Force Joins National Week-long Campaign Celebrating and Supporting Response Officers

We’re delighted to be supporting a national initiative to recognise and celebrate the work of response police officers which launches today (on Monday 15 March).

A special emphasis during this week of action will be on wellbeing, and making officers aware of the resources available to them that can help to address important issues such as fatigue and resilience.

Officers in response teams never know what situations they’ll be faced with when they come into work each day. They have to be prepared to deal with a wide range of incidents, including complex and sometimes confrontational situations. No two days are the same, and officers in these roles come from many different backgrounds and work in a variety of environments. This week will seek to raise awareness of this important area of policing.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has worked with Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), the College of Policing and the Police Federation, to deliver a range of wellbeing and resilience initiatives, co-ordinated specifically for response officers’ needs.

And in common with many forces across the UK, throughout the week we’ll deploy our wellbeing van to our police stations where response officers will be offered refreshments, information and a friendly chat.  They’ll also be able to access a series of Oscar Kilo webinars around sleep, fatigue and resilience and toolkits for self-care and compassion.

Supt Marc Anderson, Local policing south and Supt Sharon Cooney, Local Policing north said: “We’re thrilled to be taking part in the National Week of Action aimed at celebrating Response Officers. We know, first hand, how important it is for response officers to be heard, valued and appreciated and for them to have their wellbeing needs addressed and understood.

“Day in and day out officers deal with the most challenging aspects of policing and are first on scene running towards danger to save the lives of others. This programme of activity will enable individuals and teams the ability to chat to Wellbeing and Blue Light Champions within police stations. We encourage all officers to take advantage of the many services on offer during the week.”

Inspector Phil Spencer, Wellbeing and Blue Light Coordinator said: “As an experienced response officer myself, I fully understand the challenges and how vitally important it is to support your wellbeing when faced with trauma and emergency situations on a regular occurrence.

“Through this week of engagement, we hope to reach as many response officers as possible in stations and let them know that support is available to them – not just during the week – but all year round.

“We are always listening and we have lots of information and signposting advice to share with officers and we’re making full use of the Oscar Kilo Wellbeing Van, so please stop by and speak to us.”