they’d expected.
His concern wasn’t only for himself.
“It wasn’t just me; my mate could get hurt, the neighbours, members of the public. That’s what stayed with me.”
Despite the fear and the chaos, the team’s actions kept people safe. But the emotional aftermath was real. Josh openly describes how the incident changed the way he reads risk and reacts when threats are made.
Josh accessed Trauma Risk Management support afterwards. TRiM is a peer‑support system used widely across policing, emergency services, and the military to help staff identify and manage the psychological impact of traumatic incidents.
“The TRiM manager was amazing. When someone from your world says your reaction is normal, you trust them.”
His team also played a huge role in helping one another through the experience.
“We’re a really close team,” Josh says. “It brought us together even more. You notice when someone’s struggling, and you look out for them.”
For Josh, patrol policing is personal.
He talks about taking responsibility for his patch, spotting problems, fixing what he can, and working to make his community safer.
“You take it to heart because it’s your own area,” he says. “The reward you get from helping people, your community, that’s why I’m still here.”
Josh is humble about the teams nomination in the “Courageous” category, almost to a fault.
He insists “anyone would have done the same,” and sees the nomination as recognition for the whole of response policing, not just himself or his team.
But when a Senior Taser Lead described their actions as policing at its best, Josh admits it meant something important.
“I honestly thought I’d done something wrong that day,” he says. “I even wanted to hand my Taser ticket back. So to hear I’d done the right thing… that gave me the confidence to keep going.”
His advice to anyone considering policing?
“Start in patrol,” he says instantly.
“It gives you the skills to go anywhere, or to stay, like I did, because you love it.”