Message from the chair: reflections on a year in office

13 May 2026

It is now a year since I was elected as West Midlands Police Federation chair, which hardly seems possible. But then so much has happened in the past year, and I have learned so much.

When I took on this role – becoming the first female officer to lead the branch – I vowed to ensure that West Midlands Police Federation truly reflected the strength and

diversity of the officers it serves, and I have kept that aim in mind in all that I have done.

I came straight from frontline policing to the full-time position as chair and was acutely aware of the need for a representative and supportive Federation.

I still feel proud and honoured to have been elected to this position and it is incredibly important to me to be able to provide our

members with a voice.

As such, I was delighted to be asked to take part in the Response Policing Conference organised by the Police Federation and the National Police Chiefs’ Council in Manchester on 23 April.

As a panellist during a debate on the issues around response policing, I was able to set out the realities of this critical area of the police service, putting forward members’ views on where the pinch points are and how these can be eased. You can read more about the conference on Page 10 of our April/May magazine but suffice to say here that the Federation is working with senior officers to address the issues our members are facing. Words are not enough, we need to see action, and we need to be part of efforts to tackle the current challenges of response policing.

I can honestly say this last year has been a steep learning curve, but I have been grateful for the support of the other full-time Federation officials at Guardians House, as well as the office staff and of workplace representatives. We work as an effective team, putting the members at the heart of all we do.

It is therefore slightly unsettling when any team member leaves us, but perhaps a little more so when the branch’s longest serving official moves on.

Tim Rogers KPM, most recently our branch secretary retired on Friday 24 April, taking with him a depth of experience that has made him everyone’s ‘go to’ in recent years.

I am immensely grateful to Tim for the support and guidance he has given me first as a workplace representative and then as deputy chair and chair.

I want to put on record my thanks to him for everything he has done for the branch and for the members, and also wish him a long, happy and healthy retirement.

His departure leaves us with a huge gap to fill but, as I said earlier, we are a team, and we will all work together to ensure that we

continue to provide the very best service and support to members.

With Tim’s retirement, we welcome Chris James as branch secretary and Matt Manwaring steps into the role previously held by Chris - deputy secretary. I am sure they will

both soon get into their stride, and I am looking forward to working with them.

I remain committed to building on the branch’s legacy of progress, inclusion and bold leadership and to ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.

As part of that commitment, I have already resurrected our Federation roadshows so that we can get out to police stations across the Force area and be as accessible as possible to members.

These have been a success and have often been combined with deputy chair Mat Minton and I joining officers on response to see first-hand the issues they are facing. We will organise further dates soon so please keep an eye on our website – where there is a roadshows page under the News and events tab.

I have also built effective working relationships with senior officers and managers across the Force and will continue to develop these so that we can seek to influence the decision-makers for the benefit of members.

As I said a year ago – and sadly little has changed in this area – we need the Government to commit to long-term and sustained investment in policing.

Short-term fixes are not going to solve the crisis in policing. Police officers have a unique place in society, running towards danger while others run away and seeking to serve and protect their communities. But they are feeling demoralised and undervalued as the Government expects to provide a 21st century police service with 20th century funding. This has to be addressed.

Jess Davies