Page 2 - Alive January 2016 Newsletter Flip Book

Contents
Chair’s introduction 2 Force needs improvement, says
HMiC 3
Federation campaign aims to rally public support for policing
Local news round-up
Packed agenda for roads policing conference
Crime-fighting duo win national award
Confidential support, 24/7
4 6
8
- 5 - 7
- 9
online counselling available with Federation insurance scheme
Welfare survey
Federation calls for pay rise for officers
13 13
14 - 15
Widows’ pension campaigner plans for 2016 16 - 17
overall crime down, but rise
in sexual offences 19
Cover photo: Police Dog Paolo enjoys a
bit of down time - see Pages 10 - 11.
Photograph courtesy of Steward Ellett: stewardellettphotography.co.uk.
CoNtACt yoUR FedeRAtioN
tel: 01234 842406
email: Bedfordshire@polfed.org Web: www.beds.polfed.org
Bedfed is published by Bedfordshire Police Federation, 217 Bedford Road, Kempston, Bedfordshire MK42 8DA.
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10 - 11 13
2
Chair’s introduction
Force still under pressure due to cuts
By Jim Mallen Chairman of Bedfordshire Police Federation
there was a collective
sigh of relief in
November last year
when the Chancellor
of the exchequer
announced that there
would be no further cuts to police budgets.
His announcement, in the wake of the Paris terrorist atrocities, nevertheless came as a surprise to the police service, especially since commentators seemed to think our funding would be reduced again.
But let’s face it, we are by no means out of the woods, as it were. The cuts imposed on us over the last five years have seriously damaged the police service. Here in Bedfordshire we are certainly feeling the effects and, when I say we, I mean the Force, its officers – of all ranks – its staff and the communities we serve.
The latest effectiveness report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) revealed that the Force ‘requires improvement’ in the way it keeps people safe and reduces crime; two of the core functions of any police service. It did, however, receive a ‘good’ grading for how it investigates crime and manages offenders.
But, what I was most interested in was the fact that the inspectors acknowledged the funding challenge we faced in Bedfordshire and also highlighted the fact that we deal with ‘complex policing challenges and serious criminality on a scale not normally experienced by a force of its size’.
This is nothing new. We have been saying it for some time, so have our chief officers, past and present, and so has our PCC.
But it does not seem to matter who points this out, nothing is actually done to help us deal with this situation. If the Government’s own inspectors can see it, why do those in a position to address our funding difficulties not do something about it?
Instead, the Force is left trying to re-structure and re-organise, to try anything it can to achieve the impossible. The truth is we don’t have enough resources to go around and, no matter how we try to share them out differently, that is not going to change.
The Force is currently working on a new shift pattern review, not that long after the last one, and we will have to see what that
brings. I hope it eases some of the pressure on officers who are committed to providing the very best service to the communities we serve but also frustrated that they cannot always deliver that service.
With this in mind, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) carried out an officer welfare survey across all forces in England and Wales during February. There is real concern that officers are increasingly suffering from stress due to the cuts programme so this survey aims to find out more about officer welfare. The results will be announced at the national Federation conference in Bournemouth in May and we will report the findings in the next edition of Bedfed.
This leads me nicely on to conference itself. The Federation is working steadily through the recommendations made by Sir David Normington in his independent review of PFEW. Some of these will need legislative change so will be brought back to conference for discussion but one thing is more certain. This will be the last conference in the current format. One of the review recommendations was that conference should be slimmed down in terms of the numbers attending and the length of the event. Already the women’s eve of conference meeting, usually held on the Monday of conference week, has been jettisoned and now it looks like the three-day event will be further shortened. There are also plans to move the conference venue to the Midlands rather than the south coast with a more central location being favoured to allow for ease of access for all 43 forces across England and Wales.
We will, of course, keep you posted on all developments and will provide a full run-down of conference in the June edition of Bedfed.
Finally, I would just like to draw all members’ attention to Page 13 of this edition of Bedfed. As mentioned above, we are aware that officers are under pressure and we are also aware that it can be very difficult to admit that you might need help. We have highlighted two organisations that can help officers if they feel they need some extra support. Sometimes just talking to someone about your own concerns can help, sometimes you might need more than that. So, please make use of these services – they are there to help you. Equally, if you feel a colleague is stressed or not their usual self, please pass on the information about these services. And, of course, you can always contact the Federation, we are here for you.