THE Essex Police Federation welfare van aimed at keeping officers refreshed and with a place to rest out on the frontline is now available 24\/7.<\/p>\n
It means officers can have access to a toilet, hot drinks and food to keep them going during ongoing incidents and at times when they can\u2019t leave their duties for a proper break.<\/p>\n
The van was bought and kitted out by Essex Federation who cover all the running costs and chair Laura Heggie says it can bring some welcome respite to members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s now available 24\/7 for the officers in Essex,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s taken out by the Reps, although the force see the benefits we get no assistance from the force in relation to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019ve moved to paying an on-call allowance so that it can be available 24\/7 because that\u2019s where we were falling down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise there was a number of times where it was asked for and we couldn\u2019t fulfil that requirement, which was really disappointing for us, so we\u2019ve addressed that and it is available now, 24\/7.<\/p>\n
Officers can call up the van themselves and it can be with them once the request has been authorised by an Inspector, Laura confirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers can get it just by calling up through their chain of command. It only has to be authorised by an inspector and then the control room will call us out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a direct line for the van to be called straight to the rep who is sitting there, waiting. I know from a recent callout I did; the officers were so grateful for it because it was a freezing cold Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave them access to the toilet; to hot drinks, some breakfast bars and even a slightly dodgy mince pie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a nice element that can take away the hardship of standing at the scene of a serious or a fatal road accident for six, eight hours, it\u2019s a real relief. I\u2019ve been there over the years and I know what it\u2019s like, there\u2019s also the health implications when someone doesn\u2019t go when they need to.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut If we don\u2019t use it, then potentially we\u2019re going to lose it, because we won\u2019t be able to justify the costs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"