Julie is determined to support equal rights for officers in new role
11 March 2021
Julie Fleming says she is determined to support members within their job and help get officers back to work after being appointed deputy equality liaison officer (ELO) for West Midlands Police Federation.
Julie fast developed a desire for resolving equality issues for members having first become a workplace Federation representative in 2017.
Nearly four years on and Julie is now taking her passion for helping colleagues even further, as she takes on the temporary position of deputy ELO. In her new role, she will work to ensure the Federation’s equality policies complement those set out by the Force’s HR team.
“I feel I have a lot to offer in this area,” says Julie, who joined the police almost 20 years ago.
Up until now, she has been a neighbourhood officer at Stoke and Wyken in Coventry but, having struggled to juggle a full-time job with her Federation responsibilities, she has chosen to focus on supporting members.
“I really feel the Federation can work better with management across the Force to improve awareness of equality issues,” she explains, “If those higher up have a better understanding of equal rights then this, in theory, should lead to a happier workforce all-round. Ideally, this would then lead to less grievances, misunderstandings and the general unhappiness, all of which I currently witness far too often.”
She suggests putting together a training package for supervisors or sending out email bulletins.
“My priorities will be to support members within their job and get people back to work while also making sure they are happy in a stable and fulfilling role which is better for them, for the Force as a whole and also for the public we serve,” she says.
