80% of Staffordshire Police officers who responded to the Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale survey are dissatisfied with their pay - and 60% said they have low morale.
48% of Staffordshire officers said they worry about money either every day or almost every day and only 74% said they had enough money to cover all of their essentials every month.
The vast majority of Staffordshire respondents, 92%, did not feel fairly paid considering the stresses and strains of their job and 91% felt morale within the force is currently low.
Phil Jones, Chairman of Staffordshire Police Federation, said the results of the survey are not a surprise and “are worrying to say the least.”
He said: “The pressures and demands On Police Officers are unprecedented. Staffordshire like many parts of the country has been seen greater demands on its services, whether this be mental health, safeguarding or social care.
“Police Officers have risen to those challenges and offered the best possible service to the public.
“But it must be said that our colleagues deal with enough stress and trauma at work and it is scandalous they are being put in the position where they are having to dealing with additional anxiety caused by money worries when they get home.
“Our members must be paid fairly for the job they do and should not be put in the unforgivable position of having to borrow from friends or family just to make ends meet.”
The survey also revealed that 78% of Staffordshire Police officers said they feel financially worse off than they did five years ago and the number who said they were dissatisfied with their remuneration was 80 %) compared with (74 % from 2018 survey) last year.
Phil added: “Police Officers are human, they deal with things, see things and experience things that no other person should. Colleagues are breaking through fatigue, stress and mental health. We have also seen examples of Police Officers being assaulted and serious injured across the country not just in Staffordshire.
“Morale is low in Staffordshire and a contributing factor in this is the cancellation of rest days for policing operations, leave restrictions and the demands placed on them.“The coming uplift in Police Officer numbers in Staffordshire is very welcome however it will take time to train new officers, to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed, in order to make an impact.
“The coming uplift in Police Officer numbers in Staffordshire is very welcome however it will take time to train new officers, to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed, in order to make an impact.
“Until this happens it is the same officers responding to incidents, working football matches and being deployed on mutual aid to support other forces.”
Phil concluded: “Since 2010 police officers have seen an 18% real-term pay cut from their pay, this is a national disgrace.
“This research must shock whoever forms the next Government in to action. Every day police officers go to work to protect and serve the public to the best of their ability putting themselves in harm’s way and in some tragic cases making the ultimate sacrifice.”
Over a fifth of the Federation’s membership – 19,654 – took part nationally in the survey, which ran between June and August this year. In Staffordshire 512 responded.
