Introducing the new Kent Police Federation Chairman Neil Mennie

17 September 2019

I feel very privileged to be taking on the role as Kent Police Federation Chairman, says Neil.

I started as a Federation Representative in 2007 and have learnt a great deal about the work that is done both in force and nationally.

I have spent my career in several different uniform roles and have worked with some fantastic teams and talented people.

I received some excellent training and advice from the Federation over the years and have been able to help many members with a multitude of issues. Federation Repa are volunteers who help with a wide range of issues. This is far more than just the obvious ones that everyone thinks of such as misconduct and equality. These are a very important element of what we do but there are so may others too numerous to mention.

There is always something going on in Policing and within recent times there have been quite a few developments both locally and nationally. We have certainly seen some positive developments including the uplift in officer numbers, the wider rollout of Taser and the recent announcement of a two year ‘Strategic Review of Policing’ Chaired by Sir Michael Barber.

I welcome the idea of professional recognition when training officers but both I and the Federation remain unconvinced by the current proposals relating to officers obtaining or having a degree as mandatory.

I know that many of you are waiting to see what happens following the pension rulings and the Government needs to resolve this quickly and conclude this frustrating issue.

The new misconduct regulations that introduce ‘Performance Requiring Improvement’ are being implemented and if this reduces the number of officers being placed into misconduct and manages them in a non-punitive sensible way this is welcome.

As with any process it needs to be applied sensibly and reasonably and the Federation have a part to play in this. I continue to be exasperated by the length of time the IOPC take over investigations and judging by her comments the Home Secretary appears to agree.

Chris Carter the outgoing Chairman - who we wish the very best in his new role - has amongst many other things raised the profile of officer assaults and mental health undertaking some excellent work in partnership with the force.

This is a really important issue and needs to be maintained.

This goes hand in hand with reducing demand and officer workload across many different departments. This can have a significant impact on wellbeing - the force recognises this and has already achieved positive results in several areas and continues to look at demand reduction.

My philosophy may be simplistic but if you are working as far as is reasonably possible in a role that you enjoy and with a manageable workload, the benefits to everyone cannot be underestimated.

I am working alongside an excellent team here at the Federation office and hope to speak with as many of you as possible. If you have any questions or issues do speak with your area representative or contact us at the office and we will do our best to help!