Deserved Praise For PC Young

A South Yorkshire Police officer singled out for praise by a woman whose abuser was convicted deserves all the recognition he’s getting, the Federation Chair has said.

The victim, who had been subjected to abuse and harassment by her ex-partner, wrote an open letter to praise PC Steven Young for going above and beyond to support her and her family.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “This is absolutely tremendous work by PC Young and I really like to see this getting out there and to see people thanking our officers. He deserves this recognition.

“But of course this is just one of hundreds of difficult jobs that our officers are doing every month. We just don’t see enough recognition of this and that’s one of the reasons our Bravery Awards are so important, because they get these stories out there.

“This is a reflection of what our officers are doing day in, day out, and there’s just too much focus on the 0.1% who get stuff wrong, and not the 99.9% who are doing an amazing job every day.”

Steve said this focus on bad rather than good officers was “really frustrating” for his members.

He said: “Our officers don’t do this to get champagne bottles popped and ticker tape every time they do a good job. But people in this country need to realise that we are the best police in the world.

“Not to mention that South Yorkshire Police is the busiest force per officer in the country, so our officers have got a real reason to be absolutely proud of what they do.”