SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation has paid tribute to departing force Chief Constable Stephen Watson and his Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts.<\/p>\n
CC Watson is taking the top job at Greater Manchester Police after being appointed by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.<\/p>\n
DCC Roberts is stepping up to the Chief Constable role at Cheshire Police.<\/p>\n
Their replacements in South Yorkshire will be announced in May.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent praised the pair for turning the force around.<\/p>\n
“I would pay absolute credit to the Chief and DCC Roberts,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The Chief firstly changed this force from being one of the\u00a0poorest performing forces to one of the best, which is staggering when you\u00a0think of the low resources we have compared to a lot of forces in the\u00a0country.<\/p>\n
“The force has transformed in that time, and we wish him well in\u00a0his new role in GMP and the challenge he’s got there.”<\/p>\n
Steve said DCC Roberts had also been there for officers and supportive of the Federation’s work.<\/p>\n
“A special thanks to the Deputy,” Steve said.<\/p>\n
“He has always been supportive generally of the Federation\u00a0with respect to challenging the IOPC when it’s appropriate and doing what is\u00a0right and what is fair, so they will both be missed by everyone and obviously us at the Federation.<\/p>\n
“We’ve not always\u00a0agreed on things which is healthy. But we’ve always gone at
\nthese things in a really constructive way and dealt with them.”<\/p>\n
Steve hopes to see that same support coming from the new leadership team.<\/p>\n
“I know the new Chief is likely to be an external candidate,\u00a0but we would like to see some continuity within the force \u2013 we have got a great team now already, and it would be wonderful if that team could\u00a0carry on.”<\/p>\n