Stories of remarkable professionalism, compassion and courage were revealed as police officers and members of the public were honoured for their bravery.
The Chief Constable’s annual awards ceremony was held at the Villa Marina in Douglas when certificates of merit, commendations and trophies were presented to scores of deserving recipients.
Here are some of their stories - many of them told in detail for the first time.
Sometimes the worst of tragedies come out of a clear blue sky, without any advanced warning. And they sometimes leave a deep mark on many people.
What happened on the main Castletown to Port Erin road near to Balladoole one Saturday afternoon in October 2013 was all of those things.
At about 3.40pm a single decker bus was being driven towards Port Erin by Mr Donald Faragher, a vastly experienced driver.
There were seven passengers on the bus and the journey was as uneventful until a car veered directly into the path of the bus. It continued at speed straight for the front of the bus.
This and subsequent events were captured on the bus’s CCTV system.
Mr Faragher reacted quickly and with great skill. He can be seen calmly but quickly steering as far away from the car as he could, although he had limited room for manoeuvre.
Sadly, when the car struck the bus a child, who was a passenger in the car, suffered fatal injuries.
However, without Mr Faragher’s composed, quick thinking and driving skill this terrible tragedy would have become a major disaster.
In the immediate aftermath and in considerable pain from a serious injury that eventually led to his retirement, Mr Faragher had the presence of mind to check on all of his passengers and even give them writing materials, so that the police would know the identities of everyone involved.
For his composure, quick thinking and driving skill that undoubtedly saved lives, Mr Donald Faragher was formally commended.
The driver who crashed head-on into the bus, Raymond Adam D’Olier French, received a 12-month suspended prison sentence. His 10-year-old daughter Alexis died in the accident. He admitted charges of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury to the bus driver.
The period between November 2015 and February 2016 was the wettest ever recorded in the Isle of Man. Extreme weather seemed almost to become a daily occurrence, with heavy rainfall being made worse by almost relentless gales.
However, Thursday December 3 will be long remembered as the worst of many, many awful days.
On this day sudden and extreme rainfall led to flash flooding of a kind never before experienced here. The most memorable image of that day was the sight of a double-decker bus stranded in the Laxey River after the bridge beneath collapsed.
The flash flooding in Douglas was particularly sudden and particularly deep. Motorists became stranded on the main Douglas to Peel road near to the Quarterbridge as the Rivers Dhoo and Glass burst their banks, flooding the road in a matter of minutes to waist height.
Officers were deployed to help and were confronted with the sight of cars being swept along the road.
Constables Benjamin Horan and Lana Gardner found themselves at the site of the deepest flooding, where motorists trying to escape from their cars were at risk of being swept away.
Firstly they took one middle aged woman from her car to safety just as the car was being swept along the road, then they noticed two people clinging desperately to a lamppost as they were enveloped by fast flowing flood water.
Constable Horan saved the woman by lifting her onto the roof of a car and then onto a flat back lorry. The other person, an 85-year-old man, was still clinging to the lamppost, but he believed that he was about to die.
Showing great courage Constable Horan rescued him from the flood water, eventually carrying him to safety.
Both officers acted in a fantastic manner, showing courage, quick thinking and compassion.
There is no doubt at all that they saved lives and the man who he saved, who in a letter to the Chief Constable told him he was sure that he would die. He was at the ceremony with his daughter to see Constables Horan and Gardner being formally commended for saving his life.
Carnivals should be happy family occasions and the revival of Douglas carnival on July 18 last year was intended to be just that.
However, strong, squally winds almost brought about a tragedy.
At about 3pm a gust of wind picked up an inflatable bouncy castle that was on the footway on Loch Promenade and blew it over the wall and into the sea.
At the time six-year-old Liam Hansen, from Onchan was playing on the inflatable and he was thrown into the water.
Johnny Glover was nearby with his four year old son, who had just been on the inflatable, when he saw what happened.
Giving no thought for his own safety he jumped fully clothed into the sea and swam to where Liam was in danger of drowning.
Conditions were difficult and the fact that he and the small boy were fully clothed made swimming difficult, but Mr Glover got to him and stopped him from sinking below the water.
Other members of the pubic saw what had happened and they were able to throw a life ring and a rope to Mr Glover and pull him and the small boy to safety.
Mr Glover’s great courage saved the life of a small child and for this he was formally commended.
The Isle of Man is the safest jurisdiction in the British Isles.
However, serious crimes occasionally occur and, without warning, ordinary members of the public can find themselves facing danger.
