Policing is in crisis and it’s affecting officers

POLICING is ‘in crisis’ and the ‘right people’ need to listen, says Police Federation Chair Zuleika Payne.

She believes the number of police officers in South Yorkshire won’t be increasing anytime soon and that it’s impacting not just the communities Federation members serve, but their own health and welfare.

“Officer welfare is obviously very important,” she said.

“And in relation to demand and capability, there will come a point where we will have to decide what we can deal and can’t deal with.”

“We are in crisis and the right people in Government need to listen,” she added.

Police welfare is being put in the spotlight by the Police Federation of England and Wales which is devoting specialist sessions at conferences to the issues and is running a series of awareness programmes.

It’s Welfare Support Programme, run in conjunction with The Police Firearms Officers’ Association (PFOA) reports that more officers are struggling to cope with the demands placed on them.

More than 3,000 officers engaged with the programme in the last year alone.

“What we need is Government to make a serious investment in policing otherwise the situation is not going to improve, added Zuleika.

“We will continue to rob Peter to pay Paul, and that is not a long-term, effective, sustainable solution for policing or for officers’ health and wellbeing.”