Fed rep outlines dedication to assaulted officers

16 December 2024

West Midlands Police Federation representative Darren Neville has vowed to continue ‘doing the right thing’ for members needing support following an assault.

Darren has been a workplace representative since 2015, when he decided he wanted to give back to the Fed after he needed assistance himself the previous year.

When his son became ill shortly after birth, Darren, overwhelmed with worry, was unsure of who to turn to in getting help to arrange dependency leave.

“The Fed rep I had, who is retired now, was outstanding with me. I was really stressed, and he just picked up the slack and sorted out four weeks’ leave for me,” said Darren. “Me and my family will always be indebted to the Federation for that. I always say that your life as a police officer is like a marriage – there is a lot of give and take, and sometimes you just need a bit of help when you can’t do it yourself.

West Midlands Police Federation representative Darren Neville.

“The support I received left me wanting to give that bit of help to others."

As a workplace rep, Darren, 49, has helped members with a range of issues and disputes such as health and safety, grievance procedure and attendance support.

Where he has completed his most role-defining work for the Fed, though, has been with assaults.

Personal safety

Currently a PC on a priority crime team in Wolverhampton, it was actually a duty earlier in his career that inspired him to dedicate his focus as a Fed rep on officers put in harm’s way by violence.

“I was a personal safety trainer when I was on a response team based in Smethwick. Obviously, I was already well aware, but it turned me on even more to the dangerous world of policing,” he explained. “Ever since, I’ve had that desire to look after people in this respect and help them look after themselves.”

Darren looked for ways to influence the Force through the training and equipment given to frontline cops. Although initially he was “seeing that assaults just weren’t reducing”, his first real breakthrough came when he started to receive information on every assault officer across Wolverhampton.

“I will personally contact every officer at the centre of a report and see if they have been properly communicated with and listened to by the Force,” he said. “I can also respond to their needs, be it with ensuring they are satisfied with the report and processing of the incident or pointing them in the direction of physical or psychological support they may not have received yet.”

Darren has emphasised to the Force the importance of remembering that, just like the public, police officers are victims when they are assaulted.

In practice, he explained, this means providing assaulted officers with regular updates along the course of the crime’s investigation, in line with the Victim Code.

Assaults

He also regularly engages with Federation branch chair Rich Cooke, who then meets with a working group featuring Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara, for police officer and staff assaults.

The initiative also hosts representatives from the Federation, the Force’s CID, the Criminal Justice Alliance and various wider staff unions.

“The group has been fundamental in implementing many new processes. As well as that, we have done a lot of work to develop existing structures within the force,” Darren said.

“An example is their 10-point plan in response to officer assaults and hate crimes, which is a wonderful piece of guidance. We have pushed for all individual steps to be consistently used and stuck to, and I will personally make sure the appropriate sergeant has access to it upon each and every incident.

“I think it’s important that when the Force deserves credit, it should get it, too – there is still work to do, but things are definitely starting to get better.

“More officers are now trained in Taser, and they have looked at the THRIVE (Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability and Engagement) model so they can not only respond well to assaults but prevent them in the first place.”

Crown Prosecution Service

He and the West Midlands Police Federation team want tougher and more robust sentencing for those who assault the police, which he believes would be aided by a quicker distribution of medical evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The delay that exists is not really good enough and we want to see that eliminated in the future,” he explained. “I think there’s still an element of assaults on police officers not being taken quite as seriously as we would like. A man has recently been imprisoned for three years for punching a cop in the heat of the riots – but what about the other 364 days of the year, when these incidents aren’t as high profile?”

Rounding off, Darren offered his advice to any Federation member struggling after being on the receiving end of violence.

“Remember, it is never acceptable for an officer to be assaulted,” he said. Speak to your supervisor or, failing that, any supervisor. If you want to go down the Federation route, contact a representative. Just don’t keep it to yourself. Even if you think the incident was very minor and insignificant, it’s important that you reach out.”