The South Yorkshire Police Federation welfare van headed to stations around the force to offer support to response officers during the Response Policing Week of Action.<\/p>\n
The fourth national Response Policing Week of Action took place from 24-28 June and celebrated the professionalism and courage of response officers. As well as vans going out to officers, there were also a number of College of Policing webinars to support officers\u2019 wellbeing.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said it was a role that was close to his heart and was often underappreciated.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI have a response background myself \u2013 I was a response cop for 18 years before I joined the Federation. Of course I see and empathise with what other aspects of policing do. I see what our traffic cops do and our detectives, and it\u2019s unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut our response cops don\u2019t always get the recognition they should get because, ultimately, the only department that society would crumble without is response. You\u2019d probably have anarchy on the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe specialisms are just as important. But if you pick up the phone and dial 999, you need somebody \u2013 that is what most members of the public say they want and need the police for. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so vital.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Response Policing Week we went round as many stations as we could in our brand new van, giving refreshments and goodies. It went down really well. We saw lots of response cops, but everyone was welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n