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Gloucestershire police federation magazine No. 50 June 2011 Blue print 35 Walton Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4 6NW Tel: 01925 604421 Fax: 01925 861351 www. philip williams.co.uk In association with SPECIALIST INSURANCE SCHEMES FOR THE POLICE SERVICE TELEPHONE 01925 604421 Conference 2011 Bournemouth

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Page 1: Blue print - Gloucestershire Police Federation · 2018. 12. 7. · Gloucestershire police federation magazine No.50June2011 Blue print 35 Walton Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4

G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e p o l i c e f e d e r a t i o n m a g a z i n e

No. 50 June 2011 Blueprint

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In association with

SPECIALIST INSURANCESCHEMES FOR THE

POLICE SERVICE

TELEPHONE

01925 604421

Conference 2011 – Bournemouth

Page 2: Blue print - Gloucestershire Police Federation · 2018. 12. 7. · Gloucestershire police federation magazine No.50June2011 Blue print 35 Walton Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4

Editor: Tracy De YoungFederation Office,6A Kingscroft Road,Hucclecote,Gloucester GL3 3RF

Published by: Gloucestershire PoliceFederation,6A Kingscroft Road,Hucclecote,Gloucester GL3 3RF

Telephone: 0844 612 0012The views expressed in this Magazine maybe personal and not necessarily those heldby the Joint Branch Board

2 Blueprint June 2011

Editorial

Tracy De Young

Front page showsTop Left hand: Ian RennieGeneral Secretary Police FederationEngland & Wales

Top Right Hand: Police Federation Logo Save Your Service

Bottom Left hand: John Stapleton Facilitator

Bottom Right Hand: Doug Campbell Gloucestershire Police Federation SBB

Graham RileyGloucestershire Police Federation JBBSecretary

Paul McKeever – Chairman PoliceFederation of England & Wales

In the December 2010 edition ofBlueprint, the editor made comment onPage 2 relating to a perceived belief thatthe HR Department were “ … reducingofficers to half pay when sufferingdebilitating and sometimes fatal illnessof cancer …”. In the context of thearticle, this may have given readers theimpression that this was occurring on aregular and, indeed, frequent basis.

For the benefit of Blueprint readers,the Federation have kindly afforded theHuman Resources Department theopportunity to reply to this commentand correct any distortion of fact thestatement may have given rise to.

Decisions to reduce pay are not takenlightly; a formal process exists todetermine extensions of pay wherebyfactual information from medicalpractitioners and clinical experts on anindividual’s specific condition, togetherwith comment from line managers andthe individual themselves are assembledand taken fully into account prior to adecision being made by the DeputyChief Constable. All these relevant factsare considered against agreed criteria,fixed in consultation with theFederation, the origin of which lieswithin PNB Circular 05/1. The Force’sAttendance Management Policy fully

Response from HR toEditor’s article in

December Blueprint

Welcome to the Conference edition ofBlueprint.

Having just returned from a week ofhealthy debate with fellow Federationreps from around the country, and aGovernment, Who on the face of it“hate” the Police, the pace of life inGloucester this week seems a lot calmerthan in Bournemouth.

During the week at Bournemouth theHome Secretary was accused of beingabsent from the debate with the Treasury

when it came to thePolice budget, sherefused to answer PCDavid Rathband’squestion of whether shethought that he wasbeing paid too much,though her drained and

anguished look across her face didprovide an answer! During her speechthe Home Secretary only gave onepromise, that she would be straight withus. If I was a reader of NVCs, watchingher squirm when asked about thedetrimental impact of and if therecommendations from Winsor wasalready a done deal, the Home Secretaryis being anything but straight!

To provide those of you who were

unable to make it to conference with aflavour of the mood around the countrywithin this week, there was anemergency motion submitted by theMetropolitan for a letter of no confidenceto be sent to the President of ACPO, andthe call for the resignation of the Policeand Criminal Justice Minister NickHerbert, if as expected, Crime risesduring the next year, as budgets areslashed and Police Officer numbers aredrastically reduced. It wasn’t all politicseither, when both conference, and MrHerbert was reminded that the sexualoffence of being shafted against yourwill still existed! All any of us want, nomatter who we are, is to be treated likeadults, have our ideas and rationalbehind the idea or argument listened to,be part of a healthy debate and to beprovided with an honest answer. Instead we appear to be treated like aninferior species only fit to be played likea puppet.

You will find more on the debateswithin the Blueprint and you can alsoaccess speeches from the GloucestershireJBB Federation Internet site, and theNational site.Tracy De YoungDeputy Secretary

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Ms Cooper was given apolite reception toconference, and in reality

would have had to make asignificant effort to have madeherself unpopular! It is alwayseasy for an opposition party tomake platitudes to any group,particularly if that group arebeing so callously attacked bythe incumbent government.

Ms Cooper did however makesome interesting points in what shesaid and just as interestingly inwhat she didn’t say.

Ms Cooper made it clear that shebelieved the Federation were rightto fight the 20% cuts in policing anddefend the service to the public. Shemade the point that the governmenthad systematically and continuallybriefed a partisan media to supporttheir claims of a pressing need toreform the service. The point wasmade that by using the service as apolitical punch bag the governmentare doing more to undermineconfidence in the service thananyone else.

Ms Cooper also made reference tothe illogical use of A19 and the factthat it was likely to cost thetaxpayer more to implement than itwill save. Finally she called for anindependent review of policing,although did not use the term RoyalCommission as demanded by theFederation. It is clear there is littlesupport in the political field forsuch a commission.

What Ms Cooper did not say washow the opposition wouldimplement any cuts or treat officers

pay and conditions. Politicians arenot known for their ‘up front’honesty, and it is clear the currentopposition is happy to highlightgovernments considerable failingsbut not say what the alternativemay be.

Whilst it is helpful to have some‘friends’ in the House of commonsat the moment (as there appear tobe pitifully few in government) Ithink a healthy dose of scepticismin whether things would be anydifferent in the future should thecolour of the government change atthe next election.

Brian Clifford

reflects the content of this PNB Circular.In respect of the comment made by

the editor, the precise wording of thecriteria referred to is “the individual issuffering from an illness which mayprove to be terminal”. Thankfully, thenumber of cases where officers and staffin the Force may fall within this criteriaare rare and exceptional, and wherethey do and have existed, the facts ofeach individual case are fullyconsidered against the meaning of thiscriteria. It is fact that we have officersand staff in the organisation that hadand still experience chronic illnesses,including cancer, and where suchconditions have caused us to reviewtheir pay arrangements, the criteria hasbeen fairly applied. Not all cancers“may prove to be terminal”, and readerswill no doubt have knowledge ofcolleagues, friends and family wherethis is, thankfully, the case. Specificallyin relation to the comment made, thefacts are that throughout 2010, therewere three cases where officers’ pay wasreviewed as a result of absence causedby a cancer condition; in two of thesethree cases pay was extended beyondthe period stated within PoliceRegulations.

It is not the policy of the HumanResources Department to interpretnationally agreed criteria with theexpress aim of achieving savings for theorganisation. Not only would this beimproper, it would be unethical. But itis our responsibility to ensure thatwhere nationally agreed criteria exist,they are applied fairly, consistently andaccurately, have integrity and stand upto scrutiny from those we areanswerable to.

The subject understandably provokesemotive remarks, but in relation to thepublished comment, given the above,we feel the impression conveyed was atbest controversial, and at worstmisleading.

