Federation backing campaign to help detectives

SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation is backing a national campaign to highlight the issues around Detective recruitment and retention currently blighting forces up and down the country.

According to a recent Police Federation of England and Wales survey, nearly three quarters of Detectives say they feel they are unable to provide the service victims need.

A quarter said that their physical and mental health was impacted by the stress of the job.

The PFEW says cuts and an ever-increasing workload are to blame.

Its campaign will shine a light on the problems Detectives face with real case studies in the hope that leading Police chiefs and the Government will recognise and support the welfare of those in the role.

“What’s important is that those at the heart of this issue, the Detectives themselves, have a voice and that their thoughts and feelings are gathered and understood”, said South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Zuleika Payne.

“The campaign will certainly spell out some of the harsh realities they face and will provide evidence for change.”

She believes life has changed dramatically for CID staff over the last few years, especially with an increased collective tightening of belts following Government cuts.

“The overall shrinking officer numbers, not just in South Yorkshire but up and down the country, certainly haven’t aided our cause and the general picture is that there are fewer officers absorbing more work,” she said.

“When you then translate this to a specialist area of work such as CID, the pressure and increasing pressure on detectives has become unbearable.

“It all means it’s difficult to attract people to the role while some want to leave CID and return to frontline uniform duty. It must be recognised.

“We are as a service becoming more risk adverse so it’s becoming ever more important that we see the talent people might have in this area and develop them – we should be seeing growth but unfortunately the opposite is true.

“Making sure that our workforce is in a good place is vitally important,” she added.

For more information visit www.polfed.org or get involved on Twitter using #DetectivesInCrisis