High Number Of Officers Resigning

Poor pay, long hours and “constant negativity” mean that more police officers are resigning, Hampshire Police Federation has said.

New figures from the Home Office show the highest number of voluntary resignations among police officers in England and Wales since records began 17 years ago. A huge 5,058 officers resigned in the year to 31 March, which is 10% higher than the previous year and an almost five-fold increase in a decade – only 1,158 officers resigned in 2012.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said: “Pay is a big factor in retention. But the other factor is the way we’re portrayed by the media and by the Government. Good, dedicated, professional officers are out there on the streets being called rapists.

“There’s so much positive police work happening every single day, up and down the country, and it is not reported in the press. Loads of my colleagues don’t even tell people they’re a police officer, and that’s awful. Everyone should be really proud to be a police officer.

“I know there is a good proportion of the public who do support us, but the constant negativity definitely weighs people down. And officers think: ‘I could leave, I could go and get another job on the same money if not more, where I don’t have my days off cancelled, I get to go home at the end of my day, I don’t have to work overtime, and I don’t have to put up with all this abuse’.”

She added: “A lot of us didn’t join policing to get rich, we joined because we care. But money does come into it at some point, especially when people have got families to support.”