We extend our thanks to the editorialteam at Blueprint for the opportunity toreply.

Kim CarterEmployment Relations ManagerHuman Resources DepartmentMay 2011

Shadow Home Secretary– False Hope or Empty

promises!

Blueprint June 2011 3

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4 Blueprint June 2011

This year it was PhilMohamedʼs last conference.Phil stood down as Sergeants

Branch Board Secretary in Apriland has been on the Federationsince 1996. The Chairman ofGloucestershire Sgtʼs board andall the board members wish himwell in retirement.

The year since last conference has beena turbulent and uncertain one due to theHutton, Winsor and Neyroud reviews.With Winsor part 1, the government wantto negotiate on all of it by 26/07/11without the Federation having sight ofWinsor part 2. Not fair? Well that’s just aflavour of the issues we face and faced atconference.

The scene was set at Bournemouth fora confrontation to start with as guestspeakers Vernon Coaker MP- the shadowpolice minister and Nick Herbert MP- thepolice minister were billed to face off inthe Sgt’s conference.

Would Mr Herbert show up and facethe Fed? That was the question. SimonCaldwell and I myself had some doubts!

That said Simon managed to get us lostin the Conference centre on the way in,going in the wrong door and into thewrong part of the building! We may havegone off course, but if the ministershowed up, he was on a collision coursewith some very angry representativesfrom all over England and Wales!

The theme of Sgt’s Conference was“SOS – Save Our Service, Save OurSergeants”. The Conference was openedby Sgt’s Chair John Giblin. Being anelection year first business was to confirmelection of Sgt’s Central Committeemembers and reserves. An important partof the business of continuity of the Fed,but a very dry session as it went on a bit.Staying awake during this part was hardwork for some of our regional colleaguesfrom Dorset; after all they had travelledsuch a long way!

What follows gives you a taster of theusual business at Conference – we makeno apology as to the dry nature of it, butbear with us as it provides thebackground to what we called the Bigfight – the showdown with the PoliceMinister . The SCC annual report

The General Secretary Adele Kirkwoodhighlighted issues around Hutton,around Neyroud and around Winsor part

1. Other issues are the removal of CRTP,SPPs and incremental pay rises by31/08/11 and the two year pay freeze, tosave a quick £485m in Mr Winsor’s view.Part 2 is delayed until January 2012

Hutton recommends a change ofpension indexation from the Retail priceindex to the Consumer price index andincreases in contributions. Such a changeof indexation will reduce your pension by£800 per year if not challenged. TheFederation is making a legal challenge byway of a judicial review. Neyroudrecommends all entrants to the serviceneed a policing degree. Winsorrecommends changes to pay includingover time, on call allowances and mutualaid payments as well as flexible workingfor part time staff. There has been a totaldisregard to equality. Any impactassessment has been piece meal in itsapproach.

This amounts to a complete change tothe face of policing. If implemented itwill be the end of policing as we know it!This amounts to the fundamentaldismantling of the service pay andconditions structure and will affect theservices ability to police this country in aform the public know. John Giblinsummed it up by telling Nick Herbertthat this Government hate the police andthat the Government want to re-shape theservice in their own image!

The Central committee do not believethe Association of Chief Police Officers orthe Association of Police Authorities havesupported the rank and file. Instead theyhave supported cuts which will directlyimpact financially on our members andseriously effect service delivery to thepublic. There is no indication of whatmechanism will be used for pay in 2013,after the pay freeze. We don’t know whatWinsor will say in part 2 of his report andJohn Giblin gave his opinion that hebelieved Winsor doesn’t know either asthe Home Secretary has not written hisproposals for him!

The requests by staff side for an agreedOn call allowance to officers in specialistroles has been a bone of contention forseveral years and had not been agreedwith the official side at PNB.Negotiations were suspended untilWinsor reported – we now know herecommends officers have to be calledout on 12 occasions before being paid aderisory £15 – you can be assured we willfight this to ensure our members are not

abused in this way along with all theother recommendations at PoliceNegotiating Board and Police AdvisoryBoard. There are 62 recommendations sothe Federation has its work cut out.Winsor explained he wants to modernisethe service, yet his proposals could takeus back years to an era before theEdmund Davies recommendations of the1970s which saw Police pay modernisedfor the better!

Your Federation will do its best toreduce the impact of these measuresthrough the PNB. Please do not think wecan win it all, but our negotiating teamled by Ian Rennie, the joint GeneralSecretary will do the best they can.

The mood in the hall was sombre- wehave a fight to win and as members weneed your support. Delegates acceptedthe report to the Sgts Central committeein full. Treasurers report

There was some good news as the Sgtscentral funds are healthy, but we need themoney to meet the challenges ourmembers face. £88,000 has been donatedto the central fighting fund to challengewhere necessary the issues we have withthe Hutton, Winsor and Neyroudreviews. Your support as members isappreciated and your money is wiselyinvested as the trustees noted in theirreport and a tight rein on costs has beenmaintained. Costs have decreased bysound management. Careful managementof funds has always taken place, butofficer numbers are falling thanks to theimpact of 20% government cuts to theservice so this makes the value ofmember contributions all the moreimportant.

Motions to conference followed thereports including motions seeking tomake all motions passed or accepted aspolicy to be binding on the Sgt’s centralcommittee, taking away the committee’sflexibility to react to changingcircumstances where a policy could nolonger be relevant as to how theFederation should respond to issuesaffecting you the members.

Lengthy debate followed and Simonand I got the distinct impression somedelegates had not grasped theimplications of how the motions hadbeen worded. Unfortunately the motionswere successful. Only afterwards did thepenny drop with some delegates that a

Sergeants Central Conference, Bournemouth 2011

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potential problem had just been imposedon the committee. Following somediscussion later in the week with yourSgts branch board Simon and I will seekthe board’s approval to submit a motion tonext year’s conference removing the worsteffects of these badly worded motions.

If you have got this far, well done! And now as billed, The Big fight

In the red corner Vernon Coaker MPShadow Minister for Policing and in theblue corner Nick Herbert the PoliceMinister. Reported elsewhere NickHerbert was given a very hard time inconstable’s conference. What follows ismuch of the same.

John Giblin introduced the session andexpressed the Federation’s lack of faith inACPO. He said the Government neededto realize cuts in officer numbers willhave serious consequences. Having setthe tone we could see, the ministerlooked uncomfortable on the platform.

All the minister could talk about wasjustification for the cuts, but he could notdefend, an 11.4billion increase in foreignaid reported in the media earlier in theweek or 323 top executives at RBS a stateowned bank receiving a 1.2m bonus eachin March. This along with other issueswhich have seen government divertfunds from the service and fail to act inthe countries homeland security interestwas challenged by conference and fuelledthe flames of a hot question and answersession.

Vernon Coaker stated he believed 12%cuts could have been made asrecommended by Sir Dennis O’Connor’sHMIC original proposals, but the cutsshould have been made over a longerperiod of time to reduce the impact onthe service and staff. In essence the 20%government cuts were too much tooquick, to the detriment of the service andto the detriment of the public. VernonCoaker accepted that public perceptionand that of the service had justifiableconcerns and there is a need for thegovernment to listen.

