South Yorkshire Police Federation calls for more resources and investment after death of officer

Chairman Steve Kent, who represents rank and file officers, spoke out following the death of PC Andrew Harper, 28, who was mown down in Berkshire on Thursday night as he responded to reports of a break-in.

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Ten suspects, aged between 13 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of murder within an hour of the death and remain in police custody this afternoon.

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Mr Kent said: “The death of any colleague is always so hard to take but even more so in such apparently appalling circumstances.

“The vast majority of officers in South Yorkshire and across the country will frequently reflect on near misses they have been involved in and I can think of a few myself.

“We know we come to work and frequently face dangers but no one should ever not come home to their families at the end of a shift.”

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He added: “Will we ever stop awful things like this happening? Probably not. But, and it’s still too raw for long winded political rants, it needs to be summed up that we need the resources and reinvestment so we can keep the public safe and each other safe out there. “We are seeing too many incidents, particularly in the last few weeks, that show a dangerous minority of the public will not think twice before attacking the blue line that they can probably see is at its all time thinnest.

“Can’t even begin to imagine how his family feel and not forgetting his colleagues who will probably go back to work well before they are really ready to.

“All our thoughts, added I’m sure to those of the 120,000 officers up and down the country, the international police family and our emergency service colleagues.”