Forces Have ‘Gaps In Experience, Skills And Supervision’

Fewer officers want to go for promotion due to high pressure and bureaucracy, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, following HMICFRS’ warning that forces have significant gaps in experience, skills and supervision.

On 8 September, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary published its latest ‘State of Policing’ Report, in which it warned that too many officers and police staff were experiencing low morale and poor wellbeing, and that forces were managing significant gaps in experience, skills and supervision. It said that forces must understand the capabilities they will need in the future; strengthen supervision and professional development; and recruit and retain the right combination of officers and staff.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “There are a lot of fantastic officers who would make amazing leaders, but don’t want to go for promotion because, a) they don’t want the pressure it puts on them with little reward, and b) they have no faith in the system that the right people will be selected.

“The promotion system in policing is broken, and it often rewards people for the ability to pass the process rather than the ability to do the role. In a lot of cases people are promoted for the wrong reasons, and the service is not necessarily identifying talent and nurturing officers through and rewarding them for that.

“Officers in my force tell me that being a duty sergeant is harder than it’s ever been; with all the bureaucracy, they’ve got no time to look after staff. And this goes back to HMIC. They need to hold the mirror up to themselves and take ownership of the fact that they are part of the cause, because they are making policing a hostile environment for people to want to be managers.”