Detective scheme won’t solve the crisis, says Federation

A 12-week fast-track scheme to get graduates onboard as detectives is ringing alarm bells with South Yorkshire Police Federation.

Chair Zuleika Payne says she is not confident the Home Office Plan, which sets out to address a national 5,000 shortfall in detective numbers, is the answer.

Scheme leaders say it will provide 1,000 new detectives by 2023 and it is backed by Chief Constable Matt Jukes, National Lead of Investigative Resilience.

“I’ve got some real concerns about it,” Zuleika said.

“It goes without saying, there will be many individuals who would make fantastic investigators. However, it’s a bold step to suggest that someone with just 12 weeks’ classroom training is going to be prepared for the complex and difficult cases they are going to be presented with as an investigator.

“We are going to end up with detectives working side by side; one will have 15 years’ experience maybe and the other is going to have 12 weeks’ experience – it’s just very hard to imagine the fast track course will give them what they need.

“Of course, there are people out there who would make great investigators but let’s give them the correct training to perform the role, to solve the problems they are going to be faced with everyday.

“A lot of that comes from policing experience, which you just can’t replicate on a course. Police detectives are selected from officers who have completed their two year student officer phase as a regular police officer.

“That’s before an officer is interviewed by a board, if successful placed in a CID team before completing a further training portfolio. It’s a lengthy and involved process, it doesn’t happen overnight.”

Zuleika believes that spending time and resource in solving the detective crisis and understanding how the sector has got to crisis point would be more beneficial.

She explained: “There is a crisis, there’s no doubt about it, but what’s the history behind the crisis? Why are we in this situation?

“Yes, we need more investigators on board but if we don’t address why we are where we are and cure that, then the danger is we’ll end up back at square one.

“Detectives deal with a huge amount of risk, they investigate serious and complex crimes and we are becoming increasingly risk averse.

“Existing investigators need support, but unless that matter is addressed sufficiently then the matter will not be satisfactorily resolved in the long term.”