THE murder of PC Keith Palmer in March serves as a harsh reminder of how vulnerable sworn police officers are, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Zuleika Payne, Federation Chair, passed her condolences to the Westminster officer\u2019s loved ones after he was stabbed outside Parliament on March 22. She said: \u201cPC Palmer sadly paid the ultimate price that day.”<\/p>\n
She added: “Yes, we are a long way from London but it has affected our members and the whole police family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incident highlighted how vulnerable we are as individuals and as serving officers and showed the sorts of danger that we’re exposed to due to the nature of our work.<\/p>\n
\u201cA great deal of police officers would have been present in that part of the capital that day – a high concentration – yet we can still experience an incident of this nature and that is quite frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Questions have been raised about the arming of police officers and their personal protective equipment as a result.<\/p>\n
Ms Payne called for a greater roll out of Taser, in line with the national Federation. Not every officer in South Yorkshire Police carries Taser or is Taser qualified, but a study showed last year that four in five members of the public said they would happily approach a police officer carrying Taser.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWhen you consider the options and the use of force continuum, certainly the issue of the uplift in Taser has immense value as a non-lethal option. It is certainly very effective when put to good use. So certainly that has to be revisited as a means of increasing officers’ capability in protecting themselves and others.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe dangers officers are exposed to are on the increase and therefore this whole issue around the training and arming of police officers has to be revisited. Personal Protective Equipment must be improved. We cannot afford any more incidents of this nature and if we are asking people to go out there and do such a dangerous job, then it is only right and proper that we equip them appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n