POLICE officers are being pulled \u2018from pillar to post\u2019 as they battle to contain crime and protect the public from COVID-19.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation says policing across the country simply doesn\u2019t have the resources to police the deadly pandemic the way the Government has promised it can.<\/p>\n
Added to the mix is the worrying increase in assaults on frontline officers, making a tough job even tougher for those at the sharp end.<\/p>\n
Officers don\u2019t currently have a prioritised place in the vaccines queue either even though many are still being spat at and coughed on as they deal with the public every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we saw a 55% increase in officer assaults in South Yorkshire and every day I hear about cops being spat at,\u201d South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police are at the frontline of this [the pandemic], and we seem to be almost the punch bag of society\u2019s frustrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying everybody in society does that sort of thing. Of course they don\u2019t. But what I\u2019m concerned about is the realism here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have anywhere near the resources, and I\u2019m not just talking about South Yorkshire but in general, to police the virus the way that people or the Government are trying to make out that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crime hasn\u2019t stopped because of the lockdown, far from it – a rise in domestic abuse call-outs and the need to support their NHS colleagues means police resources are being stretched like never before.<\/p>\n
\u201cCriminals don\u2019t give two tosses about whether there\u2019s a lockdown on, and unfortunately one of our biggest areas, domestic violence, actually grows during lockdown periods,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur cops are pulled from pillar to post.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something the public doesn\u2019t realise but need to we always, and increasingly so, back up our NHS colleagues when it comes to incidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there are critical incidents involving health, it\u2019s the police who go because the NHS is stretched \u2013 we just don\u2019t have the resources to police this in the way people expect us to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation is not helped by the Government\u2019s communications, Steve added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government comes out and says the police will start enforcing it. The police will do this. The police will be tougher\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yet they\u2019re not even going to vaccinate our officers who are frontline officers, who are going from house to house to house every day and essentially could be super-spreaders by the nature of the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m absolutely appalled that the rhetoric has already started, saying, \u2018oh well, the police will sort it out\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would appeal to the public \u2013 who have largely been fantastic these past 10 months \u2013 to please work with us over coming weeks as we all strive together to keep people safe from this deadly virus.\u201d<\/p>\n
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