Low morale hits 81% of South Yorkshire’s serious crime officers

EIGHT in 10 officers dealing with serious crime at South Yorkshire Police have reported low levels of morale, a new staff survey has shown.

According to the poll, 81% of officers and staff in the Specialist Crime Services department – which deals with homicide, organised crime, counter terrorism, rape, sexual offences and domestic violence – reported that they were experiencing low morale at work.

Only 5% said they felt positive about their work, while 14% said they were neutral, and Specialist Services was the unhappiest unit in the force, according to the online survey.

The happiest staff were in the senior command team, where 50% of respondents said they felt positive about their roles.

Around 1,500 police officers and members of police staff from across the force responded to the questionnaire last year.

It showed that spirits had fallen at the force since 2012 – the last time staff were quizzed. In total, just 11% of people at the force reported feeling positive about their work, compared with 15% two years before.

Barnsley was the unhappiest division, where 79% of officers reported negative feelings. Low morale was experienced by 70% of Sheffield officers and 69% of those based in Doncaster.

And the survey showed that the lower the rank, the more likely morale was to be low: 77% of PCs and sergeants felt negative about their work, 50% of inspectors and above were unhappy in their jobs, while just 32% of those with a staff grade of E or above reported low morale.