POLICE officers face dangers they cannot anticipate every day and the public only knows part of the debt they owe to the service, Sir Tom Winsor has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Police Federation of England and Wales Annual Conference in Bournemouth, HMIC Chief Inspector Sir Tom said he had \u201cenormous respect and admiration for rank-and-file officers and the work they do every day\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cTheir can-do culture impels police officers to get work done despite financial pressures and the chronic and persistent failures of other public services who know the police will never say no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing the funeral of Merseyside PC Dave Phillips as \u201cone of the most emotional moments of my life\u201d, he said: \u201cEvery police officer facing the public takes that risk \u2013 something everyone involved in policing needs to keep front and centre in their minds as policies are made.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public know only part of the debt which they owe to police officers like Dave Philips and their family and friends who live with the consequences. And that debt is immense.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day police officer go out to face dangers they cannot anticipate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Tom (pictured) added that while many people were talking about police reform, \u201cI don\u2019t think any reform to personal bravery of police officers\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also said that police officers\u2019 mental health should be taken very seriously, adding that not enough was known about officers\u2019 mental health and there should be no stigma about mental illnesses in the police service.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cPolice officers deal with people with severe mental health problems in the community but very little is known about police officers\u2019 mental health and how it can deteriorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers who are diagnosed with mental health problems need professional health. There should be no stigma attached to mental health issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that exasperates me is that we treat physical impairments as needing immediate help, but with mental health issues you can wait a year for an appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an invisible illness and only comes to the attention of people when someone is standing on a motorway bridge or someone harming someone close to them because they\u2019ve cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMental health should have parity of esteem in our society. It is an illness \u2013 there is no shame in being ill. We will take this as seriously as it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"