OFFICERS in South Yorkshire are getting accustomed to a \u2018new normal\u2019 way of policing during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said: \u201cThese are strange times. We\u2019re adapting as best we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral demand is different now. It\u2019s obviously lowered in some respects but we\u2019ve still got issues with certain communities not adhering to the Covid lockdown, so that\u2019s certainly creating a challenge for our inner city colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say that a lot of officers\u2019 anxieties seem to have levelled a little bit now as they get used to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s anxiety out there, there still will be. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to go away for any time soon, until there\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel in terms of medical vaccines and treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still worried when they go to incidents where there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that irritated them a little bit but it\u2019s not necessarily affecting morale, it\u2019s just made them more determined to ensure that they\u2019re going to get these people and get them locked up when they\u2019re behaving like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said the Federation is still supporting officers \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cObviously we as a Federation are still providing the same service that we always would, but it\u2019s just remote and a little bit different. We\u2019ve changed our habits like everybody else does in how we do things, but we\u2019re getting on okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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\u2019ve been ordering it ahead of a lot of forces. So we\u2019ve always been one step ahead in trialling things as well, which has been refreshing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only issues that we\u2019ve had since then are minor ones where there\u2019s been local distribution issues. The station might say, \u2018We\u2019re running a bit low on facemasks\u2019, when actually it\u2019s down to them to reorder them from the force. So the force is doing a great job, there\u2019s just been a little bit of admin rubs down at the stations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that seems to have been rolled out now because we haven\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n