Workload is too high, say 81% of South Yorkshire officers

MORE than eight in 10 South Yorkshire Police officers think their workload is too high – and a similar proportion have experienced mental health or wellbeing issues in the past year, according to a new survey.

Around 81% reported feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other difficulties in the past 12 months, with 94% attributing this at least partly to work.

The Police Federation of England and WalesOfficer Demand, Capacity and Welfare Survey was carried out nationally against the backdrop of unprecedented budgetary cuts and a considerable fall in officer numbers across the country.

It includes 272 responses from South Yorkshire Police, a response rate of around 11%.

The force-specific results show that just 6% thought there were enough officers on their team or unit for them to do their individual job properly. Four per cent said they had time to engage in proactive policing and only 6% said there were generally enough officers to manage all the demands being made on the team.

More than half of officers were “never” or “rarely” able to take their full rest break entitlement, with nine in 10 having two or more rest days cancelled in the previous 12 month period.

Around 45% had previously sought help for mental health and wellbeing issues from a GP, occupational health department, psychologist, therapist or counsellor.

However, there were officers who had chosen not to disclose this to their line managers due to fears of being treated differently, that other colleagues would find out or that it would negatively affect their opportunities for promotion or specialisation.