Staffordshire Police Federation representative Chris Rodger has been reflecting on last week’s annual national conference which covered a wide range of key challenges faced by frontline officers.
The theme of the conference was Policing Under Pressure and one of the first sessions put officer safety and the use of Taser and body-worn video (BWV) under the spotlight.
The round table forum heard how Taser was now generally accepted as a very useful deterrent and device to incapacitate violent suspects with the minimum force being applied.
But Chris said: “The Federation has managed to secure a ring-fenced budget for Taser but this is still insufficient to provide a Taser to every officer who would wish to be afforded its protection.
“Only by properly protecting officers are we able to properly protect the wider public. An increase nationally of 26 per cent in assaults on officers surely would demand that this is needed urgently.
“Similarly with BWV, the Federation has long sought to have BWV equipment available to all officers in any role as it provides a clear and impartial record of what has actually occurred, not one edited or dramatised on the internet.
“The evidence of these recordings will often end spurious or vexatious claims of police wrongdoing at an early stage and could be used to combat online anti-police campaigns and ensure public confidence is maintained.
“Everyone is aware that BWV shows officer assaults and provides evidence of attacks on officers but we have asked for BWV to be available for officers in vehicles too as this is clearly one of the highest risk areas of policing and would support officers driving to the standards they have been trained which might otherwise be seen as dangerous driving.
“BWV is regularly used by response officers attending domestic and other incidents to obtain initial accounts and can show injuries and demeanours of suspects and victims and has been used to support charges where victims are unable or unwilling to support a prosecution themselves. BWV could similarly be used by officers in CID but are unavailable to them.
“I am disappointed that the College of Policing does not mandate a minimum standard for Taser availability and for use and availability of BWV, so much more could be done but the approach across 43 separate forces is entirely inconsistent and leaves the public in a postcode lottery in the service they get as well as the protection for their officers.”
A panel discussion on use of force focused on the challenges faced by firearms officers when they have to make split-second decisions in high-pressure scenarios.
The panel, which featured Federation firearms lead Steve Hartshorn alongside Scott Ingram, lead lawyer on criminal police misconduct at law firm Slater and Gordon, highlighted how officers’ actions are now judged by two different standards, causing ambiguity and lack of clarity that is not helpful for officers or members of the public.
Chris said: “The standards are one of honest held belief which is not just an unequivocal and unchallengeable statement but one assessed by the actions of the officer in the circumstances.
“The second is one of honest and reasonable, this at face value would appear reasonable but is actually very subjective as what one person would accept as reasonable is not likely to be the same as the next.
“These two standards can clearly not be used at the same time or one after the other and, as seen in a case in the supreme court which will hopefully settle the argument, however, again this lack of clarity has been allowed to continue by the College of Policing and it is about time it sets out a clear standard which can be applied and trained with suitable clear guidance.
“At the moment the college is leaving the public and forces confused and officers vulnerable for doing their job.”
Chris also attended the Investing in Investigators panel hosted by Staffordshire Police Federation secretary Glyn Pattinson, who is also chair of the Federation’s National Detectives’ Forum which has long campaigned for better support for investigators.
Chris said: “It was great to see Glyn representing detectives at a national level. Recruitment of detectives is an issue as leaving uniform and becoming a detective is not easy and requires the officer to train themselves to pass an exam for their new role.
“Having achieved the required accreditation and becoming a detective will mean that you no longer get the same shift allowance due to change of shift pattern and having to purchase your own clothes instead of having a uniform supplied, thus for all that effort you get a real terms pay cut.
“Then, due to numbers, the workloads are high and often will include complex and high-risk safeguarding issues adding dramatically to the detectives’ ongoing stress. It is little wonder that recruitment of detectives is a national problem.
“Again responses to this are varied across individual forces and post code lotteries exist but the up-and-coming Detectives’ Toolkit may assist officers and managers in assessing stress.
“But I still hope that the Government and college do more to address the difficulties faced by detectives.”
Officers from Avon and Somerset, who have experienced some of the worst protests and unrest in the last few years, provided a fascinating insight into the pressures they have faced when they spoke at a conference session on Policing Protests.
Chris said: “Issues around public perception were interesting and the challenge would appear to be getting the public to appreciate we are impartial and that we are not against protest but against violence.
“Acceptance that we are there to protect the public should be obvious but may take some time and effort and my concern is that we are not managing perceptions and trial by media is very damaging.
“Interestingly, Avon and Somerset has seen an increase in those volunteering to be Level 2 riot trained and that shows great loyalty and commitment. The best of policing.”
Reflecting on the session on the new conduct regulations, Chris said: “There was nothing new from this other than a reiteration of the need for learning rather than punishment.
“Time and again reviews have sought to change this culture and now we see regulatory change to make a difference. There appears to be some reluctance but maybe going in the right direction generally.”
One of the key topics of the Policing under Pressure theme was officer wellbeing and Chris said he was reassured this key issue was now being taken more seriously.
He said: “Wellbeing has been concerning and I worry about the number of officers, the demands of the job and the lack of experience.
“But I am pleased that at least nowadays there is some perception of the need for wellbeing and that organisations are at least starting to turn the corner.”
- Members can catch up with last week’s annual conference via a special video on-demand facility. To access the videos, please simply email events@polfed.org and you will be sent a link.
