Get to know your Fed reps: Jo Briggs

27 January 2020

Like many other workplace representatives, Jo Briggs put herself forward for the role after receiving invaluable support from the Federation when she found herself under investigation over an allegation of misconduct.

Jo, who has more than 20 years’ service under her belt and is currently the DI for Safeguarding Adults from Abuse (SAFA), mental health and suicide prevention, has been a rep for almost two years.

She explains: “I joined the Fed as a member when I started with the Force back in June 1997. At the time there were very few, if any, new officers who didn’t sign up. The Fed would come along to the induction week and talk about the benefits and so on. There didn’t seem to be any drawbacks that would give me cause not to join.

“Over the years I sought Fed advice in relation to a variety of issues including fairness at work and equality. I had also been through a particularly difficult time while under investigation for gross misconduct for around two years.  The impact of being under investigation must never be underestimated and the support I had from the Fed during this time helped me get through some of the darkest days of my 20-year career. I wanted to give something back and provide that support for others, having lived it myself.

“I have enjoyed helping colleagues and sharing knowledge about regs that many officers are unaware of.”

Nevertheless, as a DI, the role has brought challenges as Jo seeks to swap hats between manager and Fed rep.

“I think many officers may be reluctant to approach me as they are worried I won’t be impartial, that I will automatically see things how their line management does and ultimately ‘side with them’. This is not the case and, as a Fed rep, I always make sure that I am fair and impartial and ensure the member’s expectations are managed. Sometimes having those line management links are useful as part of the support I can give,” Jo says.

“Even when the outcomes are not necessarily what the member wanted, or even sometimes what I hoped for, receiving thanks for the support is always rewarding. As a Fed rep, I cannot perform miracles but I will always try my absolute utmost to obtain the fairest outcome possible.”

Jo believes the challenge for Hertfordshire Police Federation is keeping members engaged with its services and getting the Force to sit up and listen to members’ concerns.

Meanwhile, she thinks budgets, officer wellbeing, recruitment and retention, keeping up with technological advancement, retaining detective numbers, the introduction of the Policing Educational Qualification Framework, the introduction of the new conduct regulations and the roll-out of the training required will all be challenging for the Force while it also tries to understand demand and looking at how it can be managed and/or reduced in particular working with partners.

To date, Jo has undertaken the Federation’s equality and misconduct courses, which are her special areas of interest.

Jo started her policing career in response in East Herts and then moved to Cheshunt when the Force took over the Met area – working along side Met cops on a proactive team.

She took her first uniform sergeant post in Stevenage working with the team and in custody before going into intelligence and a variety of projects at Stevenage before moving to Welwyn Garden City police station and working on the community safety team – embedding the misper system COMPACT.

Jo then moved to HQ on the protecting vulnerable people team working on introducing the S136 process and missing persons and returned to North Herts as a uniform sergeant and then a DS working in CIT and LCU.

After two years in DAISU as a DS when the team was launched in 2015, she had a brief spell on intervention as a uniformed inspector in St Albans and Dacorum. Her first DI role was in the COST/CSE/Missing Persons’ Unit and last year she moved to serious and organised crime and back before taking on her current HQ safeguarding role.