Neil Bowles: “Actions speak louder than words Home Secretary”

POLICE officers will be waiting to see whether the Home Secretary’s actions are as good as her words after she made promises on sentencing of cop killers and mental health.

Neil Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, (pictured) cautiously welcomed announcements from Theresa May at the Police Federation of England and Wales annual conference this week. But he said that the proof will be in the pudding. 

“The life sentence meaning a whole life,” said Mr Bowles, “there is good and bad about that. Why just pick on police officers for that particular term. Yes we need to be protected…I would like the sentences for any assault for any police officer to do what it says on the tin. If you get four years, you get four years.”

After hearing the Home Secretary pledge to reduce the amount of time police officers spend with mental health patients, Mr Bowles said: “Mental health and filling in for the ambulance services is a big one in South Yorkshire at the moment. It takes up so much time for officers.

“We are not trained to deal with these people, we only get rudimentary first aid training. The paramedics are the experts, let’s get the resources in the right places. And let police officers do the job we are trained to do.”

Discussions around the compulsory severance recommendation at the Police Negotiating Board are due to conclude in July after the Police Arbitration Tribunal (PAT) suggested the proposal should be deferred for further deliberations.

Mrs May told conference she “recognises the strength of concern” police officers have over compulsory severance. But she refused to take it off the negotiating table.

“We are all concerned about compulsory severance,” added Mr Bowles. “All police officers. Superintendents and quite a few chief officers. It attacks the whole constitution of the office of constable and it brings in unfair pressure can be put on individual officers to go and do something that maybe they wouldn’t do under the threat “if you don’t do it I will sack you.””

Mr Bowles noted that overall, delegates at conference gave the Home Secretary “a more positive response.”

He concluded: “We came here this week thinking there was lots of internal strife and we need to be united. Hopefully at the end of this week, we are united. We have had a bit more positive response from the Home Secretary. Maybe there is some business we can do together. For the benefit of everyone – my members and the public.”