THE CHAIR ASKS
What is your message to our colleagues who are feeling they are at the end of their tether for whatever reason?
I love you and I am incredibly grateful to you. As a society, we have forgotten how to be grateful for our public servants for the most part, and this is particularly true in policing. And so, as someone who used to do your job and as someone who still loves your job, I just want to say thank you.
At the start of 2020, I was saying these are the most challenging times for policing in this country since end of the Second World War. We found ourselves in a situation where we had fewer officers and staff doing a job that is more demanding and more dangerous than ever before, alongside this constant chorus of “You are getting it wrong”. It’s enormously painful as a former officer looking on, never mind as a serving officer doing the very best you can in a frankly impossible set of circumstances.
There is a complete lack of balance in the story being told about policing in this country. For every story you could tell me about policing gone wrong, I could tell you 100 of policing gone right; about the kind of heroism and humanity that would likely take your breath away. But we live in a society where good news doesn’t tend to make the news, and where standing up
"There is a complete lack of balance in the story being told about policing in this country."
for good policing is just about the most unfashionable thing anybody can do.
You cannot be an opponent of bad policing without also being a proponent of good policing. The two things are inseparable from one another, they have to go hand in hand. The officers and staff who are out there on the frontline now trying to do an incredibly difficult job in incredibly difficult circumstances deserve better from us as a society. We need to tell them how much we appreciate them, how grateful we are for all that they do and continue to do and we need to acknowledge their job is an incredibly difficult one, arguably never more so.
We are speaking to more and more colleagues who are incredibly lonely at
times like Christmas. What are your views on this?
It’s so important just to be talking openly and honestly about these things. I remember working nights before I was married, waking up halfway through Christmas Day in my flat on my own and it is a very strange feeling when you know that most of the rest of the world is having a whole lot more fun than you are. I think it’s important to be honest about the fact that this stuff is difficult. When I talk to people about how I got well and how I stay well, one of the core lessons is the importance of talking. There is nothing to be gained by taking the stuff that is difficult and burying it away somewhere deep inside and hoping that’s it dealt with because it will always find its way out in the end. We are human beings; we are not machines.
On behalf of our members, can I thank you for your service not only in the job but for what you do now. Please don’t underestimate the power of your words, both written and spoken. You are helping and continue to help many people so a big thank you from us. To you and your family, have a lovely Christmas.
Thanks John, and to you and all your members, thank you and Merry Christmas.
08 I POLICE I DECEMBER 2021
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
