Staffordshire Police Federation secretary Glyn Pattinson said he was ‘underwhelmed’ by the Home Secretary’s keynote speech to the annual national Federation conference today.
Glyn felt Priti Patel failed to adequately respond to criticism over the Government’s failure to offer any kind of priority to police officers during Phase 2 of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, while also providing little real detail on the Police Covenant or the measures that would be taken to ensure officers were not inadvertently further criminalised when better protections for police drivers were introduced later this year.
“In some ways, we have to accept that the vaccine issue has been and gone, the Government failed to act when we asked for officers to be given some priority when the vaccine roll-out programme moved into Phase 2 and all the elderly and most vulnerable people had been offered the vaccine,” says Glyn.
“However, it has raised its head again this week when we have thousands of officers heading to Cornwall for the G7 Summit. Many are quite young in service and young in age and therefore there is a good chance they will not have the protection offered by the jab.
“At the very least, I would have liked to have heard an admission that the Government got it wrong and an apology. But instead we just heard the Home Secretary hiding behind the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation again.
“The speech did little to appease officers who feel that the Government makes all the right noises when talking about policing and police officers but doesn’t always put those words into actions.”
Ms Patel told conference: “You have my support. That is a guarantee.”
The Home Secretary listed ways she felt the Government is supporting police officers, from recruiting 8,771 more officers as part of a 20,000 uplift to doubling the maximum custodial sentences for assault or battery against emergency workers.
She backed the Federation’s call for forces to share body-worn video footage to counter highly selective, misleading video clips uploaded onto social media.
She also pledged to support the roll-out of Taser and empowering officers to use stop and search powers.
Ms Patel hailed the Police Covenant provision under the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill as being an opportunity to recognise in law the service of police officers and the obligation of the state to support officers’ wellbeing.
The Home Secretary also touched on the issue of assaults against emergency workers, noting that officers have been “spat and coughed at by thugs claiming to have the virus” and attacked by mobs in Bristol earlier this year.
She said: “This behaviour is grotesque. And I will never accept that it’s simply part of the job. It is an attack on the fabric of our society. And every police uniform is worn by a human being who is entitled to dignity and respect.”
The right to protest and speak freely “does not include the right to smash up property, or abuse police officers”, Ms Patel added.
She concluded her remarks by encouraging officers to feel very proud to wear the uniform: “Without you, the public would not feel safe. Without you, criminals would run riot and this country would fall apart. This country depends on you. And I have got your backs.”
In his keynote speech, national Federation chair John Apter criticised the Government for imposing a pay freeze on officers but recognised the Home Secretary had offered support over Taser, the Police Covenant, increased sentences for officer assaults and moves to allow Specials to join the Federation.
Earlier in the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Government was backing policing in a video address to conference.
Kit Malthouse, policing minister, also took part in a debate about Policing Under Pressure with a panel that also included Sir Thomas Winsor, the chief inspector at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
There was a tribute to bravery award nominees and the Women in Policing Award was presented to Avon and Somerset Chief Inspector Sharon Baker.
