Police say wages are 'criminal'

THE Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents over 145,000 rank-and-file police officers, has warned that a “broken” police service of underpaid, overworked, and under-threat staff risks a public safety crisis with the loss of experienced officers set to cost taxpayers nearly £10 billion in five years.

- By CARL EVE

The federation (PFEW) has warned that policing faces an exodus of experienced officers, while the secretary of the Devon and Cornwall Police Federation has claimed that the take home pay of rank and file officers is “criminal”.

In response to the annual PFEW pay and morale survey of members, a quarter of officers across the country have revealed they plan to resign within two years. Voluntary resignations have risen by 142% since 2018 and, if this trend continues, 10,000 officers will resign every year by 2027, forcing the Government to spend £9.9 billion on recruiting and training replacement officers just to stand still.

A staggering 77% of Devon and Cornwall Police officers said they felt financially 'worse off' now than five years ago, and 17% said they 'never' or 'almost never' have enough money to cover all their essentials. Across England and Wales, 65% of officers were dissatisfied with their pay.

In the South West, a worrying 23% of Devon and Cornwall Police officers who responded to the survey said they intend to resign from the police service either 'within the next two years' or 'as soon as [they] can'.

The PFEW said that, whilst police officers received a 4.75% pay rise in 2024, officer pay has reduced by a fifth since 2010. Nationally, over three quarters - 76% - of those who responded to the survey said their pay did not reflect the dangers they face and a third of officers struggle to afford essentials such as food, rent, or heating.