CPS Puts ‘Unbelievable Strain’ On Police Detectives

THERE needs to be a fundamental review of Crown Prosecution Service changes that were brought in last year and have led to “unbelievable strain on Detectives”, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

A national Federation survey of over 6,000 Detectives found that 93% of respondents indicated their overall workload had increased due to the changes, while 61% said the changes had increased their intention to leave their role.

The changes to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Director’s Guidance on Charging came in in January 2021 and the need for trial-ready files has put immense pressure on Detectives and other officers.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “The problem is, quite simply, bureaucracy. The CPS has changed its parameters to put it in a better position to get through cases more efficiently, from its perspective. But the unintended consequence of that is it causes an unbelievable strain on Detectives and other police officers.

“Their workload has gone through the roof. You’ve got Detectives with high numbers of cases who will now be having to submit far bigger files. Work that would usually take them hours now takes days. And that’s just not acceptable.

“It’s just another thing that has heaped an enormous amount of pressure on policing. The perception is that policing can just take everything on its shoulders and never break. But it looks like our Detectives are starting to break, and enough’s enough.

“There needs to be a simplification of the processes, we need to have shorter files for guilty pleas. Here’s a wild idea: consult with the police officers! Ask them, as practitioners, how they feel it could be made better.”