A member of An Garda Siochana has been awarded first prize in a photography competition ran by Europol. The European Union law enforcement agency has today announced the winner of their annual law enforcement photograph of the year competition.The winner of the competition which is now in its fifth year was David Conway who is a forensic photographer with An Garda Siochana based in Dublin. Mr. Conway’s winning photograph a crime scene investigator swabbing a firearm for potential DNA evidence. It is a powerful image which captures the level of detail and care that goes into forensic crime investigation in Ireland today.

The competition attracts entrants from all over the world and the photographs provide fascinating snapshots of the working lives of police, border guards, customs officials, SWAT teams and more. The images that are entered in the competition can range from pictures of peaceful landscapes to dramatically-charged action shots. Mr. Conway will receive a trip to the Netherlands as well as a visit to the Europol headquarters for winning the competition. Jurgen Knuist from the Netherlands claimed second place in the competiton.

His photograph depicted a Dutch police officer examining documents through a magnifying glass at a Rotterdam port. Third place in this year’s competition was awarded to Alfred Effenberger who is a Police Officer based in Austria. His image was of a parked police car taken at the 2013 Austrian Bike Race.