Officers Leaving The Service Because They’re Being Paid ‘A Pittance’

SOUTH Yorkshire Police officers are dealing with “unbelievable stress for an absolute pittance” and an increasing number are leaving for the private sector, the Federation has said.

Recent official submissions to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) warned the Government that policing would be under threat if it continued to ignore calls for a fair pay increase. A third of officers now have fewer than five years’ experience, and a rising number are leaving the service.

Yet it has been reported that the Government is planning a below-inflation 3.5% pay rise for police officers and other public-sector workers.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “There needs to be a drastic improvement in police pay. A number of our officers across the force are now exploring other options. They’re not just saying it in the heat of the moment. They’re looking at contingencies about where else they can go and work, so that they can make ends meet.

“Student officers, experienced officers, and officers of rank are all talking about leaving. South Yorkshire Police is doing better than most when it comes to recruiting, but even we are finding this challenging. So the knock-on effect across the country is going to be forces who are really struggling to make the numbers up.”

He continued: “If we start losing experienced officers, what are we going to be left with? We need to be improving the standards of policing, not lowering them.

“We have a foodbank for officers, and it’s being used with increasing regularity – that shows how hard officers are finding it financially at the minute. There needs to be a bare minimum of a 10% pay rise, and I’m calling for 15%. We are one of the poorest-paid police services in the G7, and that is being felt by our officers who are putting their lives on the line, dealing with unbelievable stress for an absolute pittance.

“The only way we can address this is to start properly investing in policing, and making the job attractive to the right people, because we want to be competitive. We want to bring in exciting young talent, and at the minute that’s not going to be happening when people are coming in and seeing that the pay is very poor compared to the private sector.”