Police Getting Used To ‘New Normal’

OFFICERS in South Yorkshire are getting accustomed to a ‘new normal’ way of policing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And although frontline bobbies are still anxious about dealing with cases linked with coronavirus, they are determined to ensure people stop using the virus as a weapon after a spate of attacks against colleagues.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said: “These are strange times. We’re adapting as best we can.

“General demand is different now. It’s obviously lowered in some respects but we’ve still got issues with certain communities not adhering to the Covid lockdown, so that’s certainly creating a challenge for our inner city colleagues.

“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of officers’ anxieties seem to have levelled a little bit now as they get used to it.

“There’s anxiety out there, there still will be. I don’t think that’s going to go away for any time soon, until there’s light at the end of the tunnel in terms of medical vaccines and treatment.

“They’re still worried when they go to incidents where there’s potential Covid cases. Officers have been really upset by some of the sentences handed out in South Yorkshire for Covid-related assaults, which have only just started seeing custodial sentences.

“So that irritated them a little bit but it’s not necessarily affecting morale, it’s just made them more determined to ensure that they’re going to get these people and get them locked up when they’re behaving like that.”

Steve said the Federation is still supporting officers – albeit in a slightly different way to normal. And he acknowledges that as a force, South Yorkshire has been ahead of the curve when it comes to procuring protective equipment for officers.

He said: “Obviously we as a Federation are still providing the same service that we always would, but it’s just remote and a little bit different. We’ve changed our habits like everybody else does in how we do things, but we’re getting on okay.

“When this first came out there was obviously fear and concerns about PPE. Our force, to be fair, is ahead of the game in terms of PPE. We’ve been ordering it ahead of a lot of forces. So we’ve always been one step ahead in trialling things as well, which has been refreshing.

“The only issues that we’ve had since then are minor ones where there’s been local distribution issues. The station might say, ‘We’re running a bit low on facemasks’, when actually it’s down to them to reorder them from the force. So the force is doing a great job, there’s just been a little bit of admin rubs down at the stations.

“But that seems to have been rolled out now because we haven’t had any complaints about that for a while. So, overall, we seem to be in a bit of a good place at the moment. As good a place as we can be.”