Get to know your Federation reps: Martin Johnson

11 November 2021

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help.” That’s the advice for new recruits to Suffolk Police from Federation workplace representative DC Martin Johnson.

Martin, who joined Suffolk Police in 2010, has passed on some of his tips to officers starting out on their careers with the Force and it includes asking for help from colleagues, supervisors and the Federation if it’s needed.

“Be honest and do not try to cover up your mistakes. We all make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to ask for help for any reason,” says Martin.

“Be nice too. Have a laugh with all of your colleagues and, finally, smiling at people makes this job so much easier.”

Martin’s career began with Sudbury response. He’s now a safeguarding detective but is currently on a long-term secondment to the Major Investigation Team.

“Ever since I was little I wanted to be a police officer,” he said, “And when I grew to be very tall, it was also what everybody’s suggested profession for me was.”

He said his career highlights to date include working on an historic murder case and helping to move it forward, and helping children talk about abuse they’ve suffered to help them start recovering.

“And restraining a man on drugs who had broken into an elderly couple’s home and was brandishing a large shard of glass and was covered in blood,” he added.

Martin became a Federation rep in 2012 after being persuaded he was right for the role by former rep Ruth Horton, who was about to retire from policing.

“I bring experience in different departments and areas to the role as well as being still relatively young in service with a kind and sympathetic ear,” said Martin, whose special areas of interest are equality and post-incident procedures (PIP).

“I enjoy trying to assist officers in all sorts of situations at different points in their service and seeing the results when I do. You need to have a broad knowledge of policing, departments, regulations and procedures.

“My priorities are to make officers’ policing careers as rewarding and as painless as possible,” he added.

Martin also had advice for officers considering putting themselves forward to be a rep.

“It’s rewarding and the training is great but be prepared for having a second workload,” he said.

Martin said the officer retention and training was likely to be a challenge for the Force while the economic impact of the pandemic “and the struggles that will inevitably come with it” would be a challenge for the police service in general.

“For the Federation, the challenges ahead are keeping up with the changes in officer training and the working from home revolution that seems to be taking place,” he added.