REPS AT WORK
New Reps Spotlight
Nagina Akhtar is proud to offer new perspectives as a police officer, and as a Federation rep with big ambitions
“I wanted to see where I can help members as a rep,” Nagina explained. “Being female and from an ethnic minority background, I felt there was a gap and I have seen an increase of people from different backgrounds joining the force more and more, so I knew we needed more representation in the Federation.” Nagina’s parents are originally from
Pakistan, and she is the second youngest of six children. She is eager to use her experiences to help others: “I think it is important policing reflects the communities it serves, but it is equally important for the Federation to reflect its membership in the community as well, because we need to show we’re part of the community too.” “People may feel more comfortable
approaching someone who they think is similar to themselves, whether it’s me as a police officer or a Fed rep,” Nagina explained. “I might have a better understanding of certain situations, about what they may be going through, and we’ll see it from a different angle from my colleagues. Nagina outlined her ambitions within
From the age of 16, Nagina Akhtar wanted to become a police officer, but never looked into it until joining North Yorkshire Police in 2017 as a PCSO. She enjoyed that role, but always wanted to be a PC. In 2018, she passed out
as a fully warranted officer. Nagina was initially on response, then moved to neighbourhoods, which she described as “the best of both in the policing world”. “You’re still on the front line, still
to become a Fed rep as I wanted to find out what the Federation does and how it supported our colleagues. I went and did
“I think it is important policing reflects the communities it serves, but it is equally important for the Federation to reflect its membership in the community”
attending jobs, but still building that relationship with the community,” she said. Nagina learnt about Federation reps while she was on probation and discovered more about the role of the Federation when a rep spoke to new officers: “I decided
12 | POLICE | AUGUST 2022
my own research, and I read about the Federation and the work it does through its national and the local websites, and I spoke to a few workplace representatives, just to see what their experiences were.” She wanted to understand more about
the Federation and the work it does for its members.
the Federation: “I would like to be an equality-trained rep and I started the course last month. I knew early on I wanted to do that because it covers such a wide variety of topics and it’ll give me a better understanding of things such as the Equality Act. The world is changing, and we need to be better equipped to deal with those changes and I want to look into that in more depth.
“I think it is good to have this role alongside my day-to-day job, because
I will learn a lot, especially by going on courses the Federation offers, speaking to other reps either locally or from other force areas and attending the meetings we have to see what the members need from us. It will help me broaden my skills as well and it means I am involved with a different part of policing.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
