Student Officers Should Give Policing A Good Chance

POLICING is “still a good job”, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, as he urged student officers to give it a chance while the Federation fights to improve pay and working conditions.

Steve Kent was speaking after the latest Police Uplift Programme New Recruits Onboarding Survey showed that new officers were feeling less job satisfaction and experiencing more welfare concerns.

But the majority of new joiners interviewed between February and November 2021 were satisfied and wanted to stay in the profession long-term.

Steve said: “There’s sometimes an expectation that policing is all about the blue lights and catching robbers. There isn’t always an appreciation of the amount of bureaucracy and paperwork within policing. So we do get a lot of officers who get a reality check. It’s just a steep learning curve.

“I still think policing is a great job and it will be a great job again if pay and conditions get sorted out. People have got to join with the expectation that they are going to hit the ground running and it is a real challenge.

“Because, don’t get me wrong, there’s action to be had. There are football matches every weekend, there are Police Support Units (PSUs). There’s the opportunity to be a detective if that’s what people want. I do urge that people join, give the ball a good kick and try and see it through. And we want to ensure that people are being rewarded for what they’re having to do.”