Response police officers the 'ultimate frontline’ and need recognition and support, says federation
RESPONSE police officers are ‘the ultimate frontline’ and need recognition and support, Hampshire Police Federation has said.
Response Policing Week took place from June 13-19, aiming to celebrate the professionalism and courage of response officers, but also to recognise the challenges they faced.
Federation chair Zoë Wakefield said: ‘Response officers are multi-skilled in that they’re able to deal with any job they’re deployed to from a domestic violence incident to a missing child, someone having a mental health episode or searching for a suspect.
‘They are one of the few areas of policing who work the full 24/7 shift pattern, and also have the most changes to working hours, which impacts their home life.
‘It needs recognition and I think all forces need to realise that they’re not just response officers, they are actually multi-skilled.
‘They’re normally the first officers the public meet and see, they’re the ultimate frontline. They also go to a huge number of traumatic incidents, so they need welfare and support.’