National chair calls for collaborative and joined-up voice

7 July 2021

Police Federation chair John Apter has vowed to make sure Welsh voices are heard within the organisation and pledged his full support to the Welsh Affairs Sub-Committee (WASC).

John said maintaining a close relationship with Federation colleagues in Wales was “incredibly important” and insisted the Welsh forces did not “stand in isolation”.

He said: “I am very alive to the fact that Wales has sometimes felt like a poor relation with a smaller voice. That should never be the case. 

“Wales is a country and the members are every bit as deserving of our support and influence as anyone else. For me to work with the Welsh reps, the Welsh branches and the Welsh lead is incredibly important.”

John said the WASC was a vital conduit between the Police Federation and what was happening in Wales. 

He explained: “With devolution, things are done differently in Wales to how they are in England. WASC is a voice for Wales within the Federation and I believe we have got to be a collaborative and joined-up voice. 

“WASC ensures that the English part of PFEW knows what is going on with the Welsh part and vice-versa, and that’s important.”

John acknowledged the Welsh voice was competing in a very loud and cluttered policing landscape but said the challenge was to make sure that voice was heard through himself, Welsh lead on the WASC Nicky Ryan and the Federation’s Welsh branches and leads.

He said: “I think the WASC is a very credible and well-respected part of the organisation. I certainly respect them and take my lead from them on all things Welsh.

“I’m an advocate for the Welsh voice. I’m inclusive of WASC and the Welsh lead and they know they have got my full support. Through Covid and the challenges that presented I leaned heavily on colleagues from Wales. I didn’t always get it right because it was so fast-paced but the Welsh voice was really important during that process.

“Wales does not stand alone or in isolation. I’ve always said that the strength of PFEW is when we work together and the WASC and me in the chair’s office work really well and long may that continue.”

John became Federation chair in 2018 after eight years as the chair of the Hampshire branch. 

He joined Hampshire Constabulary as a 23-year-old recruit in 1992, was posted to Lymington Police Station in the New Forest, then Southampton City where he spent several years before transferring to traffic and a Road Death Investigation Team where he remained until becoming a full-time Fed rep.

He became a constables’ traffic rep in 2000 and within a year was chair of the Constables’ Branch Board which he held for a number of years. 

John became the vice-chair of the Hampshire Police Federation and started getting more involved in national issues, such as being one of the founding members of what is now called the Roads Policing User Group.

He said:  “I was elected as the chair in Hampshire and I thoroughly enjoyed that. I was set to go back to policing and wasn’t going to stand again because I thought I’d done my bit. 

“Then the rules changed for the national chair position, and my children encouraged me to stand. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Besides becoming chair of Hampshire Police Federation and then the national chair, career highlights include catching a burglar red-handed as he tried to steal a safe from a post office. 

John said: “The silent alarm triggered and as we turned up, they were wheeling it out on a trolley like a scene from a film. They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. A couple of them legged it but we got them - I was younger then so could run! There have been loads of jobs like that which get the adrenalin flowing.

“Being a family liaison officer was a real highlight while also heart-breaking because you are dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives, but knowing you were helping them did mean so much. 

“I’d also mention the work I do with the Gurney Fund. This is a charity which supports the children of police officers who have died or medically retired. They make a massive difference. I’ve met the kids we help and that’s really made a powerful impression on me.

“I’ve worked with some incredible people in policing and they are the ones who make the job what it is. I often say policing is like a family. I say that because I mean it.”

John said the low point that stands out was when he was arrested early in his career. 

He said: “We all get complaints but on that I’d done absolutely nothing wrong. I felt let down by a job I loved, and the only good thing was that it motivated me to become a rep. 

“I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but it did turn into something positive.”

He said other low points were when he felt a victim had been let down either because the criminal justice system had not worked or the evidence to bring someone to justice had not been found.

John said being a Fed rep was incredibly rewarding with even small things making a massive difference for somebody. 

He explained: “It’s about being there and supporting people, supporting your colleagues and their families, nothing is more rewarding. 

“As for the challenges, I’ve seen people badly broken because of the job and what it has done to them. Sometimes I haven’t been able to prevent that and this is frustrating, but you can’t save everybody. 

“I genuinely believe that I have the best job in policing. It’s an absolute privilege to represent the views of our members at this level. I’m not saying that I don’t occasionally get frustrated when I want to do things that I genuinely believe will make a positive difference for them and it takes time to do so but I will continue to do the very best I can on their behalf.”