Page 4 - WMPF Federation Oct-Nov 2020_Neat

Chair’s introduction

The public need to

understand there

is a person behind

the uniform

ongoing. But, for me, as is so often the case husband or wife, a partner, a father or
in these circumstances, it has been the mother, a sister or brother, an uncle or aunt,
release of the personal information about PS a cousin, a friend or a colleague.
Ratana, who was widely known as Matt, that Yet, there are some people who want to
has been the most heart-breaking. attack them just because of the uniform
Born in New Zealand, he came to the UK they wear. In recent years, and even during
and joined the Met Police in the late ‘80s the pandemic, there has been a growing
which meant that he was fast-approaching number of assaults on police officers. They
retirement age, reportedly opting for a role are pushed, slapped, thumped, spat at,
in custody to take himself away from the kicked, battered and even run over.
rigours of front-line policing. Thankfully, we are seeing efforts by the
Described by his partner as a ‘gentle Government to tackle this with plans now
giant’, he was a rugby fanatic with his club underway to increase the maximum
saying he was ‘irreplaceable’ and ‘incredibly sentences for these attacks to two years.
generous’. This is a step forward, though we still
These details, I believe, make people need the courts to use those maximum
understand the man behind the uniform sentences, something they so far have
and I hope that is something which seemed reluctant to do even with a one-year
resonates with the public. maximum sentence.
The majority of officers put on their Maybe what is really needed is a
uniform for work but underneath that they minimum sentence. If those offenders who
By Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police are still someone’s son or daughter, a seem to take the risk that they won’t get
Federation
he death on duty of any police officer “ Maybe what is really needed is a minimum
sends a shockwave through the sentence. If those offenders who seem to take
Tpolicing family.
At the time of writing this column, it’s the risk that they won’t get much more than a
less than a week since Metropolitan Police
Sergeant Matiu Ratana was shot and killed slap on the wrist knew the minimum sentence
by a man being taken into custody in
Croydon in the early hours of Friday 25 for attacking a police officer was two years,
September.
Of course, in that time, more details
about the incident leading to his death have perhaps it would have an impact. “
been made public while enquiries are

04 federation October/November 2020 www.polfed.org/westmids