Number of officers not recommending policing is ‘dreadful’

IT IS “dreadful” that three out of four serving police officers would not recommend policing as a career to others, the Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

More than 32,500 police officers took part in a survey by the Police Federation of England and Wales, with 76.3% saying they would not recommend policing as a career.

Neil Bowles, Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “That is a dreadful statistic.” 

He added: “People are so fed up with the job that they wouldn’t recommend it to anybody else.

“When I joined 28 years ago I remember people telling me ‘it’s not the job I joined’. It is a generational thing, I admit. But in the last 10 years the amount of change has been incredible.

“I don’t think I would personally deter anyone from joining as long as they know what they’re joining when they sign up: it’s not a job for life and it’s dangerous.”

The national poll also showed that more than 15% of respondents were planning to leave the service within the next two years.

Mr Bowles (pictured) added: “It’s not surprising at all, it just backs up the survey that the force has done within its own staff.

“It’s no surprise that people are looking elsewhere for work. Last year, we had over 80 officers voluntarily leave the force without a pension, which is unheard of in recent times, and this year we’re heading in the same direction. We’re losing more officers than we need to for the budget.”

Officers told the Police Federation of England and Wales survey that low morale and the impact of the job on their health and personal or family life were all major factors in their decision to leave.

Over 95% of the 15.6% of officers who said they were planning to leave also cited ‘how the police as a whole are treated’ as having either some or a major effect on their decision.

However, a total of 53.1% said they were willing to go the extra mile for the police and 78.2% said they could count on their colleagues for friendship and support when needed.

Mr Bowles said: “That’s great to hear that people have that work ethic to support each other. Because if we don’t support each other, who will?”

A total of 79.4% of those who told they survey they were planning to leave said the perception that there were better job opportunities outside the police had either some or a major effect on their decision, with 73% citing their workload and responsibilities as a factor.

The survey of 32,598 officers across England and Wales – representing a 28% response rate – showed that 70.2% of officers said their morale was low, compared with 59.1% in the previous survey in 2014.

The percentage of those who said morale was low across their force was at 94.6%, compared with 90.2% in 2014. Those who cited low morale across the service was at 96.6%, compared with 94% in the previous survey.

However, just 13.5% said they have the opportunity to achieve their full potential in their role and only 14.4% said they were encouraged to use their talents to the full. Just 10.2% said they would recommend joining the police service to others, while 76.3% said they would not.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “This survey provides extremely strong evidence of the parlous state of officers’ morale across the service.

“This should sound a warning to those who run the service – all the way from the Home Office, to the College of Policing, to the chief officers whose job it is to lead forces through what is an incredibly difficult time for all those in policing.

“Despite the extreme pressures the service is under, it is heartening that the majority of officers state they will still go the extra mile to protect the public from harm and that the police family is very much intact through the support officers provide each other.

“It is imperative that the service works together to mitigate the impact of the budget cuts and to maintain and continue to improve what is the widely recognised as the best police service in the world.”

You can see a summary of the full survey results here: http://www.policemag.co.uk/images/Pay_and_morale_survey_2015_130715.pdf.