THERE\u00a0needs to be a fundamental review of Crown Prosecution Service changes that were brought in last year and have led to \u201cunbelievable strain on Detectives\u201d, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
A national Federation survey of over 6,000 Detectives found that 93% of respondents indicated their overall workload had increased due to the changes, while 61% said the changes had increased their intention to leave their role.<\/p>\n
The changes to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Director\u2019s Guidance on Charging came in in January 2021 and the need for trial-ready files has put immense pressure on Detectives and other officers.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cThe problem is, quite simply, bureaucracy. The CPS has changed its parameters to put it in a better position to get through cases more efficiently, from its perspective. But the unintended consequence of that is it causes an unbelievable strain on Detectives and other police officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir workload has gone through the roof. You\u2019ve got Detectives with high numbers of cases who will now be having to submit far bigger files. Work that would usually take them hours now takes days. And that\u2019s just not acceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just another thing that has heaped an enormous amount of pressure on policing. The perception is that policing can just take everything on its shoulders and never break. But it looks like our Detectives are starting to break, and enough\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be a simplification of the processes, we need to have shorter files for guilty pleas. Here\u2019s a wild idea: consult with the police officers! Ask them, as practitioners, how they feel it could be made better.\u201d<\/p>\n
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