The Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation said he was \u201cimmensely proud\u201d of his colleagues who policed last month\u2019s riots and helped bring offenders to justice.<\/p>\n
Over 60 South Yorkshire Police officers were injured in the violence that broke out outside the Holiday Inn in Manvers, Rotherham on 4 August. Officers suffered injuries including broken bones, concussion and head wounds.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cI\u2019m immensely proud of our colleagues, and especially the ones on the front line who were working unbelievably long hours, being assaulted, being absolutely exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also want to pay tribute to the detectives who have worked incredibly long hours to bring those offenders to justice. It\u2019s been a real team effort. Don\u2019t get me wrong, there\u2019s probably learning to come from it. But our officers put themselves in the limelight and they\u2019ve been rightly recognised by the courts, for once, and the public for the unbelievable job that they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can be incredibly proud of themselves, for having to work in some of the most hostile conditions we\u2019ve seen in the last 25 years of South Yorkshire Police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve described the riots as \u201cabsolutely horrendous\u201d and encouraged any officers who had been injured or traumatised by the events to seek help from the Federation.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s a miracle no one\u2019s been seriously injured. We as a Federation are doing our absolute best to support our officers. We\u2019ve made sure that any officer who was injured can come to us for physiotherapy. Anyone can come to us for counselling. Anyone can email us if they want to have a chat, and that offer is ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the riots, the Police Treatment Centre near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was inundated with applications from police officers who had been injured in the unrest.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cI want to pay credit to our Federation Secretary, Dave Baines, who came up with a really good idea and raised it at a national level about the need for funding from central Government for officers to go to the Police Treatment Centres.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat suggestion was taken up by the national Federation and, as we know through recent announcements, the Government invested money into this. So I\u2019m really pleased.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell done to Dave for putting that out there and making sure that our officers who were injured, not just physically but mentally, got the opportunity to go to the PTC as part of their recuperation, because it\u2019s going to take months and months of healing for some of these cops who have been through this horrendous experience.\u201d<\/p>\n