Heat to the beat!

Reform councillor claims officers' morale low as they're forced to share stab vests and Burslem cops left sweltering 'all through heatwave' by broken boiler

- Kerry Ashdown

A NEWLY elected councillor has claimed police officers are sharing stab-proof vests - and at one station staff have been 'suffering in heat' because of a broken boiler.

Reform UK’s Anthony Screen told Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams police officer morale was ‘low’ as he highlighted resources issues at the latest Police, Fire and Crime Panel meeting.

Staffordshire Police says the heating issue at Burslem Police Station is being addressed - and officers only use ‘pool vests’ on rare occasions when their personal body armour is being repaired.

Councilllor Screen said: “We need to get the basics right - before 2010 we were hitting all these basics. We have lost over 1,300 police officers across the 43 police forces, I don’t know exactly how many officers we have lost in Staffordshire. Morale in policing is low.”

He said officers have ‘been demonised on occasions, adding: “The Commissioner's office holds the financial reins of the Chief Constable, because the Chief Constable is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“He is reliant on the funds the Commissioner’s Office is providing to do the job they want to do.”

He added: “Officers are having to share stab-proof vests because there isn’t enough to go around for individual officers and that is happening in Staffordshire now.