The demands on police officers are back to what they were pre-pandemic, Thames Valley Police Federation has said, and many new officers need support in policing large events and the night-time economy.
Thames Valley Police Federation Chair Craig O’Leary said that relaxing the COVID rules had brought particular pressures for policing, not least that all the new officers who have joined in the past 18 months haven’t experienced this kind of work before.
Craig said: “Society seems to be returning to normal, and with that policing is returning to business as usual, with all the challenges that brings.
Policing the night-time economy is back and the football season is underway. Here in the Thames Valley where we police various big football clubs, it’s added pressure and added work for our teams out there and those specialist trained officers that are involved in it. We’re back to where we were prior to the pandemic”.
He added that officers need to be aware of their colleagues who had been recruited within the past 18 months and had never policed crowded football matches or the night-time economy.
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