Police Covenant Should Be ‘Front And Centre’

A NEW Police Covenant should always be ‘front and centre’ of policing, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Police Superintendents’ Association conference that the Covenant would ensure the welfare of officers, police staff and their families will be discussed, monitored and placed under regular parliamentary scrutiny.

When on the statute books, the Covenant will create a statutory duty for forces to support police officers and places a requirement on the Home Secretary to report annually to Parliament.

It will focus on protection, health and wellbeing, and support for families of both serving and former police personnel.

“I think it’s got to be welcomed and encouraged,” South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said.

“We’ve been asking for this for a while, and now it looks like it’s on the map and is coming.

“We can’t be sceptical about it until we’ve seen it come out and see how it looks and how it will be administered.

“We need to just make sure that it’s there, it’s always front and centre, and we refer to it as and when we need to and not just let it be a bit of work that gathers dust and no one sees any value in it.

“We’ve got to hold people to account and use that as a basis to do so for looking after cops and their welfare.”