‘We would love nothing more than a return to common sense policing’
10 November 2022
West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke said he shared the Home Secretary’s hopes for a return to common sense policing and insisted that most officers would feel the same.
Suella Braverman told a police chiefs’ conference in Westminster that police officers’ time was precious and that the public wanted to see them fighting crime, not “debating gender on Twitter”.
She told the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) joint summit with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC): “The way to ensure public confidence in the police is to focus on getting the basics right.
“What I call ‘common sense policing’. The kind of policing the law-abiding majority deserves and expects.
“No politically correct distractions, just good old-fashioned policing - with a relentless focus on making our streets, homes and transport networks safer.”
Responding to her remarks, Rich said: “I don’t think you’ll find many Police Federation members who don’t want to focus on common sense policing. I agree with the Home Secretary; there is a ‘woke’ mindset at the top that leads to much time wasted discussing, for example, ‘critical race theory’ or ‘white privilege’ or whether there should be extra categories of hate crimes.
“I say leave all that to the academics and politicians. Police officers should focus on stopping the crime and violence which disproportionately affects our young, diverse communities using the laws laid down to the maximum effect – for example, stop and search.
“The vast majority of police officers join the Force through a desire to help others, keep their communities safe, investigate crime and catch the bad guys.
“But that role has become something quite different in recent years with more and more of our time taken up with what I would describe as social work – 8 out of 10 calls for service are non-crime related. It begs the question if we don’t go, who will? There is a current crisis in our ambulance services – this has a massive knock-on to police work, for example. We can’t just leave people who are in need to go fight crime.”
He said years of cuts to policing and partner agencies also had a massive impact on policing and said urgent investment in the service was essential.
“We would love nothing more than a return to common sense policing but to do that we will need more officers who are trained properly in practical street craft, locally based & better resourced with important equipment like Taser and with less financial worries meaning we need fairer mechanisms for delivering better pay and conditions” said Rich.
Ms Braverman also moved to reassure police officers that the service had the full support of the Home Office.
She said: “I am on your side. I want us all to pull in the same direction. And I will do everything in my power to support you and to back you.”
She said officers showed remarkable commitment to keeping the public safe in the face of danger and praised detectives for their extraordinary work which ensured criminals were put behind bars.
“I want to ensure that the amazing job you do is recognised in full, and we are committed, through the police covenant, to ensuring that this is done correctly,” she said.
“I am committed to supporting you in using your powers without fear or favour to keep our streets, and keep our people safe. Under my watch you have my full backing to use stop and search, which is a vital tool in the fight against crime.
“To those who try to undermine your use of stop and search, or question your legitimate use of investigatory powers, or the use of force which leads to the prevention of crime, I say this: our police are working to keep you safe. To keep your children safe. To save lives. Let them do their work.
“It is only right that you can stand firm against criminals, rather than listening to those who would denigrate your work or use data selectively to undermine your credibility.”
