Farewell words from Kent Police Federation Chairman Chris Carter as he moves on to a new role in the force

13 September 2019

As he begins his last day as Kent Police Federation Chairman before moving on to a new role in the force, Chris Carter writes to members...

It has been a real honour and privilege to work within the Police Federation – as Chairman since 2017. It is a role like no other in policing. It is challenging and demanding but ultimately very rewarding. I have not stopped learning since I became a Fed Rep and took on various roles within the Federation. I will definitely take what I have learnt to my new role.

My message whilst Chairman has hopefully been consistent and clear, that the Federation and the force’s objectives are the same. We want an efficient and effective force that provides the best policing service it can. If we have this, then the public get what they expect and an efficient and effective force provides officers and staff what they need in order to provide that service safely in the best working environment they can.

Sometimes the means to get to this end differs between a force and Federation and that’s where negotiation comes into play.

We’ve seen a few changes while I have been in post and the Federation have played their part in those changes. I could list a whole raft of issues and actions but I wanted to mention 3 key ones.

We’ve seen the introduction of the Chief Constable’s Impact statement for officers who have been assaulted along with a sharing of assault data with the Federation meaning we can contact and ensure support for those injured officers. The Chief Constable’s decision to roll out Taser to front line officers who wish to carry it is a huge change, definitely the right one and something that as a Federation we had long wanted to see. I’ve been interviewed on Taser more than any other policing issue and I’m hoping I’ve consistently made the case for Taser.

We also took the decision in the Federation office to effectively use Kent members’ money for the service of Kent members. This has seen significant investment in a dedicated misconduct and performance lead and the use of a media consultant to assist us in getting the Federation message out there clearly. We also now provide legal insurance cover for all subscribing Kent Federated officers adding wider protection in addition to legal funding that PFEW provide. This is a massive change and one that I am very proud of.

The Federation itself has changed greatly over the last couple of years. We continue to financially restructure but have also had new Police Regulations introduced resulting in a change to the way we structure ourselves in force. In addition we have introduced new policies and procedures covering all aspects of what we do. It has been hard work but in Kent we came through with flying colours when we were audited which is a huge credit to the Federation office staff.

We have seen new joiners to the ranks of Federation Representatives across the county and an expansion in the number who complete misconduct work, post incident attendance and who are now mental health first aid trained. It’s really positive to see officers from all parts of the organisation getting involved, bringing their experience and desire to assist their colleagues to the work we do as a Federation.

I’d love to write more and more but all good blogs come to an end…

I want to take the opportunity to thank all of the Fed Reps across the county who do a great job for their colleagues but for now I’d like to make special mention of those who have helped me in the Federation office with support and a lot of patience - Mel Lewis and Pete Harman in the way they run the office and assist with pensions and insurance issues and have always been there for my questions. Gary Sutton and Debbie O’Neal for their tireless work on the benevolent fund and ‘new’ Pete (Stevenson) for his spot on advice and tactical guidance on all things misconduct and performance.

I came in new to the Federation office followed very quickly by Dan Pearce as General Secretary and Les Bingham as Treasurer. It’s fair to say we very rapidly had to put in a tremendous team effort to introduce Regs, policies, keep daily business going, learn our own roles, look to develop the Fed offices and restructure finances.

I think we got there and I can’t thank the two of them enough for their help, guidance and assistance.

And finally, my replacement as Chairman of Kent Police Federation will be Sgt Neil Mennie from Dover CSU. Neil has been an invaluable support to me in terms of media and misconduct work and has been involved with the Federation for a considerable amount of time. He brings experience and enthusiasm for the role and a clear passion for wanting to work for Federation members in Kent, it’s evident in everything he says and does.

It’s good to know that Kent Police Federation is in safe hands.

Thank you and stay safe

Chris Carter