Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Brunning of the Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit will be one of the participants on Day 2 of the Police Federation’s annual national conference today.

He is set to take part in a discussion on Investing in the Investigators, for which he’ll be joined by Deputy Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police, the National Police Chiefs’ Council detectives lead; Suzanne Hughes of South Wales Police; and Glyn Pattinson, chair of the Police Federation’s National Detectives’ Forum.

Hertfordshire Police Federation secretary Al Wollaston said: “We know there have been issues in terms of attracting officers to take on detective roles and that this is putting investigators under pressure. This session I am sure will highlight the problems forces are facing and hopefully come up with ideas for how this can be addressed.”

The theme of this year’s conference, which is being held online for the first time because of the coronavirus restrictions, is Policing Under Pressure.

Other Day 2 highlights include discussions on Trial by Media, Wellbeing - Whose Responsibility Is It?, Policing Protests and Police Recruitment During The Pandemic.

Yesterday policing minister Kit Malthouse joined shadow policing minister Sarah Jones; Martin Hewitt, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and Sir Thomas Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary on Day 1 for a discussion on Policing Under Pressure and there were keynote speeches by national Federation chair John Apter and Home Secretary Priti Patel.

TV presenter Mark Durden-Smith spoke to some of the nominees for the Police Bravery Awards while former political spin doctor and recent Good Morning Britain host Alastair Campbell hosted a discussion on pay, conditions and pensions.