More ready to call time on police careers

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said police officers are reaching "breaking point" and leaving the service due to pay and work conditions.

It’s annual pay and morale survey, carried out in September and October last year, shows 20% of the 105 officers in Cleveland Police who responded, said they were planning to leave the service.

In 2021, 10% said they were planning to resign.

Ten per cent said they intended to leave within the next two years and 10% said they are already looking for other employment.

Nationally, 18% of respondents said they intended to resign within two years – or as soon as they could.

Steve Hartshorn, PFEW national chair, said: “Police officers are reaching breaking point and are leaving the service in their droves as every element of their pay and conditions has been gradually eroded in the space of a decade."

Of the Cleveland Police officers who said they were planning to leave, the main reasons cited were their morale (88%), pay (81%) and better jobs (69%).

A Home Office spokesman said: “Policing is a career like no other and we need officers to keep communities safe and cut crime. We are injecting record funds into policing and giving officers the support, training and powers they need to crack down on crime.

"The overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed report positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives.”