As 2019 starts to ‘settle down’ after the Christmas and New Year festivities, there is still one big elephant in the room (if you are in the Met Police): Spit guards – where are they?
Here at Emergency Services News, we have long-campaigned for front-line response team officers to be given access to the only ‘tool’ that can prevent someone from spitting in your face.
There are some people out there, who seem to think that being covered in spit is a ‘part of the job’. Well, it isn’t.
And what about the individuals who decide to spit blood at a police officers face, knowing that they have a contagious disease?
How are front line officers supposed to protect themselves against such a threat to their personal safety?
Imagine having to be put on 6 months worth of medication, with all of their horrendous side effects, just because some vile person decided to spit on you?
Just think about the mental & emotional toll that this would have on not only you, but on your family as well.
Even though it’s 2019, the irony is that, as a police officer on a response team in the Met (and some other forces) whilst your colleagues in the City of London Police and your colleagues in the British Transport Police are ‘allowed’ to use spit guards, you (currently) aren’t.
However, custody officers (out of the view of public) are allowed to use spit guards.
And this is why so many people believe that not allowing response team officers in the Met Police to have spit guards is politically motivated.
Why else would officers back at the station be allowed spit guards, but not officers out on the streets?
As a prime example of the challenges being faced by Met Police response team officers, one Police inspector shared the following tweet:
I am sure that it will only be a matter of time before a response team officer in the Met ends up contracting some sort of contagious disease after being spat on by someone.
The question will then be asked as to why response team officers weren’t allowed to use spit guards.
But for the officer who ends up contracting a disease, it will be too late.
It’s time for the ‘politically correctness’ to be put where it belongs: in the bin
If you have a story, video or one-off blog that you would like to share with us, then you can contact our team of former emergency services & armed forces personnel either through our Facebook page, via twitter ( @ES_News_ ) or you can contact us via email: contact@emergency-services.news
If you run or manage a ‘job’ social media account and you would like us to share one of your stories then send us a tweet or a message!
If you would like to write an article that you would like us to share (it can be about anything to do with the emergency services / NHS) whether you serve in the emergency services / NHS or whether you are a member of the public that has had a good experience with the emergency services, then feel free to contact our team; anonymously if you prefer.
We are proud to act as a voice for the Emergency Services & Health Service, with over 500,000 people visiting our website each month.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
First attempt to spit should be answered with a taser. Warn them first if you want, but let everyone know that it’s going to happen.