The general consensus at the end of thedebate was the minister was still failingto listen. All he would say is there is anurgent need for change and a royalcommission would take too long. Ashame that a royal commission was notinvoked last year when the governmentcame to power. Vernon Coaker stated thiswould still have to be given consideration

in the future if Labour is returned topower. John Giblin believed that as sucha royal commission would beindependent. It would draw its ownconclusions and may not reach theconclusions this government would liketo hear, hence this government’s refusalto allow this to take place.

In summary to appreciate theatmosphere and discomfort the policeminister appeared to be exhibiting youhad to be there! We made the points youwish to be raised and demonstrated ouranger that the government do notsupport the police service or itsmembership, ultimately to the detrimentof the public. When we had finished NickHerbert appeared to be on the verge oftears if not very flustered! He waschallenged on every point he made. Rest

assured your Sgt’s Board andGloucestershire’s Joint Branch Board doessupport you and will fight on.

For more information on Sgt mattersvisit the PFEW website or contact yourRepresentative.

Remember it’s more than just a diary-be part of It.!

Simon Caldwell Chair SBB and DougCampbell Secretary SBB

Sergeants Central Conference, Bournemouth 2011

Blueprint June 2011 5

OLYMPICSAn update on the Olympics was given at Conference by John Coppen, Chairof the Olympic Working Group. The update was understandably short assome aspects of the planning process must remain secure for obvious reasonsand the update was given in an open forum.

The operation begins with the start of the torch relay, details of which havenow been released and will run through to the end of the Paralympics.

The policing of the relay is being coordinated on a regional basis, but thepolicing of particular events associated with the relay will be policed by theforces hosting the events.

The majority of the strategic planning for the main event is in place with theFederation ensuring that the human element is not lost during this process.Some of the aspects looked at include –

• Annual Leave – there will be restrictions on annual leave and guidancehas been sent out to Chief Officers suggesting a 7% limit for annual leave forthe majority of officers, although it is recognised that there may need to befurther restrictions around leave for some specialist roles.

• Shift Patterns – most non specialist officers will work a seven day pattern;day 1 will be for travel, days 2-6 will consist of an 8 hour tour of duty plusovertime of 4 hours, day 7 will be for travel back to force. The hours to beworked have yet to be determined.

• Accommodation – in Dorset this will be at a mobile home site and forLondon it will be at Hillfield University in Hereford.

The impact that the Windsor Report, potential changesto overtime and so on will have on getting / persuadingofficers to work is not really known yet but is beingconsidered and the effect of A19 and the associated loss ofexperienced and skilled officers is causing concern.

Finally, and without any sense of irony, the desired lookand feel for the games is one of a cheery disposition –keep smiling!!

Erik Sherwood

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6 Blueprint June 2011

Billed as an opportunity toask questions and raiseconcerns about the current

climate in policing. Afternoonsessions can suffer the challengeof keeping an audience attentive.No chance of nodding off duringthis lively debate! If the issueswere not so serious for allmembers of the police service,this session could have beenmistaken for a pantomime. Criesof “Oh yes they will and oh nothey wonʼt” could so easily havereplaced the political platitudesprovided by the panel members.

John Stapleton kicked of proceedingsby reminding Sir Dennis O’Connorthat he had gone on record last yearand stated that a 12% cut in the policebudget would have a serious impact,and asked him for his thoughts nowthat the full scale of the budgetimplications were known. Sir Dennis’response was to say that he had givenhis best objective view and that hethought 12% was a strong ask andwould take some time to achieve, butthat 20% would be very hard.

This was followed by Dave James ofDevon and Cornwall openingquestioning from the floor by askinghow local council tax contributorswould feel about the loss of 700officers in his force. The PoliceMinister countered that this was actionof necessity, not choice, and mutteredabout how collective procurementsavings would not mean the loss ofpeople. Vernon Coaker replied that itwas “ludicrous to pretend it will notaffect frontline” services.

Despite the evidence provided by arepresentative, Mr. Herbert did notbelieve that police officers would beworse off by £4,000 a year and that therecommendations of the Winsor reportwould have this impact on all officers.

He reminded the audience that theWinsor recommendations were anindependent review. Cue cynical groanfrom the audience. The PFEW Chair,Paul McKeever in response, stated thatthe Minister didn’t understand theimpact on officers of a potential 20%cut in pay.

A Warwickshire representativehighlighted the correlation betweenthe number of officers and the rise incrime which had already happened inhis force (40% increase in domesticburglary in April compared toprevious year and 20% increases incrime generally). With 12,000 officersto go nationally it was inevitable thatcrime would increase. Nick Herbertrejected this assumption but VernonCoaker reminded the Police Minister“You can’t keep telling people they arewrong – you actually have to listen topeople – people want respect.” Cueloud applause and approval from thefloor.

E mail comments were displayed onthe big screen with one referring to thelack of support for from ACPO rankswho should “hang their heads inshame”.

Sir Dennis O’Connor highlighted theBritish police service is a world brandservice that has to adapt, learn andmove on. Pardon me for being sonaïve, but it seems to me that if anorganisation is recognised around theworld as the best of the best, aninspiration and example to other forcesaround the world, so much so that

other countries want to model theirservice on the way the British bobbydoes business, why oh why does thisGovernment want to destroy it.

NPIA confirmed that £3 billion isspent on procurement for IT systems,body armour, fleet etc nationally byforces. It was recognised that £380 mhad been saved by canny procurementactivity. Two questions spring to mind.Why wasn’t this challenge to costsundertaken as part of a good fiscalaccounting procedure before theeconomy took a nosedive? What willhappen to the work that the NPIAundertook now that the organisationwill shortly cease to exist? No answersby any panel member to thesequestions.

A Merseyside rep reminded thepanel that police members did nothave a contractual industrial right toprotect themselves i.e. the right tostrike.

There was anger and bewildermentamongst officers and the issue of trusthad been broken because they hadsigned up to a set of conditions whichwere now to be frozen withoutconsultation.

The facilitator put it to the PoliceMinister “This is a done deal – you’regoing through the motions.”

Nick Herbert defended thegovernment stance that this wassimply not true, the Winsor report wassubject to consultation and negotiation.“Pay should reflect the job done”.

A plea was proposed to protect the

Joint Conference facilitated by John StapletonNick Herbert – Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice

Vernon Coaker – Shadow Minister of State for Policing and Criminal JusticeSir Denis OʼConnor – Chief Inspector of Constabulary, HMIC

Derek Barnett, President Police Superintendents Association of England and WalesPaul McKeever, Chairman, Police Federation of England and Wales

Nick Gargan – NPIA

Question Time Panel

JohnStapleton

NickHerbert

VernonCoaker

Sir Denis OʼConnor

DerekBarnett

PaulMcKeever

NickGargan

Tuesday 17 May

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Blueprint June 2011 7

Donʼt be drawn in by the title(as I was when I offered tocover the session), I was

expecting a session on PolicingStandards or even what wasexpected from our BritishOlympic Team. Unfortunately Iwas mistaken. embers.

To say the afternoon was slow andunder attended following the packedConference Hall to see the HomeSecretary is an understatement.

The presentation by Dr. Bill Lewinski(PhD) was linked with the introductionof the new Officer Safety Manual onNCALT.

Dr Lewinski was commissioned bythe Federation Joint Central Committeein 2008 to lead a study into OfficerSurvival and Officer Success followingstressful and violent situations. Hisreport is due to be published to the JCCin June this year, in it he will examineOfficers Safety, rational thinking andability to concentrate when faced withmore demanding, stressful and violentsituations.

youngest officers by maintainingincremental pay rises.

