Kent Police Headquarters
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Kent Police Headquarters will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Kent Police Headquarters recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation, by ensuring that previous military experience is recognised by our Chief Constable as an alternative criteria to application, by seeking the support of current staff with previous military experience to assist at bespoke military recruitment events and through our Armed Forces Network championed by our Deputy Chief Officer to support the wider Armed Forces community. Displaying the Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme logos on our website, and where appropriate on our marketing material and various social media platforms. Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old and working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers; we will do this by linking in with the CTP providing our recruitment web pages and links to enable applications from the veteran community and provide details of all outreach events we are attending to enable those seeking employment to come along and find out more about the employment opportunities within Kent Police. Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners; we will do this by linking in with the CTP and Forces Families Jobs providing our recruitment web pages and links to enable applications from the veteran community and military family members. Kent police will provide details of all outreach events we are attending to enable those seeking employment to come along and find out more about the employment opportunities within Kent Police Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible, ensuring that the operational capability of Kent Police is maintained. This is documented within policy L160 Armed Forces, where reserve members may be granted special leave with pay to engage in military activities or training up to a total of 15 days in any leave year or 5 days for members of the cadet forces. Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; We will do this by attending this event either nationally or locally to proactively support and if we cannot be in physical attendance, we will provide information of employment opportunities within the Kent Police to be shared on the day which will include websites/points of contact for further information. Promoting and supporting Armed Forces Day and Reserves Day through our social media platforms. Kent Police has several social media platforms and will ensure that our support is pledged at appropriate times towards the Armed Forces. Develop relationships with our local Armed Forces community so as to better identify and understand its needs and ascertain how we can provide services which its members value. Through our local Community Liaison Officers, we have regular contact with local
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.