Chair welcomes Home Secretary's call to restore respect in policing

19 August 2024

Police officers are ‘ordinary people doing an extraordinary job’, says Nottinghamshire Police Federation chair Simon Riley as he welcomed calls to restore respect in policing.

Simon said there was a lack of real deterrents to attacks on police officers, describing it as one of the main reasons respect for officers had fallen.

He said the prison sentences being handed down to criminals involved in the violent disorder of the past two weeks should become the norm to serve as a deterrent.

“One of the main reasons for the loss of respect for police has been the lack of a real deterrent to assault on police officers,” he said.

Custodial sentences

“In recent days we have seen significant custodial sentences handed down to criminals who have been engaged in public disorder, including the assault of dozens of my colleagues across the country.

“I absolutely welcome these sentences, however, they should be the norm and not the exception.

“This is something the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has campaigned tirelessly on, and will continue to do so.

"An attack on police is an attack on society and should receive the toughest possible punishment.”

The most recent Office for National Statistics figures show that in the year to 31 March 2024, there were 645 assaults in police officers in Nottinghamshire, with 199 resulting in injury.

“This is the direct product of a lack of respect for the police and has no place in a civilised society,” he continued.

Branch chair Simon Riley.

Simon’s comments come as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to restore the public’s faith in the law following the violent disorder of the past two weeks.

Ms Cooper said that the recent violent disorder showed a loss of respect for the police and that too many people ‘feel as though crime has no consequences’.

Rule of law

She said: “I am glad not just that we have seen hundreds of thugs facing the consequences of their actions in recent days, but that the deterrent effect of punishment has now been witnessed this weekend as the police, government and criminal justice system responded at speed. We said criminals would pay the price, and we meant it. That is the rule of law in practice.”

Simon welcomed Ms Cooper’s comments.

He said: “Police officers are ordinary people doing an extraordinary job, something which governments have systematically failed to recognise over several years.

“It’s a good start for the home secretary to acknowledge what we, the police, have been saying for a long time.

“This situation has to change and we’ll be looking to the home secretary and the government to set about improving things to the point where the police are, once more, rightfully respected as the dedicated public servants that we are.”

Ms Cooper, writing in the Telegraph, described the recent violence as ‘a disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself’.

“I am not prepared to tolerate the brazen abuse and contempt which a minority have felt able to show towards our men and women in uniform, or the disrespect for law and order that has been allowed to grow in recent years,” she said.

Restore respect

 “As well as punishing those responsible for the last fortnight’s violent disorder, we must take action to restore respect for the police, and respect for the law. From anti-social behaviour through to serious violence, too often people feel as though crime has no consequences, as charge rates have been allowed to fall and court delays have grown. That has to change.

“We will work with the police, rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards. And we won’t engage in the kind of shameful behaviour we have seen from some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.

“When the police put on those uniforms, when they go out in the service of our communities, and when they uphold the high standards we expect of them, they deserve respect from every single one of us.”

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