HMICFRS report confirms officer welfare concerns

THE hard work and drive of officers is covering up police leaders’ failures to plan for demand, according to the latest HMICFRS review of policing.

It added that officers’ can-do attitude was keeping the service going and that police leaders were ‘over reliant’ on that attitude to get the job done.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Zuleika Payne says pumping cash into the service, as part of a ‘revisit’ of how the police work, is needed to stop hardworking officers from falling ill.

She said: “We can’t absorb everything, and the HMICFRS report showed just how hard working but also how under pressure officers are.

“The only way we can address this is through investment and a review of how we work as a service.

“By that I mean we should allow the police to police and let other agencies, those concerned with mental health for instance, be responsible for their areas of expertise.

“We need a leg up to do what we need to do effectively.”

Welfare and health and wellbeing of officers continues to suffer as a result of demand and falling officer numbers, Zuleika added.

“There are some serious issues out there,” she said.

“There are issues around pay and morale. Just because we’ve lost officers doesn’t mean the work has gone away and there is a feeling that officers are not getting a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.

“Workloads are increasing and there’s more of a burden on officers’ shoulders.”

The pressure is already leading to officers’ quitting their roles, she said.

Zuleika added: “I recently became aware of an officers’ resignation, they are saying they have had enough, doing too many hours, there’s a real strength of feeling out there.”

“The NHS is getting a boost to its coffers, and rightly so, but unfortunately I’m not confident the investment we need will happen.”