Chief Backs Calls For Better Police Pay

HAMPSHIRE’s former Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney joined her chief officer colleagues in calling for better pay rises for frontline officers.

CC Pinkney, who left her role at the end of February, said she was fully supportive of officers’ call for fair pay and called on the Government to give officers an award that reflects the nature of the role.

Last month, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “Police officers deserve fair pay that reflects their unique duties and contribution to society, including their responsibility to run toward danger, as well as recognising that they are restricted in taking on second jobs and are not allowed to strike.”

Zoë Wakefield, Hampshire Police Federation Chair, said: “Olivia called me after the NPCC had that meeting and told me what the stance was and what they would be telling the Government.”

Many officers are taking on second jobs to make ends meet, but this is leaving them at risk, Zoë warned.

She said: “What you can do as a second job is very limited. For most people, they’ve got to try and do it around a shift pattern as well, and you have to apply to get a second job, and you have to get permission to actually have that second job. So it is really difficult for officers to earn extra money.

“Officers are shattered. They work so hard anyway, a lot of them are working any overtime they can get, they’re worn out.

“So then you’ve got that whole physical and psychological risk to officers who, because of financial pressures, are having to work more than they should be and they’re not getting enough rest and recuperation.”

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Pay and Conditions, Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan, said: “Any pay award should recognise the impact of the cost of living on officers and be fully funded. We have submitted our evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body and ask that their recommendations to the government on pay take all of these factors into consideration.”