Flip The Script: Supt. Chris Truscott SW Police!

What is Flip The Script Friday?

Flip The Script Friday is a weekly event where we invite organisations/adults onto our website/social media to answer the questions that young people have for them.

Why is it a thing?

This is an opportunity for young people’s voices to be heard and to have their questions answered. But equally, it’s a chance to destigmatise the discussion of mental health, highlight the great work that organisations are doing and to make reaching out for support from them less intimidating.

This week…

We collaborated with Chris Truscott, he is a senior police officer in South Wales Police.  Up until recently he was leading a programme of work on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how they impact on individuals, for example, mental health, alcohol/drug abuse, incarceration and domestic abuse.

This programme sought to influence the way that the police deal with vulnerable people and to understand that there are many drivers for how people behave and react, he says “we need to look beyond what we are faced with.  Over 6000 officers, staff and partner agencies received training in adverse childhood experiences and how trauma impacts upon not just children but also adults.”

Although more recently he started a new role as the head of Public Service Centre in Bridgend – this is where his team takes calls from the public and despatch police officers to incidents 24/7 every day of the year.

Who are the South Wales Police?

“South Wales Police is the largest police force in Wales and although geographically small, covering around 812 square miles and equating to just 10% of the geographical area of Wales, South Wales Police provides a policing service to 1.3 million people (42% of the country’s population).

South Wales is a diverse region, boasting urban, rural and coastal areas and featuring the two largest cities in Wales – Swansea and the capital city, Cardiff. The force also serves 63 of the 100 most deprived communities in Wales.

The force has almost 3000 police officers and over 2200 police staff, including Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and a team of dedicated volunteers that includes over 100 Special Constables and around 150 Police Youth Volunteers.”

Q&A Time!

We had so many questions sent in by young people to our Instagram @platfform4yp and here are some of the highlights!

It’s a fantastic opportunity to make sure the voices of young people are heard and that there is an opportunity to ask people like me questions and importantly get answers.  

I decided at a young age I either wanted to be a police officer or a physiotherapist.  The police officer choice came from watching episodes of ‘The Bill’ on tv (Google that as I’m probably showing my age!).  I realised when I started studying Human Biology that physiotherapy wasn’t for me so I joined the police at 18 as a Special Constable (Volunteer) then full-time at 19.  The police was in no way the same as The Bill however what attracted me was the variety of work, and of course helping people to make a positive difference.

That’s a tough one as I like anything other than heavy metal and Jazz – I’m more BBC Radio 2 than Radio 1 though!

We are human, have families and our own everyday problems just like everyone else, we nearly always get it right in difficult and unpredictable situations but sometimes we do make mistakes which we need to learn from – just like everyone else.  My colleagues save lives every day, most of which you never hear about.

Policing is about much more than blue lights and pub fights.  We see people at their best and their worst.  We have seen and heard things that most people will never have to, but we have no superpowers, we are sons and daughters, just like you.

I love what I do so why would I want to stay in bed all day??

Never give up on people

Probably Maths – just because it challenged my brain although I’ve never used algebra in policing!

Mental health has become such a big area of policing, over 80% of our demand relates to public safety and welfare type incidents.  All our frontline staff have received training in dealing with people in crisis as well as recognising trauma and the impact it has on people and their behaviour.  Our police control room has mental health professionals working there to help officers and staff out on the street by giving help advice to both them and people in crisis.  We also signpost people to organisations such as ‘Shout’ who can provide help and support.

In nearly all cases yes.  An example of an exemption for on-duty police officers is exceeding the speed limit when driving to emergency incidents such as road traffic collisions where people are injured or domestic violence incidents.  In every case though we need to be able to justify why we have worked outside of legislation and rightly face scrutiny.

I spend most of my day in meetings but make a conscious effort to try and stop for lunch and set my Fitbit to remind me when I’ve been sat still for too long to make sure I get up and walk somewhere.

I get up at 5.30am during the week and go for a walk before work to make sure I do 10000 steps a day.  I try to make my days off my own but with access to my work via a laptop I am often tempted  – my partner keeps me in check though!

There’s two things sorry……. Firstly get a haircut! And more seriously, be the person that you want to be.

Absolutely.  We collaborate really closely with neighbouring forces in Gwent and Dyfed Powys, sharing resources such as Firearms officers, Digital Services and Procurement.  There are 43 police forces in England and Wales so a single model of working is really challenging but not impossible.  We work closely with a whole host of Partner agencies as well.

Grey – sounds dull I know.

I’d probably have ended up working somewhere in the rail industry – I’m not a trainspotter though!

South Wales Police, and my colleagues around the country, stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified by racism.

