THE summer will be \u201ca challenging period for officers\u201d, who will be in greater demand while suffering from fatigue themselves, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Chair Steve Kent warned of a \u201cperfect storm\u201d for officers, who are already under pressure as the country eases out of lockdown.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOfficers are anxious about the next three months because we\u2019ve got a perfect storm with Euros, lockdown release, summer weather and protest season. This all adds up to a picture where officers are going to be knackered because they\u2019ve not had any breaks themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve (pictured) was responding to comments by Andy Rhodes, Service Director of Oscar Kilo, who said it was vital that forces focused on the fatigue and recovery of officers following the pandemic. He explained: \u201cThis is a job that takes it out of you. With COVID, there\u2019s been no respite and we need to come out of that.”<\/p>\n
Steve agreed, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a challenging period for our officers, who are really tired. They could do with a change of scenery and they\u2019re not able to because of where we are.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers have had their foot on the accelerator throughout this crisis without any sort of quality leave. We need to keep an eye on our officers and we also need to factor in that they\u2019re going to need some leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andy also supported the sentiments of PFEW Chair John Apter, who wrote an emotional open letter in the Daily Express, addressing police officers and members of the public. John highlighted how difficult it had been to police the pandemic and how hard officers had worked. He also thanked \u201cthe silent majority\u201d of the public who supported police officers.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cIt was a good letter, really well put and I echo everything that was said by John \u2013 it\u2019s everything we\u2019ve been saying throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n