Representatives expressed concernsthat as cuts in other public sectorservices began to bite, the policewould be under more pressure to fillthe gaps in service provision that otherauthorities had previously managed.This was because it was easy to dial999 and expect the police service torespond.

ACPO and their lack of support forthe rank and file officers came undersome flack. Paul McKeever summedthis up as “ACPO having an extendeddose of laryngitis. What is going on at

the moment absolutely stinks.”Nick Herbert tried to provide some

comfort to members in explaining therush to implement the Winsorrecommendations by 1st Sept ashelping officers to avoid “uncertainty”.Unfortunately this facile suggestion didnot convince one ballsy, femaleLeicestershire detective who askedwhat the Government was going to doif there was no agreement. She voicedthe feelings of all representativespresent when she stated. “It’s a donedeal and we’re going to get shafted”.Mr. Herbert said he would not answerhypothetical questions. She walked

back to the microphone, looked at himcoolly and simply said “You just have.”

The clearest expression of how policeofficers feel was expressed by aquotation from a West Mercia officer.“I feel like a dog that keeps beingkicked and nomatter how manytimes I return tolick my master’shand the kickskeep coming.”

Carole Ajinkya

Minimum Standards – Olympic Performance

We must send a clear message to this GovernmentBe very careful that by taking on the police you have not

bitten off more than you can chew.

His report is based on studies acrossCanada, USA and UK involving DriverTraining, Firearms training and OfficerSafety Training along with limitedinformation from real life incidentdebriefs.

In essence the basis of the report isthen Safety Training of all types is aperishable skill and despite havinginitial Safety Training, whenconfronted by a violent and aggressiveoffender or stressful situation officerscan freeze and rely on what can onlybe described as street tactics that youhave grown up with. (We all can putourselves in this position and haveexamples of this happening to us).This is then followed by a decrease inability to recall events as they actuallyhappened.

Officers forget what they have beentaught in training; because it is not anatural environment they findthemselves in. The initial training andyearly refresher in OST does not equipofficers to react instantaneously to thesituation they face, it covers basicrestraint and holds that are practiced

in a sterile and non confrontationalenvironment.

His study has found that followingan intensive training course andregular refresher training along withregular use of the skills taught, theOfficer’s skills do not perish. Theconcerns are raised in regard to OST,and it is thought the report willrecommend an increase in initial safetytraining followed up with longer, morein-depth and realistic refreshertraining. Not the slimming down ofcourses, and reduction of skills taught,and the non realistic scenarios.

I would not expect to see changesovernight and the report althoughintended to increase officer safety willno doubt cause some concerns in thecurrent climate ofsaving money notincreasingspending on morein depth courses.

Mike Harrison

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8 Blueprint June 2011

Well people, here I am againwriting a post-conferenceprécis of one of the

presentations we sit through.Readers of my previous attemptswill know I suffer fools badly, andits my observation that many ofthose who are released to makeappearances on stage here arehaving an amusing attempt atpersuading me to slash my wrists.

In this instance, it wasn’t theperformers particularly who were atfault, but the subject they werecommenting on……..a newgovernment experiment whichseems to have escaped from ‘Alicein Wonderland’. The proposal isquite woolly, and took me someminutes to (almost) understand, butin essence seems to generally followthe below skeleton:

A panel of experts commented onthe proposal, which is alreadyhaving a trial run at a private prison(HMP Peterborough), with the‘probation’ aspect dealt with by acharity. Its funded via thebanks……..the scheme has beenrunning under a year & is alreadyout of funds. The governmentdecided to do without a controlsample, which I have no doubtmeans that the scheme will be aroaring success, even if it falls flaton its face.

No-one had a good word for thesystem, which wasn’t a surprisegiven that none of them wereGovernment MPs. I’ll just give youa few examples of what was said, ascondemning the outright sillydoesn’t take much skill….

Harry :- “it’s the latest gimmickfrom government” “theres nocontrol group so they can skew thefigures”

Helen :- “Ken Clarke wants to seta target for the maximum prisonsize, and will give 50% off asentence for an early admission”(think about that…a maximumprison population…they don’t go tojail if there isn’t a bed)

Mark Freeman (prison service) (IDID write it down after all!), said“Ken Clarke was asked, “How willthis all work?” - he replied, “Ihaven’t the faintest idea!”

Mark also said that several yearsago, long term prisoners had prisonofficers who designed their stays in

chokey so that they came out thegates as better people, but back thenKen Clarke liked locking peopleup…..prison populations rose 42%,officer numbers rose 7%. Result - theplanning of the sentence beingserved stopped through lack ofresourcing. Short sentencesexacerbate the effect, as theprisoners are out before you canimpact on them.

As an aside, he told us he WILLbe pulling his members out on astrike (even though prison strikesare illegal, asking when we findourselves stood opposite him, thatwe treat him gently

Well, that’s the barebones……another Frankenstein’smonster clumping the corridors ofpower. Do all the other Governmentdepartments get such interestingexperiments, or is there anenlightened Whitehall mandarinthat plays to our black sense ofhumour? Honestly, you couldn’twrite it if you tried (okay, so I justdid. It took me 3 hours as the pinskept sticking in the keyboard!)

Best wishes from the seaside. I’mnow passing onthe sharedcomputer toanother victimto write his taleof woe!

Miles Ajinkya

Payment By Results”

1. The government wants lower reoffending rates (sane)

2. Its prepared to pay for results any agency, private or not, who can achieve this (sensible)

3. The period of measurement is 6years – costs over that period are met by the agency, rewards at the end cover the costs plus

a bonus (…errr)4. It appears no-one will be able

to identify the particular thing that stopped the reoffending (…someone is losing the plot- how do you prove they earned their money?)

5. Its so badly thought out that a Police Force could in theory claim money if they just ignoreany particular offender’s decision to nick your telly (…that’s better, real Westminster logic, now I feel athome!)

The panel were:Helen Goodman, MP, Shadow Justice Secretary

Baroness Helen NewloveHarry Fletcher (Probation)

A prison service Union chap (sorry, I missed his name whilsthunting pins to ram under my fingernails)

Mal Taylor (Police fed)

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Blueprint June 2011 9

Our Chairman, PaulMcKeever was nothingshort of brilliant when he

addressed the Home Secretary atConference. No more Mr NiceGuy! The gloves were off and theHome Secretary was going to beleft in no doubt as to our disgustat the way she, the PolicingMinister Nick Herbert and theCoalition Government weretreating us. Early on he told theHome Secretary that hercomments on our bravery anddedication were “no more thanplatitudes”.

He said that we were “trulyastonished at the massive andsavage cuts to policing” and that itwas “sheer nonsense” to say thatthere would be no effect on thedelivery of policing to ourcommunities.

Mr McKeever went on to questionthe Governments approach tocutting costs in policing where theycontinually spin the line that WEhave the choice of job losses or 20%cuts. She herself was choosing tomake the cuts, we don’t get achoice. He then questioned whetherthis was “Payback for perceivedslights in the past” when he stated“This isn’t reform, this is revenge”.He said to her “You are responsiblefor what’s happening to policeofficers and the communities weserve across the country”. Hecontinued that we appear to have aHome Office policy that can simplybe defined as “be kind to criminals,be cruel to cops”.

He told her that we accepted thatwe had to take our fair share of thecuts. However the reality was thatwe were being treated differentlyand fairness was not on the agenda.“Police Officer’s can smell

unfairness and under-handedness ata thousand meters”. “HomeSecretary, this stinks”.

