Response Policing Week is an opportunity to recognise and support officers and staff who respond to calls for assistance.

There are a lot of fantastic departments within Kent Police,” Neil said, “but Response is sometimes a little bit under-recognized.” It doesn’t matter what the job becomes, it could be a murder, a robbery, or a burglary, but most of those jobs begin with the attendance of a response officer who has to be a jack of all trades and a master of all trades.

Neil was a response supervisor in his previous role, so he’s looking forward to getting out on the streets this week (pictured) and getting a feel for day-to-day response policing life.

“It’s a really important and multi-faceted role,” he added. In most parts of policing, you tend to focus on a specific area, but cops on response never know what’s going to come up next. They could go to a call only to discover that it bears no resemblance to what they thought they were going to. It moves quickly. It can be perilous at times. And I believe they are sometimes undersold because they are such an important part of how the force operates, both locally and nationally.”

Response is at the heart of policing’s crime fighting mission, and we must look after the officers and staff who are responding to public calls and confronting criminals day and night,” said Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing.

This week of action is an opportunity to recognise response teams and highlight the College of Policing’s wellbeing support and practical guidance.

“We have developed a set of resources specifically for response officers to ensure that those in the most demanding roles in policing receive the learning and leadership they deserve.”