REPS AT WORK
HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF BECOMING A FED REP?
With Police Federation elections just around the corner, ALLY CROUCH meets two serving reps to find out about their experiences and asks why members should consider becoming a rep...
O
ur workplace reps provide support and advice to 130,000 officers across England and Wales on a
range of subjects from misconduct to pay and conditions, operational policing issues and equality. As our National Chair John Apter notes, they are “the backbone of the Federation”. In July the next Fed rep elections
will get underway and you will be able to choose the colleagues who represent you and consider getting involved yourself by standing to become a Fed rep. As John adds: “Helping and supporting our colleagues, often at the toughest times of their lives and careers, can be incredibly rewarding. While it’s not easy, and juggling being a rep alongside your day job can be a challenge, I can honestly say being a Fed rep is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done and I would encourage anyone who’s thinking about it to put their name forward.” Devon and Cornwall’s Sergeant
Richie Poole is 23 years into his service and has been a rep for eight years, after recovering from a major road accident. He explains: “I was involved in
a serious head-on collision whilst responding to a job. Multiple cars were involved and while I wasn’t badly injured, other parties were seriously hurt. “As the police driver, I was subject to
an investigation. The legal support and the advice I received from the Federation was fantastic. I was eventually exonerated and when there was a (failed) private prosecution the Fed supported me then too. I wanted to help make sure others got that positive experience.”
Richie has been a roads policing sergeants rep under a previous structure and is now a full-time area rep. His advice to anyone thinking of becoming a rep is to go for it. “You might think you don’t have the right skills or experience, but you do – I’ve held many different, exciting roles in my career but being a Fed rep is by far the best for job satisfaction,” he says. “The thing I am proudest of as a rep, is that people look to you for help. Sometimes, where they have nowhere to turn, you’re the first person they think of. You’re contactable, always helping. I know that can be seen as a bit of a ball and chain, but to be able to be there for a colleague who needs it is fantastic.” PC Aileen O’Connor has been an officer for 19 years, with three of them
“ The thing I am proudest of as a rep, is that people look to you for help”
30 | POLICE | APRIL 2021 Aileen O’Connor
as a Fed rep. Her progression to Deputy Chair of Thames Valley Police Federation has been rapid. Why did she stand at the last elections?
Aileen recalls: “I was at a crossroads
in my career. I had done lots of acting up, as an acting skipper, but I couldn’t pass the sergeants exam. Becoming a Fed rep offered a new challenge for me. My view of the Federation was very much that I didn’t know what the Federation did, only that if I got into trouble, I would call upon them to help.”
She was encouraged to become a rep by her Branch Secretary and began getting an insight into issues like PTSD and misconduct. Aileen also found that becoming a Fed rep enabled her to further her own policing career. She progressed to being a finance trustee, gaining a greater knowledge about the
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