ANNUAL CONFERENCE
face: miscarriage, neonatal crisis, domestic abuse, bereavement, responsibilities as carers - often all while working under pressure, on shifts, and in traumatic environments. Yet unlike most workers, police officers do not automatically receive: • Paid maternity support leave • Paid carer’s leave • Neonatal care leave • Safe leave • Full bereavement leave • Paid leave for miscarriage or pregnancy loss
Instead, support varies wildly between forces - a “postcode lottery of compassion.” To end this injustice, PFEW launched its Charter for Change, calling for:
never use that term. We need to raise the standards of recruits. We need better temperament and values. This is about initial entry — nothing to do with ‘wimps’.” Ms Warnes added that support across forces varies wildly, with some chiefs leading the way while others resist even the most basic improvements. PFEW Equality Lead Hayley Aley raised major concerns about how budget pressures are misdirecting the adjusted- duties process. She warned some forces view these officers as “cost-saving opportunities” rather than colleagues requiring support. “We invest £180,000 in training them,”
she said, “then when they need support, they’re put through a punitive process. It has to stop.”
• Full pay from day one for family-related leave
• Up to 12 weeks’ full-pay neonatal care leave
• Risk-assessed return-to-duty processes
• The removal of “exigencies of duty” as a barrier to compassionate support
Ms Warnes said: “This isn’t radical but humane, already common across public and private sectors, and policing should lead rather than follow, because we cannot talk about reform if we cannot even provide a modern workplace.” And she reminded chiefs and Government of the financial case. With recruitment and training costing around £180,000 per officer, compassion isn’t just morally right - it enhances retention, cuts attrition and saves money. Both secretaries closed their session
with one shared principle: officers deserve fairness, dignity and respect - not endless rhetoric, unrealistic workloads or reforms done to them rather than with them. Mr Partington summed up the
Federation’s stance: “We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for fair treatment. And we won’t stop until we get it.”
Q&A: ADDRESSING MYTHS, MISCONDUCT, RECRUITMENT AND LEADERSHIP GAPS In a wide-ranging Q&A led by Ian Collins, Mr Partington directly addressed a recent Telegraph headline describing officers as “wimps”. “I want to be very clear,” he said. “Myself or the Police Federation would
14 | POLICE | DECEMBER | 2025
THE MISCONDUCT–SUICIDE CRISIS: “IT’S MORE DANGEROUS IN OUR HEADS THAN ON OUR STREETS” One of the most powerful moments of the Conference was during its session on police officer suicides. In a heartbreaking video, Shell Websdale, ex- wife of acclaimed Fed rep and decorated Sussex Police Sergeant Ben Websdale, who took his own life whilst under investigation for alleged misconduct, spoke about the tragedy. On 16 January 2025, Ben took his own life whilst under investigation for alleged misconduct. Despite Ben’s death and please from his family, the Police Federation and Sussex Police, the Independent Office refuses to close the investigation 13 months after his arrest and 10 months since his death. “Ben didn’t always openly talk about
things; he did open up occasionally and we would talk about things, and I think more recently he became aware he was struggling to look after our daughter. That’s when it became clear how much he was struggling because she was the light of his life. “He told me all about the allegations,
he told me why he had been arrested and the circumstances around that which he absolutely denied. He was broken. It literally destroyed him. He was a shadow of his former self. He went from being the most outrageous, charismatic person, you almost saw the colour drain from him, he was grey. He wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping, he didn’t leave the house. He was so ill with depression it was horrendous to see. I have never, ever seen somebody in that way. He was literally broken to the core. “Losing him has just been horrendous. I feel like my life stopped the day he died. Someone needs to step in and stop this witch hunt of police officers.” Ben was a treasured father, son, husband and colleague. Sussex Police Federation named Ben the North Constituency Rep of the Year at its Recognition Awards in 2023, where he was praised for providing “calm reassurance and sound advice, always with a smile on his face”. He worked with the force for almost 25 years in a variety of roles including response, investigations, Gatwick TDU and NPT at Crawley, before joining Crawley Custody. He was awarded an exemplary service medal for long service. The session moved on to a panel discussion featuring National Board
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