Representing Our Members To New Chief Constable

“MY main point is to emphasise how much officers are struggling at the moment.”

That will be the Chair of Hampshire Police Federation’s first discussion point with the force’s new Chief Constable.

Scott Chilton has been selected as the new Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary and will take up his post in February 2023. He started his policing career in Hampshire in 1992 and describes himself as the force’s “first home-grown Chief Constable”. He will replace Olivia Pinkney in the role.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield took part in the panel as part of the Chief Constable recruitment process, but she says she’s looking forward to speaking to Scott in more detail about the issues that affect members.

She said: “I’ve already started a list of things that I want to raise. My main point is to emphasise how much officers are struggling at the moment, both with the demands of the job and financially.

“Some of our wellbeing resources that we used to have have been cut and we’d like them to be brought back. Officers need that support more than ever.

“I also want to talk to the Chief about fitness testing in Hampshire Constabulary. Some forces only test those officers who are in deployable roles, but Hampshire has always had the stance that they will fitness test everyone.

“But now we’re getting the problem where some of our response officers can’t get a slot to do their fitness testing and personal safety training, because the force is still insistent on testing everyone. We believe the training should be role-specific.”

Zoë added that the Federation had long campaigned for a better send-off for retired officers to recognise their service and that she hoped the Chief Constable would make this happen.

She said: “A lot of forces present officers with a nice certificate in a frame when they leave at the end of their service. This is something we’ve been pushing for for ages.

“What happens currently is that eight or nine months after somebody leaves or retires, they get a certificate in the post and a letter from our head of HR. We don’t think that is an acceptable way to thank somebody for 30 years’ service.”