Response police officers the 'ultimate frontline’ and need recognition and support, says federation

Response Policing Week took place from June 13-19, aiming to celebrate the professionalism and courage of response officers, but also to recognise the challenges they faced.

Federation chair Zoë Wakefield said: ‘Response officers are multi-skilled in that they’re able to deal with any job they’re deployed to from a domestic violence incident to a missing child, someone having a mental health episode or searching for a suspect.

‘They are one of the few areas of policing who work the full 24/7 shift pattern, and also have the most changes to working hours, which impacts their home life.

‘It needs recognition and I think all forces need to realise that they’re not just response officers, they are actually multi-skilled.

‘They’re normally the first officers the public meet and see, they’re the ultimate frontline. They also go to a huge number of traumatic incidents, so they need welfare and support.’