He warned that there was muchunhappiness and resentment insociety at the moment which wouldno doubt manifest itself in somesort of disorder in the future. Theirony being that we will be the oneswho will be expected to clear up themess. He said that “We arecareering towards what could be themeltdown of the British PoliceService”.

He finished by making an appealto everyone in the Country. “Saveyour Police Service from therecklessness inherent within thisGovernment’s cavalier and ill-conceived policies”.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May,then approached the lectern to aspontaneous deafening silence. Shepredictably started by telling ushow wonderful we are statingamongst other things “You putyourselves in harms way to keep ussafe”. She also added that not all ofus would like some of the decisionsshe had taken and that not all of uswould like what she was going tosay. (I think it would be moreaccurate to have said “NONE” ofus).

She stated that the reductionswere challenging but manageableand that it wasn’t revenge but arescue mission to recover theeconomy. The Government couldnot ignore the deficit or put off thecuts because in the long term thatwould mean more cuts and morejob losses.

She defended the Winsor Reportsaying that she believed many ofthe proposals would be welcomedby officers on the front line, addingthat the majority of savings

identifiedwould beploughedstraight backinto pay.

She spokeabout reducingbureaucracy,the targetculture, givingus backdiscretion,simplifying crime recording,improving the PDR process and soon. She said “We have a model ofpolice accountability designed inthe 1950’s and a model of police paydesigned in the 1970’s”. “We needto build a 21st century policeservice”. (An interestingstatement!).

The theme of the speech was anattempt to justify the cuts andreforms as though they have nochoice in what they were doing. It isclear that she was rattled by MrMcKeever’s speech and the silencethat greeted her. It is also clear thatshe is not listening to us and thatthe coming months of negotiationwill be tough.

Mr McKeever has sent thestrongest message that we aredisgusted with her stance and thatwe will defend ourselves usingevery legitimate means at ourdisposal.

Transcripts of both speeches canbe found on ourwebsite.

Graham Riley –Secretary JBB

The sleeping Giant awakes

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10 Blueprint June 2011

Policewomen-an endangered Species

The formalities of eve ofconference were discussed, wethen moved on to the three

main speakers of the afternoon.Starting off with Emma Hawksworth,

a specialist solicitor, from RJW Solicitorswho do a lot of work representingpolice officers for The Federation. Shediscussed flexible working giving someexamples of stated cases from the lastyear including Age Discriminationnamely BBC ‘refreshing ‘ its presenterson Countryfile. She also discussed the2007 Home Office Guide to flexibleworking. Examples of good practisebeing flexible working, part time, jobshare, fixed shifts, VSA and compressedhours, different locations, local postingsand home working. There were severalexamples from the floor of Forcesundergoing ‘Restructuring’ and failingto get to grips with their flexible andpart –time workers.

Jayne Monkhouse OBE, thendiscussed the equality impact of TheWinsor and Neyroud reports. She statedin her opinion should these reports beadopted then they would undo all thegood work around equality of the lastthirty years. Taking us back to theworking practises of the 1970s, Sheparticularly stressed the negative impactof the ‘ Expertise and ProfessionalAccreditation Allowance’ which willreplace CRTP and SPPs in a verynegative way for women as theyspecifically targeted Firearms officers,Level 2 public order and investigation,and officers with over three years onSCTs. Clearly less women, olderemployees and disabled officers wouldbe eligible for these than they were SPPsand CRTPs and they were alreadyunfairly disadvantaged by them! TheEPAAs would remain until the JCS wasin place which will be a lengthy processand in the meantime many minoritygroups would be disadvantaged. InNeyroud’s case she analysed thosegoing to University and felt there was agreater potential for discrimination

should his report be introduced. Insummary she felt both reports haddisregarded Equality Legislation andwould severely impact the number ofwomen in the police.

Professor Bob Elliott concentrated onthe Windsor report, he gave specificexamples of officer’s incremental payincrease being frozen for 2 years startingSep 2011, which would lead to theseofficers losing over £4,695.00 in total.Abolishing CRTPs and SPPs, reducingrates of overtime (which goes back toconditions in the 1970s!) abolishing the5 day notice period of cancelled RDs,which he stated that the Governmenthad said would improve managerialefficiency(laughter from the floor). Hethen stated the EPAA would be abackwards step and that in the next 5-10years things would only get worse. Twofemale officers stated they would haveto consider returning to their previousoccupation’s (electrician and civilengineer) as they would be better paidand appreciated with a better quality oflife. Jayne Monkhouse chipped in thatdiversity was the first thing to suffer

Policewomen’s Eve of Conference

when times were hard, this lead to acall for a ’Royal Commission onPolicing’.

We ended with a clip from ‘Made inDagenham 2010’ and the instigatorsfrom the Ford factory, Gwen Davis andVera Sime came to the stage. They gaveus a little information on the history ofthe battle for equal pay. It was not until1984 they were classified as skilledworkers and treated the same as themen at Ford’s factory. They stated thatuntil they had seen the film they hadn’trealised the global impact of theiractions, they had been fighting for theirown cause. They received a warmreception and Kaye Adams (loosewomen) closed the meeting.

Caroline Paxford & Andrea Thompson-Taylor

This yearʼs InspectorsʼConference was labelled“Shooting Stars” which

showed the image of ACPO andthe Home Secretary firingshotguns at Inspectorsʼ pips.

Alan Jones the ICC Chair gave hisopening address and stated that the20% cut in policing budgets wasreckless. He felt there needed to be anoverview of all the different reportsin circulation which affect policingand a discussion about what hadactually broken down in today’smodern police service.

Public satisfaction is good,

Inspectors CentralConference 2011

detections are good and communityengagement is good, so what is theproblem which requires thissustained government-led attack onthe service?

The recent Polfed survey reveals98% of members say moral is at rockbottom and 91% say that cuts willaffect the frontline service providedto the public.

It was disappointing to note thatthere was no mention in the WinsorReview of the Chief Inspector rankand the very real issues which existin terms of pay versus role andresponsibility. The proposal that the

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Blueprint June 2011 11

Policewomen’s Eve of Conference

first 12 days of on-call should be freeof payment, will lead to exploitationand abuse by some senior managers,and it was made very clear toConference that on-call is voluntaryand that principle is paramount.

The view was that the NeyroudReport had too many variables andunknowns. The question was raisedas to why there was the need for aprofessional body to accredit policeofficers. What are the training costsgoing to be to Forces? Overall themood was that there are lots ofincomplete pieces to the jigsaw whichhave been created by the Governmentand Conference challenged theGovernment to state clearly thefuture of policing in England andWales.

The rest of Conference revolvedaround updates on PNB matters andit was disclosed that the HomeSecretary wanted the PNB to havesorted Winsor by the 28th July 2011.This was a very unrealistic timescaleif she is to commit to full negotiationinvolving Conciliation and the PoliceAppeals Tribunal procedures.

The Chair of the Superintendents’Association speech clearly indicatedthat there is very real concern by theSuperintendents about Winsor andHutton etc’ Superintendents’numbers have reduced by 150 overthe past 12 months and that increasesthe workload of Chief Inspectors andInspectors. The message has beengiven before that Inspecting ranksshould record the hours they work inorder to demonstrate the excessivetime being worked over and abovenormal duty hours. TheSuperintendents’ Association is alsoadvising their members to do thesame, as hard evidence will beneeded in thefuture to prove thepoint and preventabuse by Forces.

