New conduct regulations to shift from blame to learning are welcome, says Federation Chair

SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation is backing changes to police conduct regulations which will see a shift from blaming to learning.

Complaints against officers will be now be treated as learning opportunities wherever relevant in an attempt to end the blame and punish culture in policing.

The new ‘reflective practice’ guidelines take effect in February next year.

Federation Chair Steve Kent hopes the change will give officers the confidence to make important, in- the-moment decisions and ease some of the pressures of the job.

“We welcome it on the basis of what we know so far and what we’ve seen,” he said.

“Ultimately it has to be a culture of learning rather than a culture of punishment.

“The knock-on effect of this is that it reduces the strain on officers who are going about their day-to-day business, trying to do the best job they can under a constant cloud of undue scrutiny if they make a decision one way or another.

“It’ll give them that bit of reassurance … it could have a knock-on effect of improving officer’s mental health in the job because there is definitely, on the frontline, a weight on officers’ shoulders because of the fear of scrutiny.

“Officers need to have the confidence to go out and do their jobs to the best of their abilities without fear of unnecessary and over the top scrutiny.”