{"id":335710,"date":"2023-06-08T13:15:57","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T13:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=335710"},"modified":"2023-06-08T13:15:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T13:15:57","slug":"proposal-for-police-chiefs-to-get-rid-of-officers-is-outrageous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=335710","title":{"rendered":"Proposal For Police Chiefs To Get Rid Of Officers Is \u2018Outrageous\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A POLITICAL proposal for police chiefs to get rid of officers without due legal process is \u201cabsolutely outrageous\u201d, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and MP Rt Hon Harriet Harman published a Bill<\/a> to reform the regulations governing police conduct and dismissal.<\/p>\n

Among their recommendations, they want Chief Constables to have the power to reopen misconduct investigations, and to reduce the performance process to a two-stage process, from the current three stages and three appeals.<\/p>\n

The national Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has issued a statement saying that Khan and Harman are \u201ccalling for undemocratic powers to chief officers under the guise of police reforms\u201d. It added: \u201cSystemic changes in police recruitment, vetting, training, standards, and leadership are needed, but any change must be fair, considered and backed by proper evidence and not conjecture.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cThis paper from Sadiq Khan and Harriet Harman is absolutely outrageous. Essentially, it\u2019s trying to remove due process from any kind of disciplinary situation for police officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s totally unjustified \u2013 it\u2019s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There is already a misconduct process in place. We in South Yorkshire have got a very high-functioning anti-corruption department that roots out corrupt officers; they get dealt with and are dismissed from the organisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no need to deal with that by bringing wide-spread regulation changes that mean that if a chief officer doesn\u2019t like the look of somebody, they can essentially get rid of them. It\u2019s totally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve continued: \u201cOur organisation, by the nature of what we do, attracts significant numbers of complaints. But if you look at the percentage of what is upheld, it\u2019s a tiny amount. People make vexatious complaints against police officers all the time. When people are arrested they want to lash out, so what they do sometimes is that they complain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to bring something in that removes the protections that good, hard-working officers have when they\u2019re just trying to do their job. There is the need for cultural change in the police, as there is in many organisations, but when it comes to rooting out our own in South Yorkshire, we\u2019re ahead of the curve compared to many public organisations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bizarre rhetoric going round that people who are convicted still can\u2019t be dismissed. Well, yes they can. There\u2019s a fast-track process that is already there, within the regulations. South Yorkshire Police applies it by the book, and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n