Essex Officers Rise To New Covid-19 Challenges

1 June 2020

Essex Police Federation has said its members have “absolutely risen to the challenge” of policing the lockdown and have “done their utmost to keep their community safe and look after one another”.

Steve Taylor, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said the pandemic had brought obvious challenges, such as the health impact on officers and their loved ones. “We are just people that want to go home at the end of the day,” he said.

But an additional – and worrying – development has been the increase in the numbers of people spitting on and assaulting officers. More than 300 people across the UK were convicted for assaults on emergency workers during the first month of lockdown, leading to Home Secretary Priti Patel saying that those who coughed or spat on police officers in an attempt to infect them with Covid-19 would face “the full force of the law”.

The Home Office is now consulting on doubling the maximum sentence for such crimes from one year to two years. Steve said: “It’s a bit disappointing that they didn’t listen to the Federation the first time round, when we looked to increase the penalties that those convicted of assaulting officers through spitting at them could face.”

Steve continued: “On the positive side, sickness in Essex is remarkably low. And demand for our services has come down through the lockdown period, unsurprisingly, because the shops aren’t open to steal from for instance.”

Essex Police officers had adapted well to the ever-changing circumstances and Government advice, Steve said. “Be it adapting to working at home, be it the social distancing in the workplace, be it coming to terms with the varying levels and advice around PPE, which in the early days was changing on a daily basis, they’ve absolutely risen to the challenge.”

“In typical British policing style, they’ve knuckled down and worked through the problems and done their utmost in keeping their community safe and looking after one another.”