Neil Winter

Debate into PoliceTerms and Conditions.During conference there was a lively debate including a question and

answer session with the Futures Group about Police terms and conditionsissues following the sixty two recommendations of Tom Winsor’s Report. TheFutures Group are a think tank put together to look at everything in theReport and its impact. The first observation is the very uneven burden beingplaced on the public sector to reduce the government deficit. The country iscurrently in the longest period of recession since 1930 and the deepest sinceWorld War II.

The government appears to have singled out the police for special treatmentwhen it comes to the level of cuts with a 20% cut effectively reducing thePolice purse by 485 million pounds. The Defence Budget has been reduced by7% and the Education Budget by just under 10%.This week I have heard theHome Secretary Theresa May and the Policing Minister Nick Herbert say wemust “share the pain” and” we are all in this together”, but as can be seen thecontributions are unequal and we have clearly been unfairly targeted. TheGovernment also appears to have ignored the survey by Her Majesty’sInspectorate of Constabularies who suggested that any more than a 12% cutwould lead to a cut in front line services. What does this mean in real termsthus far? Most forces are reducing officers by natural wastage, none arecurrently recruiting and some have invoked regulation A19 where officers canbe retired compulsorily after 30 years service.

If the recommendations of Tom Winsor are implemented there will be noincremental pay progression for officers not on the top pay scale for two years;this will affect 55% of Police Constables and 45% of Sergeants, Inspectors andChief Inspectors. This would mean a Police Constable on the completion oftraining would lose £3,186 and £4,695 in the second year taking into accountthe cumulative effect. In addition to this, there is currently a two year publicsector pay freeze with effect from September 2011.

The recommendations of abolishing Competence Related ThresholdPayments and Special Priority Payments will affect 40% of Police Constablesin both cases. Some Police Constables could see a reduction in pay by as muchas 20%.When you take into consideration: the recent VAT rise, the inflationrate of 5.2 % according to the Retail Prices Index, the rise in NationalInsurance contributions and possible hike in pension rates the future lookspretty bleak. On the positive side you may be eligible for the new Expertiseand Professional Accreditation Allowance, but the way I see it, there are nowinners only losers.

The Police Negotiating Board will soon meet to consider therecommendations of Winsor, and the Government have set a deadline of July26th 2011 for negotiations to be completed. This will be an extremelychallenging time scale. I hope that consideration will begiven to young in service officers who appear to being hitdisproportionately bearing in mind they often have morecommitments including large mortgages and youngfamilies to support.

I leave you with a final word from the General Secretaryof the Police Federation of England and Wales, Ian Rennie,”The only thing you get for less, is less”

Henry Wright

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12 Blueprint June 2011

Am I Protected??Most individuals pass through life and

never hear those words ‘You have theright to remain silent………………..’Except in a Hollywood movie!

Not so a Police Officer.All of us will at some time be seated

before a member of Professional Standardsand find ourselves subject to a criminaland misconduct investigation.

We all quickly understand that the vastmajority of these allegations are utternonsense and have no substance at all.

We almost become blasé to them andthey are just part of being a Police Officer.

As a member of the Police Federationyou will always have full appropriateLegal representation for all Duty relatedincidents provided free of charge.

However,What if an allegation is not related to

your duty as a Constable?This can present a very real peril for

you.You will face a far more in depth

investigation than a member of the public.The ramifications for even a very minor

conviction are dire.Any dishonesty, violence, or even

serious motor conviction will almostcertainly put your whole career injeopardy.

A member of the public, rather thanspend thousands of pounds defending aminor allegation can, if appropriate, accepta caution, Again not an option for a PoliceOfficer.

Why Will It Cost Money To MountA Defence??

You may be aware that in January 2010the Legal Aid system in the UK changed.Up till that point as soon as you elected tobe tried at Crown Court the whole costswere met by the Legal ServicesCommission. (L.S.C.).

That support has now changed.

If you are arrested or interviewed undercriminal caution you still have a right tofree representation but if you are chargedyou will immediately be assessed and yourincome and your partners income will beconsidered and you will have to make anup front contribution to your defencecosts.

Although each case is unique but we arefinding that the average contributionrequired to defend a relatively minor caseat the Crown Court for a Police Officer isaround £9,000.

If the case is appropriate to be dealt withwithin the Magistrates Court you will haveto find the whole of your defence costs andthey tend to average out around £4,000.

The 2nd Peril. Misconduct issues!There is the 2nd potential peril for Police

Officers and again that can have seriousfinancial ramifications.

We have already stated that the PoliceFederation will fully fund any Misconductinterviews or indeed hearing that you facethat are Duty related.

However, as we all know, often non dutyrelated incidents can and do lead tomisconduct investigations.

A major problem with these issues isthat even if you win at the MisconductHearing you can not recover your owndefence costs.

Simply put even an innocent Officer canfind themselves many thousand of poundsout of pocket with no redress against theForce or even the individual who made theallegation.

Are You Protected?If you are a member of the Police

Federation and the Group InsuranceScheme YES!

Working with our insurers we haveplaced new levels of cover within theGroup Scheme in relation to Criminal andMisconduct Allegations.

Historically the Legal Expense Insuranceelement of the Scheme always excluded

cover for On Duty incidents, that exclusionhas now been removed.

This means that should you findyourself subject to any misconductinvestigation regardless of the origin ofthat allegation you simply contact yourFederation Representative in the normalway.

They will ensure you get all theappropriate support and apply for theCentral federation Office to fund the case.If that application is declined the GroupInsurance takes over the funding with nochange in any way in relation to thesupport you receive.

They have arrangements with all ourretained Solicitors ( R.J.W. etc.) to ensurethat only the very best Lawyers who fullyunderstand the nature of PoliceMisconduct are available to you.All costs, that not available from thecentral Federation Funds will be met bythe Insurance Scheme.

Historically the Legal Expense elementof the Scheme always excluded manytypes of Criminal Allegations. In particularany Violence related offences and anyDrink Drive Offences.

They also made no provision for CrownCourt Representation.

They also specifically excluded any onduty incidents.

Again all these exclusions have beenremoved and you can now rest assuredthat if you find yourself subject to anyCriminal Allegation you can robustlymount your defence without fear offinancial hardship.

Simplistically put at the earliest possibleopportunity if you are aware of aninvestigation against you or indeed youare unlucky enough to be arrested seeksupport from your Federation who willengage a lawyer on your behalf at no costto you. That support will remain in place ifrequired until the end of Due Process.

All your contributions to the L.S.C. will bepaid by the Insurance Scheme.

