RECRUITING retired officers should only be used as a last resort if a large number of police officers become ill with coronavirus, according to South Yorkshire Police Federation.<\/p>\n
Many forces are calling on former colleagues to help out during the pandemic, and South Yorkshire is one of those forces to have a pool of potential reserve officers to call on should they need it.<\/p>\n
But Chairman Steve Kent says deploying those officers should not be a first resort.<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cWe\u2019re not seeing a need for it at the moment because demand is what it is, and to be fair the obstructions rate in South Yorkshire in terms of officers going off sick is thankfully lower than what we expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what the force has done, is get a number of people they can call if they need help down the line if there\u2019s a second spike or if there was a sudden release of conditions which, to be fair, is unlikely. That\u2019s when would be expecting to be busy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s really nice that we\u2019ve got this pool of potential reserves in case we ever needed them down the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally know of an Inspector who retired seven or eight years ago, rung up and said he\u2019s more than willing to come and do it for free and to help out. That is really admirable and it just shows the support we\u2019ve got from our ex-colleagues which is a really nice thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a last resort for me, but it\u2019s nice to have it in our arsenal. The thing is, I think this links in with the wider picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cBear in mind in South Yorkshire we\u2019re still at record lowest numbers because we haven\u2019t got the recruits kicking in yet that we need to. Even then, for me it\u2019s just an option in our utility belt to say if we\u2019re at that point where 50% of cops are off and we\u2019re only attending 999 incidents, wouldn\u2019t it be great if we had some people who have still got something to offer?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it shouldn\u2019t be a default position. Absolutely not. We\u2019ve got other stuff to look at for that like recruitment and the 30+ scheme. But it\u2019s nice to know there are people out there willing to help us if it really did get that bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully that\u2019s not been borne out so hopefully they\u2019re not going to be needed, in the nicest possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police has written to retired officers to ask if they are willing to help out during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Chief Constable Styephen Watson said: \u201cWe are currently living in exceptional times: there has not been a period in recent history when the contribution of our emergency services has been so critical for communities across South Yorkshire and the rest of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are well prepared and equipped to deal with this pandemic. Our officers will remain on the front line and we will be here for the people in South Yorkshire who need us. In these unprecedented times, however, we are also calling upon those who have left us to consider returning to duties to provide a tremendous public service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe skillsets of these former colleagues will be invaluable as we get on with the job in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n