"Officers can be reassured they will be fully supported during a Post-Incident Procedure"

25 October 2019

Sussex Police Federation wants to raise awareness of Post Incident Procedures so that officers know what to expect should they be involved in a death or serious injury case on duty.

PIPs are in place to ensure best evidence is obtained following an incident but are also there to ensure officers’ welfare and needs are met during what will be a very traumatic time in their career.

Speaking at the PFEW PIP seminar in Warwickshire, Sussex Police Federation Secretary Simon Steele said the Federation’s role was to reassure officers they would be fully supported should the worst was to happen.

“It’s really important we look after officers and many of them certainly in our force, have never been involved in PIP process before,” he said.

“A lot of them don’t understand the procedure and we need to do more about that to raise awareness amongst officers, so they know what to expect when they go on a PIP process. We need to do more with training to raise that awareness.

“It’s really important that we look after their welfare and their legal interests. We need them to have confidence in us as Fed Reps and provide them with that reassurance so that they know we are there to look after them and to protect their legal interests.

“We’ll explain the process that they’re about to go through and will ensure they get the very best legal advice and that they get their accounts right on the night.

“The main purpose of the process is so that officers can provide the best evidence - our role as a Federation is to look after their welfare and there are all sorts of things we can do - arrange specialist help, we can talk to the force, get them through occupational health if they need it.”

Simon is also backing calls for IOPC investigations to be given set time limits, a hot topic at this year’s seminar.

“Lengthy investigations can have a massive impact on officers and their families,” he said.

“They’re worrying about their future careers, their income, their livelihoods. They [the IOPC] needs to improve, for the welfare of our officers, because some of them are in dark places and it can’t be allowed to go on.

“We must have time limits. No one is holding the IOPC to account at the moment and we need to have legislation in place that protects our officers.”