Legal Prosecution Protection

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Blueprint June 2011 13

Age Single Couple Couple &Children

Single &Children

17-25 £15.00 £30.00 £37.50 £22.5026-30 £22.50 £45.00 £56.25 £33.7531-35 £26.79 £53.58 £66.97 £40.1836-40 £30.90 £61.80 £77.25 £46.3541-45 £36.05 £72.10 £90.13 £54.0846-50 £40.69 £81.37 £101.71 £61.0351-53 £45.00 £90.01 £112.51 £67.5154 & 55 £49.29 £98.58 £123.22 £73.9356-58 £56.25 £112.51 £140.64 £84.3859 & 60 £58.93 £117.87 £147.33 £88.4061-63 £63.42 £126.85 £158.57 £95.1464 & 65 £66.63 £133.26 £166.56 £99.9466-68 £73.04 £146.09 £182.61 £109.5669 & 70 £78.38 £156.63 £195.97 £117.5871-75 £80.36 £160.73 £200.91 £120.5476+ £91.08 £182.16 £227.70 £136.62

� Access to expert medical opinions (Medical & Surgical)� Outpatient investigations (X-rays, Blood tests, scans)� Hi-tech investigations (MRI, CT, Endoscopy, Arthroscopy etc)� Hospital Admission for anything from Wisdom Teeth to Heart Bypass� Post-op consultations and advice� Physiotherapy. Osteopathy. Chiropractic Treatment.� £100 per year Dental cash benefit� £2 monthly reduction if you pay into Flint House

For more information:Visit ourWebsite on: www.tchf.org Email: [email protected]

Can you afford NNOOTT tobe a member?Monthly Subscriptions

Don’t delay - Join TODAY

TriCare Managing the Gloucestershire Po-

lice Federation Health Fund

This is a brief outline of acomprehensive Legal Expensepackage. Below are some otheraspects you may not be aware of

Your Partner/Spouse has thesame cover in respect to the aboveCriminal allegation support

Your Spouse/Partner has fullsupport in relation to EmploymentDisputes

You and your full family havefull uninsured loss recovery cover.You do not need to pay anyadditional premium that is oftenoffered by your Vehicle Insurers.These additional premiums areoften in excess of £20 per vehicleper year

You have Bankruptcy Cover. Ifyou are unfortunate enough to faceBankruptcy the scheme will paythe court fees and administrationfees that are associated withBankruptcy.

School Appeals, If you believeyour child is wrongly refusedadmission to a chosen school, thecost and advice to mount anappeal are covered.

You and your family have fullidentity theft cover. If your identityis stolen they will engage lawyerson your behalf to regain theprovidence of your identity andnegate any losses incurred due tothe theft.

Please feel free to contact theOffice or indeed Philip Williamsand Co. (01925604421) ourproviders if you have anyquestions in relation to this or anyaspect of your Group Scheme.Please take a little time to read thePolicy Booklet, There is far more init than many of us realise.Finally, you only have the above

cover if you are in the scheme; Please check your payslip to

ensure that you are in the scheme.If not and you wish to join pleasecontact the Federation Office.

Valerie Powell who has worked for TriCare sinceit’s inception 14 years ago has retired ! Val waspresented with a gift from her colleagues andfriends at a retirement function attended by theManagement Committee of TriCare and founderTrustees of the Scheme – John Lane, former SecretaryGloucestershire JBB, Dave Wilkes former Secretary WestMercia JBB and Richard Critchley former Secretary of West YorkshireFederation.

Andy White the current Secretary of West Mercia made a speech in whichhe congratulated Val for her hard work and commitment and for the manymoves of office they had endured over the years. Val said she could lookback with amusement at some of the office locations – from beingsurrounded by filing cabinets to being moved to the Dog Section and an expolice house – they had also been attacked by housemartins and flies, butthroughout it all Val never lost her sense of humour and we will be forevergrateful for her efforts in helping us to achieve a Health Scheme that we andour members are proud of.

Thanks Val and may we wish you a very long and happy retirement !!

Tricare – Managing the Gloucestershire Police Federation Health Scheme

Val Retires

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14 Blueprint June 2011

The session was introduced by Paul Davisof the Federation and the main speakerwas Superintendent Roger Gomm.

Whilst Officer Safety Training is a veryimportant subject the presentation itself wasvery dry in fact ʻtortuousʼ is perhaps a betterdescription.

The presentation started with a historylesson. Back in 2004, the Federationcommissioned a survey looking at: officersafety training, assaults on police andcomplaints made against police officersinvolved in confrontational situations. Between2004 and 2006 HMIC, NPIA, ACPO and theFederation worked together to collateinformation and as a result in 2007 the HMICpublished a report titled ʻSafety Mattersʼ.

We have however waited since from 2007 toget a ʻPersonal Officer Safety Manualʼ, but thewaiting is nearly over as it will be launched in

June 2011. The manual looks to resolve manyissues including: a lack of standardisation innational Officer Safety Training, dealing withthe lack of attendance at OST and the trainingof OS trainers. In essence making OST fit forpurpose with the setting of a national standard(useful when working in different force arease.g. Olympic duties). The manual is howeverguidance and not a Code of Practice forcompliance purposes.

The manual will also be available online asan N/Calt package. Nationally the Federationare concerned that some forces may try toreplace ʻhands onʼ OST with officers simplycompleting an N/Calt package. During thepresentation no mention was made of howmuch training should be undertaken andtherefore after the presentation I caught upwith Paul Davis to ask him. Paulʼs view is thatat least 12 hours will be recommended,

however it will be down to the forcesconcerned to decide on the trainingrequirements based on the needs of their staff.Forces will need to ensure that trainers do nottrain any techniques that are not in themanual, whilst being mindful that not trainingtechniques that are in the manual could lead toquestions as to ʻWhy not?ʼ in any subsequentinvestigation even though as stated above itʼsa guidance document.

Having read this article can I suggest thatyou next read the entry ʻMinimum Standards –Olympic Performanceʼ which looks at howhumans react in various situations includingpassive arrest and people who violently resistarrest – I wait to see if the new manual andsubsequent training deliver all of the OS skillsneeded for policing today.

Tony Fisk

The president of the New Zealand policeassociation was welcomed onto thestage on Wednesday morning. Jokes

about the old empire outpost and being thetoken overseas speaker were soon followed bya presentation that chilled us all. His subjectwas of course the devastating earthquake thathad hit New Zealand on 22 February 2011.

An audio tape of radio transmissions fromthe local police control room was playedfrom a minute before the quake hit throughto ten minutes into the event. A quiet day,early afternoon, people out of their officesfor lunch. The operator in the control roomis dealing with a caller and arranging tosend out an officer to investigate thematters reported when her voice changes,sounds fill the background as the building inwhich the control room is situated starts toshake and crumble, the ninth floor radioroom is falling apart around her. Along withthe audio transmission there in now runninga series of photographs and slides showingthe disintegration in the city of Christchurchin real time to the earthquake hitting. Theradio operator and the caller she wasdealing with are miraculously still talking,they check on each others welfare and thenshe quickly informs him that she does notthink she will be getting an officerdispatched to him today. Radio traffic poursinto her dusty and damaged control roomreporting the levels of destruction across anarea the size of the UK. Eight hundred

thousand people live in the area that hasbeen hit. All the officers reporting into thecontrol room are detailing damage on alevel no one has seen before, requests forfire brigade personnel accompany all thebroadcasts from the officers on the streetsof the now devastated city. The call takerwhose life we are monitoring faulters for amoment as a second shock hits the city,however she never stopped listening,recording and dealing with the calls thatwere flooding in from across the city. Amberalert was declared after five minutes and allthe emergency service staff for hundreds ofmiles knew that the day they had dreadedwould come had arrived. The slidescontinue flashing images across the screenwhich spell out the total devastation thatnow invades these peopleʼs lives. Duringthe quake, they lost one member of staff,and ninety officers lost their homes.

