‘Naïve’ To Let Experienced Officers Leave Service

An “unbelievable naivety” has led to police forces shedding experienced officers and relying on new recruits, South Yorkshire Police Federation is warning.

Federation Chair Steve Kent said huge numbers of officers were talking about leaving the profession due to unworkable conditions.

He said: “With the greatest of respects, replacing seasoned cops with new recruits is not going to help anybody for a couple of years until those new recruits come in.”

Concerns have been raised that more inexperienced officers are being promoted to fill roles vacated by police who have had enough.

But the knock-on effect of this has been a lack of experienced role models for new recruits to learn from.

Steve said better pay, more time to do the job and enhanced opportunities to recover from stressful incidents would all help with retention.

He said there had been an “unbelievable naivety and lack of awareness” of what was happening on the ground.

Steve added: “I am talking to cops who are only ten years off retirement and they’re going to go.

“That’s big because that’s never happened before, when you’re that close to retirement.”