The priority for Staffordshire Police Federation for the next 12 months is a focus on officer welfare.
Policing can be a stressful job, never more so than at the moment as we come to terms with another coronavirus lockdown.
We’ll continue to police the pandemic and to protect and serve the public but it can all add to the strain for officers.
It can feel relentless at work and, of course, there may be issues at home, particularly if you’re concerned about passing the virus on to loved ones or your partner may have lost their employment or had their working hours reduced due to coronavirus.
Officers tend to put their welfare last and we want to shine a light on the areas that can impact on your mental health and to highlight the help and support that’s available.
I’m working on a range of initiatives with the aim of focusing on mental health, financial management, diet and so on.
People are our most valuable asset and I will work closely with the Force to signpost members to the help that’s out there.
I’ve been in post now for around 15 months, having taken over the role from Keith Jervis on his retirement. My priority has been to consider how we communicate with members, so that we can improve our visibility and accessibility as a large proportion of our members obviously work outside office hours.
I commissioned a welfare vehicle which has allowed our branch to operate more flexibly by taking our daily business out to members. It’s increased our availability and made us more visible, allowed us to improve the way in which we communicate with officers and is also a welfare tool to support our members.
The vehicle has been a great success, supporting colleagues deployed on Force operations and complex scenes and it’s also enabled us to take charitable items to the communities we serve.
I also commissioned an App which has helped to provide key information in a workable, and easily accessible, format. It’s helped us reach more members and allowed us to send push out notifications, should we need to. If you have not downloaded the App and want to find out more, just get in touch.
I’ve also committed to retaining my skill set and to perform at least one operational duty a month to help me keep attached to the realities of frontline policing and better enable me to represent the views of members.
Phil Jones, chair, Staffordshire Police Federation
