THE new Home Secretary needs to \u201cfully back\u201d police officers, says South Yorkshire Police Federation.<\/p>\n
On 24 September Suella Braverman wrote an open letter to police chiefs addressing the need to restore public trust in the police, and saying that \u201cculture and standards need to change\u201d.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said that he hoped the new Home Secretary would mark a \u201cdirection change\u201d in the relationship between the Home Office and policing.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe welcome the new Home Secretary, but we need to see her now fully backing our police. We need a direction change from her. We\u2019ve had Home Secretaries in the past who have said they are going to focus on and protect policing. But we haven\u2019t seen it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be a serious look into the IOPC and its role and accountability. And we also need to think about what the public expects from policing. Because what the public expects and wants from policing is totally different to what policing is doing at the minute. So we need to get that support from her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat includes legal support for when policing says no to dealing with certain incidents, and also better legal support for our police drivers who are going out and trying to deal with the ills of society on the roads, who are not backed when things go wrong. These are things that 99% of the public would agree with us on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve also addressed the Home Secretary\u2019s focus on \u201cculture and standards\u201d, saying that there were issues that needed to be dealt with in policing, but that the vast majority of police officers were morally sound and hard-working.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s distracting from the real issues, as far as I\u2019m concerned \u2013 99% of police officers do their job really well, have got a really good moral standpoint, and they\u2019re getting targeted for the actions of the tiniest of minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n