In the first of three posts we look back on some of the key developments in policing during 2022.
In a new year message to members, Staffordshire Police Federation chair Phil Jones raised concerns around mental health, wellbeing and low morale, saying: “I am determined to work hard this year to support members and I would like to remind everyone that the Police Federation is here for you, whenever you need us.”
The national police officer uplift continued with figures showing a 5.8 per cent increase in Staffordshire. One new recruit was mother-of-two Tracy Robinson, who appeared in a recruitment video for the Home Office, talking about how she juggles training, working and making time for her children.
January also saw the BBC’s Panorama programme blame a rise in road deaths on “weak policing”. Phil Jones responded angrily, saying: “Police officers in cars saves lives. That is why the Federation consistently warned that reducing police numbers and budgets would inevitably have tragic consequences.”
The results of the Police Federation’s latest pay and morale survey was released in February and painted a picture of low morale, hardship and poor mental health in Staffordshire. More than three quarters of respondents (77 per cent) professed to feeling worse off now than five years ago. And the most common reason given for low morale was ‘how the police are treated by the Government’. Phil Jones called the findings, which included 11 per cent saying they could not afford household essentials, “a sad indictment of the state of policing today”.
The College of Policing admitted it was regarded as remote and failing to live up to its potential. Former policing minister Nick Herbert, now chair of the College and who ordered the review, promised reforms.
And Phil Jones welcomed a new consensus statement setting out the police service’s future commitment to suicide prevention. He said: “Policing is a physically and mentally demanding job and mental ill-health and suicide are major issues in the service.”
In March a female former officer spoke about her career for International Women’s Day. Jane, who retired in 1989 after nearly 30 years’ service, joined Kent Police in 1961 when female officers were issued with a whistle and a half-truncheon. Their uniform featured skirts and they were not given the option of wearing trousers. Jane dealt with women and child issues at first, but later joined the all-male traffic department and became one of the country’s few female firearms officers.
Chair Phil Jones condemned as “absolutely disgusting” the news that MPs were to receive a 2.7 per cent pay rise while officers struggled.
Glyn Pattinson, secretary of Staffordshire Police Federation, warned that too much time and resources was being spent dealing with non-policing issues because of pressures on mental health and care services, and called for investment across the public sector to allow officers “to do their job”.
It was also revealed that Staffordshire had lost 36 of the 404 new officers recruited since November 2019, which amounted to an 8.9 per cent attrition rate. Pay was thought to be a key factor, with many officers in their first year of a Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship earning £19,164 which is barely above the national living wage.
