- Conference
- 2024 Police, Probation and CAFCASS Conference
- Date
- 13 June 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that the eligibility criteria for the recently awarded King’s Coronation Medal has proved divisive and controversial for our police staff membership. This follows similar controversy over the award of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022.
The official criteria for the award of the King’s Coronation Medal states that it should be awarded to ‘Frontline emergency personnel who have been in paid service, retained or in a voluntary capacity, dealing with emergencies as part of their conditions of service, and completed five full calendar years of service on 6 May 2023.’
Conference notes that in actual fact, in the police service, the King’s Coronation Medal was only awarded to police officers and police community support officers. Other front line police staff roles which deal with emergencies as part of their conditions of service were denied the medal.
The list of excluded police staff occupations dealing with emergencies in the police service include: 999 call takers, dispatchers, force control room supervisors, scenes of crime officers, forensic accident investigators, and photographers.
Conference further notes that the Home Office has not been able to provide a clear rationale as to why the medal is only awarded to police officers and PCSOs, other than that it is only issued to front line uniformed roles.
Conference believes that the published eligibility criteria for the King’s Coronation Medal are very clear and that front line police staff who deal with emergencies as part of their role are eligible to receive the award.
Conference further believes that the exclusion of eligible front line police staff from the medal is an indication of a continuing official prejudice against police staff and a misunderstanding of the role our members play in modern policing. Police staff clearly suffer less favourable treatment when it comes to receiving awards like the King’s Coronation Medal.
Conference therefore instructs the Service Group Executive to work with the Police Staff Sector Committee for England and Wales to:
1)Submit a claim to the Police Staff Council for England and Wales seeking support from the Employers Side for the award of the King’s Coronation Medal and future equivalents to police staff currently eligible to receive the medal
2)Lobby the Home Secretary to seek their support for the award of the medal to appropriate police staff postholders
3. Publicise the claim to members and seek to recruit their support for the campaign