Personal stories from police officers who have themselves endured honour crimes and battled PTSD were among the memorable and compelling sessions at this year’s Police Federation National Detectives’ Forum (PFNDF).
Around 100 detectives of all ranks, from across the country, were brought together for two days to learn the lessons from some high profile, complex and innovative investigations, including best practice in supporting victims and their families.
Colleagues were also urged to undertake further training in using Suspicious Activity Reports to help build evidence in all forms of crime – not just financial ones, and to learn basic mental health first aid to help protect themselves and their colleagues.
Some of the best of recent detective investigations were recognised and celebrated – with the Detectives Awards 2019 rounding off the first day of the seminar. Hundreds of officers were nominated by their colleagues for going above and beyond in investigations which ranged from historic cases of child sexual abuse to murder and cyber-crime. Winners included a trainee detective who was appointed as FLO in the aftermath of the Manchester bomb attacks, a team who forged contacts with foreign law enforcement agencies to bring down a human trafficking gang, and the team who brought together one of the biggest child sexual exploitation cases ever.
Attendees also considered how to address the crisis in detectives- with discussions on two different ways to address the national shortfall in detective numbers: the West Midlands Detective Academy and the Police Now programme. The first aims to excite and inspire uniformed police officers to move to detective roles, while the second is a direct entry route which seeks to capitalise on the interest from graduates and career-changers in a career as a detective.
Summing up the event, Glyn Pattinson, Chair PFNDF, thanked the speakers for their candour and insights, and expressed his gratitude to the sponsors - Police Mutual, No1 Copperpot, Police Credit Union and Martis Media.
