Police officers are dangerously fatigued and overworked, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
In the Government\u2019s recent Police Covenant Annual Report 2024, it states: \u201cTackling extreme fatigue is a growing area of concern as our understanding develops on how the ever-increasing pressure on our officers and staff impacts them.\u201d In response, the Home Office funded the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) to launch a project supporting officers who are experiencing fatigue.<\/p>\n
But South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said that the main problem was a shortage of officers and resources.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cThe only way we\u2019re going to deal with the problem of fatigue is by increasing the numbers and resourcing in policing, because we haven\u2019t got enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still 400 down on where we were at our peak, prior to 2010, which is a massive amount of police officers. We need to be centrally funded to get us back up to and beyond that number.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need to cut down on the bureaucracy that means our officers in all departments are working really long hours, and they\u2019re exhausted. There needs to be some kind of pressure valve release.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with Right Care, Right Person, the police is still the public service that seems to pick up the slack of everybody else\u2019s work where nobody else picks up ours, so there needs to be a fundamental change, because our officers are really, really tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve added that officers were taking on more overtime, although he said that for some that was by choice, due to the cost-of-living crisis. He said: \u201cWe are relying on officers not wanting to let their colleagues down. So officers are shoring everything up by their goodwill all the time, and that just can\u2019t carry on, it\u2019s dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n