Chair’s message: ‘a welcomed pledge from the Home Secretary'

15 August 2024

At a time when the focus should have been on the tragic murders of the poor girls from Southport, we have been faced with a level of criminal violence not seen on our streets for a number of years.

Hundreds of officers have been assaulted in the past two weeks as they tried to protect communities, places of worship, hotels and high street shops across the country.

Officers across the country have had to defend themselves against all sorts of missiles, and many have needed hospital treatment.

Hospital treatment

They went above and beyond to keep people and property safe, as they always do, putting themselves in harm’s way with no little sacrifice to themselves and their families.

And our members, here in Hertfordshire, are no exception. They have been working long days to ensure we have the levels of policing needed. They are missing rest days and leave, and with it being the summer holidays, it comes at a big cost, particularly to those with children and young families.

While the last few weeks has been very busy, it’s been like this for the last 12 months, we’re at a constant state of emergency with no let up on pressure on those at the front end. Swaying from one disaster to the next, with no ability to think of preventing crime.

All of which is why I was pleased to see the new Home Secretary publicly giving her support for policing and police officers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Yvette Cooper has been supportive of the police in the past as shadow home secretary, so it was welcoming to hear her commitment to policing and to restore respect in policing just a few weeks into her new role.

But we all know actions speak louder than words – and there is a lot to do.

Let’s be clear, the vast majority of people in Hertfordshire respect the police and we have seen fantastic messages of support flooding in for officers over the past few weeks - for which we are undoubtedly grateful.

However, there is a minority who think it is acceptable to attack police officers. This is on the back of constant attacks by the Government, finger-pointing, trial by social media and ineffective punishments in courtrooms where offenders have left laughing and feeling it's acceptable to attack officers.

Deterrent

The Home Secretary described the ‘deterrent effect of punishment’ with those convicted of involvement in the riots given considerable custodial sentences.

That should be the norm. This needs to be standard practice. We need support from the wider criminal justice system so that anyone who assaults police officers should receive the toughest possible sentences to help restore respect for policing. Assaults on officers must not be an accepted part of the job.

The Home Secretary herself and the Government need to lead the way in restoring respect. We can’t be giving out stiff sentences to people with little to no previous, we have to be harder on those repeat offenders.

Over the past few years, the way that the Government has treated policing in this country has been a huge reason behind the poor morale of officers.

Our recent Pay and Morale Survey found that 93 per cent of respondents feel how police are treated by the government has had a negative impact on morale. The same survey found that 94 per cent of Hertfordshire Police officers said they do not feel respected by the government.

It’s important to acknowledge we have had a change of government since this survey was carried out, but the results illustrate just how much the words and actions of political leaders have an impact on frontline officers.

Political football

This is why we urge the government to help in restoring trust and respect by keeping policing out of politics and stopping our members from being used as a political football.

It’s also why we continue to campaign for a restoration of pay for our members. While the 4.75 per cent pay rise announced last month is welcome, it still leaves our members a long way from where they were pre-austerity.

Any pay reward is welcome but it should’ve been higher. Again I worry that forces will be expected to find the money to pay for this increase, meaning council tax precept will go up and police staff jobs lost. We must remember, that while police pay is very important, funding the police is equally as important. I know senior leaders in all police forces are banging their heads against the wall with the minimum funding they're given.

It’s also why we continue to campaign for a fair and independent pay system that acknowledges the unique role police officers have, the risks they take every day to keep communities safe, and does not leave their pay at the whim of the government of the day.

Our members represent the very best of British policing and the situations they have faced over the past two weeks remind us of their unique role and the sacrifices they and their families make on behalf of us all.

I want to end by thanking you all for your continued hard work, dedication and commitment to the job.

Take care, and please try and take some time out this summer with your loved ones. Both you and them deserve it.