83-year-old’s birthday wish comes true thanks to Droitwich officers

A retired police officer’s birthday wish came true this week when she got to step back into uniform and relive her time on the force, more than 50 years after leaving policing.

Jean Mulcaster, who lives at Droitwich Mews Care Home, was treated to a special trip down memory lane on Monday to mark her 83rd birthday. Officers from Droitwich Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) made the surprise visit happen after Jean wrote her wish on the care home’s ‘wish tree’, asking to be a police officer again for a day.

Jean began her policing career in 1962 with Worcester Police before it became part of West Mercia Constabulary. She served for around a decade before stepping away in the 1970s to raise her young children. Policing runs deep in the family – she met her husband Bob while serving, and their son Alistair later joined the force as well.

On the day of the visit, PCSO Denise Bushell collected Jean from the care home and brought her to Droitwich Police Station, where Sergeant Cathy Atkinson and her team greeted her with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Jean shared memories from her time on the job and spoke fondly of the incidents she once attended. She tried on some of today’s modern uniform, had her fingerprints taken the old-fashioned way, and even got to fire up the lights and sirens in a patrol car.

PCSO Bushell said:

“It was lovely to meet Jean and make her birthday wish come true so she could be a police officer again for the day.

“Engaging with our different communities is an important part of our jobs and we hope we gave Jean an experience she will remember forever.

“It was lovely hearing all the stories from her days in policing and seeing her reaction to trying on the uniform and sitting in a police car.”

The touching event gave Jean a chance to reflect on her time in service and experience how the job has changed over the years – a birthday she’s unlikely to forget.

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