On the 24th August, The Brighton Argus reported the death of Kevin ‘Rocky’ Hills, a local man who amongst other achievements had served in Sussex as a Special Constable during the nineties. Sadly Kevin passed away on Friday of pancreatic cancer following a short but aggressive illness at the age of 60.

In his years before being a Special, Kevin approached CI Steve Curry (then a beat PC) to start a community based project (later called ‘Speak Out’) for members of the LGBT community to confidentially discuss their concerns when reporting crime and build trust in policing. ’Speak Out’ was the first project of its kind in Sussex, and paved the way in raising awareness of the support available to LGBT victims of crime.

Kevin was also instrumental in challenging issues of homophobia within the organisation; the need to challenge discriminatory behaviour and change police culture. As a result of this work, Kevin joined Sussex Police as a Special Constable in 1996 - a role he held with great pride.