Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
Cambridgeshire Police Federation chair Liz Groom has called on the Government to ‘lead the way’ in restoring respect in policing.
Liz said the way policing has been treated by the Government has been a huge reason behind poor morale and urged them to show the country that officers are valued.
Liz said: “Our recent Pay and Morale Survey found that 92 per cent of officers felt that the way police were treated by the government was having a negative impact on morale, with 85 per cent saying the way they were treated by the public was having a negative impact.
“We very much welcome the government saying it wants to restore respect to policing and it needs to lead the way.
“We’re sick and tired of being used as a political football.
“The Government needs to recognise the unique job we do, put its money where its mouth is, and restore pay to where it was pre-austerity and invest in the service to make our members feel valued.”
Liz was responding to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s pledge to restore the public’s faith in the law following the violent disorder of the past two weeks.
Ms Cooper said that the recent violent disorder showed a loss of respect for the police and that too many people ‘feel as though crime has no consequences’.
She said: “I am glad not just that we have seen hundreds of thugs facing the consequences of their actions in recent days, but that the deterrent effect of punishment has now been witnessed this weekend as the police, government and criminal justice system responded at speed. We said criminals would pay the price, and we meant it. That is the rule of law in practice.”
Liz welcomed the comments and renewed her call for offenders who attack officers to be given ‘the toughest possible sentence’.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that there were 548 assaults on Cambridgeshire Police officers in the year to 31 March 2024, with 57 resulting in injury.
In England and Wales, the figures showed there was a total of 45,907 attacks on officers in the year to 31 March 2024, with 11,479 resulting in an injury to an officer.
Liz said: “Following the violent disorder of the past two weeks, we’ve seen custodial sentences handed down to those who have been convicted of being involved – and we need that to continue.
“We need the toughest possible sentences to provide the deterrent effect the home secretary describes because it hasn’t felt like there has been much a deterrent to stop people attacking our members.
“These sentences should be the norm and it’s something as a Federation we will continue to campaign on.
“It’s a good start that the new home secretary is acknowledging issues we’ve been raising for years, and we now need her words backed up with deeds from both government and the wider justice system.”
Ms Cooper, writing in the Telegraph, described the recent violence as ‘a disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself’.
“I am not prepared to tolerate the brazen abuse and contempt which a minority have felt able to show towards our men and women in uniform, or the disrespect for law and order that has been allowed to grow in recent years,” she said.
“As well as punishing those responsible for the last fortnight’s violent disorder, we must take action to restore respect for the police, and respect for the law. From anti-social behaviour through to serious violence, too often people feel as though crime has no consequences, as charge rates have been allowed to fall and court delays have grown. That has to change.
“We will work with the police, rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards. And we won’t engage in the kind of shameful behaviour we have seen from some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.
“When the police put on those uniforms, when they go out in the service of our communities, and when they uphold the high standards we expect of them, they deserve respect from every single one of us.”