On an evening in November last year year Eleanor Rubery was working at a shop in Braddan, when a man armed with a knife and wearing a mask entered the store.
He threatened her with the knife, pushing it against her back as he pushed her towards the tills, ordering her to open them and give him their contents.
In spite of the violence and the threats that were being made, Miss Rubery coolly and calmly pressed the shop’s panic alarm button.
This angered the man, who made ever more violent threats to her and her colleague. Despite this, she stood her ground and refused to hand over any money.
The man subsequently made off before the police arrived.
Miss Rubery showed great courage throughout her whole ordeal and for this and for her calm, quick thinking she was formally commended.
Deborah Bell was formally commended for helping to save the life of a pillion passenger following a head-on crash between two motorcycles near Glen Wyllin campsite during the TT fortnight last year.
With the rider and pillion passenger of one machine laying critically injured and the rider of the other machine suffering serious injuries, Mrs Bell took charge, assessing the casualties and ensuring that the two riders were treated properly.
She swiftly determined that the pillion passenger was gravely ill and she made sure that swift action was taken to remove her helmet so that she could be given the lifesaving treatment she needed.
Thankfully murders are very rare events in the Isle of Man.
Few officers are ever called upon to attend such an incident but when they do they have to get everything right so that the offender can be brought to justice.
This was the case in Castletown early on Sunday December 1 2013.
Neil Roberts, a 60-year-old gardener, had been brutally murdered in a small cottage in Queen Street.
The first officers to attend were Constables Mark Langley and Adam Tomlinson, the latter of whom had less than six months’ operational experience.
Acting swiftly and professionally they quickly determined what had happened, with Constable Tomlinson taking hold of the suspected murderer, whilst his colleague began to render first aid to the terribly injured victim.
Constable Tomlinson acted coolly and was able to record important statements made at the scene by the suspect.
The officers were soon joined by Constable Louise Kennaugh, who helped Constable Langley, and Constable Anne Tyler, who took control of the wife of the suspect, who was volatile and attempting to interfere in what the officers were doing.
The whole situation was fraught and extremely difficult to manage. The injuries suffered by the victim were almost indescribably horrific. Yet the officers did all they could to save him.
The officers were joined by three paramedics, Valerie Cochrane, Dawn Kneen and Louise Wilson, each of whom worked valiantly in hugely trying conditions.
However, Mr Roberts’ injuries were so severe that he could not be saved.
For the excellence of their work at the scene of such an awful murder Constables Mark Langley (who retired from the Constabulary a few months ago), Adam Tomlinson, Louise Kennaugh and Anne Tyler awere formally commended, as were paramedics Valerie Cochrane, Dawn Kneen and Louise Wilson.
Chief Inspector Philip Shimmin and Detective Constable Emily Butler were formally commended for the excellence of their investigation into the murder.
This has led to 46-year-old Ian Anderson being jailed jailed for life - with the Deemster ordering he serve a minimum of 15 years behind bars.
Constable David Trevethan & Constable Anne Tyler were formally commended for saving the lives of two teenage boys.
In the afternoon of Sunday November 29 lasdt year, the island was struck by storm force winds, which coincided with a high tide.
Two teenage boys, aged 14 and 15, had chosen to go to the end of Castletown breakwater and play chicken with the vast and powerful waves that were breaking over it.
It soon became apparent that the boys were in imminent danger of being swept to their deaths.
Constables Trevethan and Tyler were alerted to what was going on and they quickly made their way to the scene. They could see the boys trying to shelter behind the small lighthouse at the end of the breakwater.
The officers quickly decided on a course of action to rescue the boys. They drove the van along the breakwater, hugging the sea wall as huge waves crashed on top of them. At one point the van was struck by a wave and moved sideways towards the harbour.
Had it fallen into the sea, the officers would likely have lost their lives. They reached the boys and then reversed to safety along the wall.
Just a few days later a large part of the breakwater was washed away by the power of the sea.
Winner of this year’s Isle of Man Newspapers’ Community Police Officer of the Year award was Sergeant Dawn Lowe.
She was nominated by a vulnerable young woman who has endured several crises during her short life.
At various times she has contemplated harming herself, or even ending her own life, and on some of these occasions Sergeant Lowe has been in the right place at the right time.
In an emotive email nominating Sergeant Lowe for the award, the young woman described how the officer has always gone beyond the call of duty to help her.
She wrote: ‘To have the support means a great deal to me it shows that officers do care when others (professionals) don’t and that they are willing to risk their own life’s for yours! Great respect for Dawn restoring faith in police and policing.’