Former national chair used personal experience to improve service offered by Federation

21 August 2020

Calum Macleod became a Police Federation workplace representative because he was unhappy at the way in which his wife was bullied while working as a police officer.

Calum, who is the national Federation’s head of criminal claims, said he wanted to ensure it never happened to other officers.

And 10 years on, he continues to help and support officers during what is a distinguished career in the Federation.

“I became a Federation rep in roughly 2010,” said Calum, who is also a regional representative for Wales. “My wife left the service after a period of bullying. I was not happy, and remain unhappy, with the service she received from the Federation. I took the step to try to prevent that from happening to others.”

Calum has held an impressive list of positions in the Federation from divisional sergeants’ rep in Cardiff to the chair of the national Federation, a position he held in 2018.

In between, he has been local sergeants’ chair for the South Wales Police Federation and equalities liaison officer. He was elected on to the national committee to represent Wales and has been general secretary and treasurer for the former Sergeants’ Central Committee, as well as vice chair.

Calum explained he has had to adapt and learn quickly in each role.

“The most rewarding thing is certainly the interaction I had when being a workplace Federation representative,” he said. “Being able to influence the outcome for a member directly. The most challenging has been every position I have held since, each and every one in its unique way.

“From dealing with the media, to managing multi-million-pound budgets of members’ money, the learning curve has been steep ever since I stepped in the door of the Police Federation.”

And he said some of his lowest points with the Federation had been around the lack of appreciation for officers for their work in serving and protecting the public.

“The low points are varied and many, most of these surround the way my colleagues do not receive the credit they deserve,” he said. “That has often been in an operational capacity while serving on the front-line.

“This is evidenced more recently when some in society do not appreciate what they do for the public on a daily basis.

“We have and continue to see officers run towards danger when others run away yet the media elevate them from heroes that day to an agenda driven villain the next. It’s totally unacceptable.”

Calum, who joined the service with Strathclyde Police in 1994 before transferring to South Wales in 2001, took on his role as head of criminal claims in 2019.

He said: “My key responsibilities are managing all criminal claims on behalf of the membership, being the decision-maker on funding criminal matters or other wider member interest cases, and budget management.

“As regional representative I endeavour to ensure my colleagues around Wales are updated and their views are expressed to provide a clear line from member feeling in Wales to national decision and policy-making.”

Calum also has a role on the Welsh Affairs Sub-Committee, dealing with matters that affect policing in Wales.

“Context is important,” he said, “Police officers in Wales deal with differing legislation and devolved public services that interact daily with policing.

“As a group, we need to be consistent and clear on our messaging internally and externally to influence both audiences for the benefit of our membership.

“The challenges are recognition of that within the wider organisation and to ensure decisions made by the organisation are relevant to both jurisdictions – not only relevant but taken into consideration when decisions are made.

“Another challenge is the continuing and developing divide between the political bodies in England and Wales.”

So how can he meet these challenges?

“Along with others in the group, I ensure the position of the organisation tries to reflect these differences and whenever I engage internally or externally try to influence on behalf of both the membership in England and Wales,” he said.