Greg OʼConnor then went onto speakabout the tremendous levels of support thathe and his colleagues had received fromaround the world. Three hundred Australianpolice officers flown into New Zealand aftertwo and a half days and immediately swornin as New Zealand constables so that theycould operate in the city and surroundingareas with all the accompanying powersthey required. They stayed for three weeksassisting the local officers and emergencyservice personnel to bring some semblanceof order and understanding to the tragedy

that had unfolded. He praised the mobilityand flexibility of those officers concerned.

He explained how the news of the quake“went viral”, and how so many countriesgave support and empathy, with donations tothe rescue effort quickly following. . Hisspeech ended with heartfelt thanks to allthose that had supported him and thecitizens of New Zealand over these difficulttimes. He also stressed how important it wasto continue with the international assistancethat the police give, as well as their localinter-area help. He urged for the need to bepart of The International Police Federation.

The chair of the Federation thenpresented him with a bottle of whisky, andhe only asked for us to assist them with oneother thing, to let them win the next worldcup.

Rich Boyles and Stew McIntyre

Greg OʼConnor, New Zealand Police, presentationon the earthquake and its immediate effect.

The “long awaited” re-launch of thePersonal Officer Safety Manual

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This is my final report on conference. Ihave been a sergeants representativesince 1996, during that time, Iʼve been

the Chair, and Secretary, of the SergeantsBranch Board (SBB), and been a disciplinerep, equality rep, and H&S rep – though notall at the same time. I was also a Trustee tothe Joint Branch Board Funds. Iʼve decidedto make my final report one about myConference memories, so youʼll excuse anold man his ramblings – by the time youread this Iʼll probably have retired!

I first got interested in the workings of theFederation by attending the overnight tripsto hear the Home secretary speak. In thosedays, probably late 80s early 90s, theovernight trip was a well attended event,with a coach required due to the numberswishing to attend. In those far off days,Conference had 4 venues, rotated annually.We used Scarborough, Brighton, Blackpooland Bournemouth. There are a number ofcurrent Federation Reps who first becameinterested in the workings of the Federationbecause of the overnight trips. Thepopularity of these trips had declined inrecent years, but, with all the attacks on ourservice taking place at the moment by thisgovernment, the Home secretaryʼs speechis once again a popular event, with over 40officers from Gloucestershire havingattended.

The first officers to pique my interest inthe workings of the federation were RogerSandal and Kev Price (senior). I wasworking in Barton Street at the time, and theFed Offices were upstairs. I remember these2 officers particularly coming in to the nick,and having a chat before going upstairs totheir meetings. As conference drew near,they were marketing the overnight trip,extolling the virtues of the healthy debates,and the chance to meet officers from allover the country. I decided the trip wasworth a go, so booked up. The Venue thatyear was Scarborough.

The trip was a long one, but I seem toremember being sat in a coach with plentyof other officers, playing cards and chattingabout police work, I think the main topic atthe time was the abolition of rent allowance,and the introduction of Poll Tax. Even backin those days, the government had ʻdonethe dirtyʼ on the service – the rent Allowanceincrease was due on 31st March, calculatedon the 2 years previous rates, and theGovernment refused to pay it, because PollTax was due on 1st April. Surprise surprise,it was a Tory Government that shafted usthen! Some things never change.

I remember the conference as a hall fullof police officers from all over the country.There were a number of debates on variousissues, and my vivid memory is of Officers

using the platform to express their views ontopics very rarely related to the motionbeing put forward. In those days, PoliceOfficers could have given any comedian inthe country a run for their money! Icontinued on a number of overnight tripswhile a Constable, principally because Icould never get elected in the electionsbecause of the quality of the officers in post!I managed to visit all the conferencevenues, heard a variety of Home secretariesspeak, and saw a number of differentreactions from the Federation Reps present,including slow handclaps, and completesilence! I even heard Jack Straw booedwhen he stated that Police Morale wasnever so high, despite all the attacks on ourservice. I formed the impression that HomeSecretaries lived in a dream world, andshould have tried to engage with Bobbies onthe beat instead of listening to theiradvisors. In fact, that would probably workfor most Chief Constables as well!

In 1994 I got promoted to sergeant, and 2years later, got elected to the SergeantsBoard when Kaz Dabrowski retired. My firstSBB/JBB meeting was in Shire Hall, andone of the topics was the next Conference,would I be interested in attending for theweek. Of Course I Would!!

So Iʼve been attending Conference eversince – the vast majority of occasions havebeen as a delegate. We lost Scarborough asa venue, and then we lost Brighton.Blackpool was due a renovation, so the onlyvenue we use now is Bournemouth.

I will always remember conference as aplace to meet and enjoy the company ofcolleagues from around the country. Itappears that, during the week, every otherperson you meet is a Police Officer – itʼs notdifficult to spot an off duty bobby, especiallywhen they are walking round the town ingroups. Iʼve met people I joined up withwhen theyʼve become reps, and weʼve sunka beer or two reminiscing about Chantmarle!

Unfortunately, Iʼll also rememberConference as the place where it seemsevery year we have to defend the Serviceagainst attacks from the currentGovernment. What is always a constant isthat, no matter which party is in opposition,they always think we are the best thingsince sliced bread and butter. How strangethen, that as soon as they get into power,out come the knives, and we are the easytarget – we canʼt strike, and our Negotiatingboard can be over-ruled by the HomeSecretary, as Jackie Smith did whenwithholding our pay rise. She then had thecheek to claim the benefit for the rise inpension commutation calculations, when theactuarial department had issued the revisedfigures a year previous. The federation

fought her on this matter, and many aretired officer got a surprise cheque in thepost.

There have been a few notable victoriesat conference though, including the thenHome Secretary Mr Blunkett admitting thathe was wrong – this astounded Conference,and referred to Blunketts assertion thatPolice Officers were a bunch of malingeringneʼer do wells who went sick at the drop ofa hat. Again the Federation countered this,with examples of officers bravery publishedprior to the Conference, and a video ofbrave and deceased officers shown justbefore his speech. His apology wasaccepted, but it is a theme of whateverGovernment is in power that they use themedia to attack us, before then attackingour conditions of service. It amazes me that,as only 3% of the public spending isallocated to policing, we are still beingattacked so strongly by this government,then I recall that David Cameron was ajunior minister in the Ken Clarke HomeOffice department that tried to introduce theSheehy report into Policing, which led to arally at Wembley, and a rather unsightlyback down by the Government. It wouldappear that Mr Cameron has a longmemory, and bears a bit of a grudge againstthe police.

It seems a shame to finish on a rantagainst the Government, but we are beingattacked on all fronts by them, be it Pay,Conditions of Service, or even pension. Wehave to stand together and show them thestrength of feeling against these attacks, orthe Service will change, and it certainlywonʼt be for the better.

Anyway, Iʼve done my bit, and Iʼveenjoyed nearly every minute of my service.Iʼve certainly enjoyed all of my federationwork, and the contacts Iʼve made. If I canleave you with one exhortation, itʼs this:-

Make every effort to attend FederationConference next year.It could start an interestthat will lead to a placeon the Board, andleave you with somevery happy memorieswhen you retire – thatʼscertainly myexperience.

Phil Mohamed

Ps.Theres one person who has been at the fedOffices since those early days, and stillmanages to smile every time she sees me.Nothing to do with conference memories,but thanks very much for all your help overthe years PAT MARTIN.

Last conference report

Page 16: Blue print - Gloucestershire Police Federation · 2018. 12. 7. · Gloucestershire police federation magazine No.50June2011 Blue print 35 Walton Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4

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