We recognise the strength of feeling arising from the death of George Floyd and the impact of discrimination and racism on our communities – something we are committed to tackling. 

Protecting the public from the dangers of Coronavirus is a continuing responsibility. We have worked with protest organisers and attendees to remind them of their obligations under the Coronavirus legislation.  The overarching goal is for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh Government regulations to Keep Wales Safe.

An Oak tree as they improve with age!

Come and see what we do for yourself – We offer a ‘Patrol Along’ opportunity on our website if you are interested (when it is safe to do so due to the pandemic)– you can see first hand what we do, how we do it and why we do what we do.  There’s also lots of opportunities for you to become involved as a volunteer across a whole range of different roles, as well as opportunities to be a police officer or a member of police staff. [Detailed at the end of this blog!]

Nobody could have imagined the devastating impact that the pandemic would have across the world.  The restrictions were/are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus and some of those still remain.  I’d encourage everyone to keep following the advice and although the restrictions have been eased it’s really important to keep 2 meters apart when out with friends.  None of us want to see a second wave of the virus and everyone has a personal responsibility to ensure this doesn’t happen.  Do stay connected with your friends and family though, particularly if they are unable to leave the house and may be feeling lonely.  Look after each other

As a police officer you are never officially off duty – so if you see something happening when you are not working then you are expected to take action.  It is hard to switch off and I find myself noticing things that most people wouldn’t.  If you see me in places like a restaurant, you’ll always find me with my back to a wall so I can see what is going on!!

It would have to be giving my mum and dad a hug (especially if they are reading this!).  After that I’ll be off somewhere warm and sunny on holiday!

I’d want to be able to fly

There are lots of options available such as volunteering as a Special Constable who have the same powers of police officers, Police Youth Volunteers, Police Support Volunteers or paid roles both as a police officer or member of police staff.  The volunteer options help gain a valuable insight into policing to see whether it is actually for you whilst also making a positive contribution.  Our Patrol Along scheme allows you to join us to see what we do locally (When COVID allows)

We have over 500 officers and Community Support Officers working in Neighbourhoods who are dedicated to local policing.  This is a great source of engagement and opportunity to seek opinions from young people.  Our Police Youth Volunteers are a valuable source of opinions on what we do but I’d encourage everyone to get involved, let us know what you think, even if it’s not what you think we might want to hear…feedback is a gift!

I’d make sure my family were well looked after but I’d probably still come to work…….probably.

I’d like to change the media narrative.  So much of what is reported on about policing is things that we’ve got wrong – that’s absolutely important and I’d never shy away from that however so much that we do goes un-noticed, unreported on, but like I said earlier, I work with people who do heroic things each and every day, not just in policing but across all of the emergency services.  Flip the script is a great opportunity to showcase what the police do.

I like to go walking somewhere quiet with my dogs, love going out for lunch and also enjoy a glass of wine or two.

The answer is yes we must be, however we are all human, but we work hard as an organisation to challenge our own thinking and any unconscious bias

I think that policing is starting to improve in this area however we have significant work to do.  We did some research with young people in Comprehensive Schools to identify how young people would want to contact the police if they needed too.  Online was the least favoured methods of contact for young people, with face to face contact and presence in schools the most preferred.  I guess it’s sometime not ‘cool’ to publicly converse with the police online!  Always grateful for new ideas, particularly given that my new role is all about public contact and accessibility.

As an openly gay officer, diversity is something close to my heart and I can say that South Wales Police has made huge strides in respect of LGBTQ+ (We are never complacent though).  The job I joined in 1999 has changed significantly and I’m proud to be the real me in work.

We are an increasingly diverse force but there’s much more to do, particularly within black and minority ethnic communities to make sure we are completely representative of the communities we serve.  We have a dedicated Representative Workforce Team who actively engage with our under-represented communities to promote the work of the police and attract people to join us.  But we don’t just leave that to the team to do, every one of our officers and staff have a part to play in this in each and every contact with the public.

After 21 years of policing, I still love coming to work every day. Policing is an increasingly challenging environment but none of us come to work to do a bad job.  If I was 18 again, I’d choose to be a Police Officer, no question.

The below link is really useful on how people can get involved with policing in a voluntary capacity –

https://www.south-wales.police.uk/en/join-us/volunteering/

As Chris said, there are so many opportunities for anyone, including young people to get involved with the police! We would highly recommend it if policing is something you are at all interested in!

Want more content from Chris and The South Wales Police?

Follow them on Twitter at: @SuptTruscott and @swpolice

Go show them some love too!

Missed out on asking a question this time? No Worries! Keep an eye on our Instagram @platfform4yp for the next Flip The Script! Want to ask a specific individual/organisation questions? DM us and we will make it happen! Until next time! 😀