Officers’ Goodwill ‘Teetering On the Brink’

Goodwill among South Yorkshire Police officers is teetering on the brink as staff grow increasingly frustrated at having rest days, annual leave and family time cancelled to cover duties, the force’s Federation has warned.

Federation Chair Steve Kent was speaking after a Government review of policing found some forces were exploiting officers through poor workforce planning.

He said: “We keep hearing the frustration of people who are getting days off cancelled, weekends cancelled when they want to make plans. It’s one of the things that makes the job far less attractive than it already is.

“Police pay in Britain is some of the poorest in the G7, as we know, and then coupled with the fact that we’re not getting rewarded for the sacrifices that we have to make, it is a problem.”

Steve said South Yorkshire Police was struggling to meet demand with its current officer numbers, a problem made worse by the disproportionate policing requirements of football matches.

He added: “We’re police officers, we’re not normal employees. We can be ordered to work, we can be ordered to stay on, we can be ordered to cancel our holidays, we can be ordered to cancel our rest days, and that is just not reflected.

“That’s what’s driving people to question why they’re in policing, because goodwill is definitely suffering.”

The review, led by former national police inspector Zoe Billingham, found some forces were breaching their own regulations by requiring officers to work excessive hours without adequate rest.

In unprecedented criticism of the way forces treat their officers, the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) said their behaviour was undermining the “morale, wellbeing and retention” of their frontline staff.