Shadow Police Minister Hears Of Cleveland Officers' 'Excessive Workload'

24 September 2024

Cleveland Police Federation highlighted the strain on officers in the force who are struggling with excessive workloads during a meeting with Shadow Police Minister Matt Vickers this week.

Chair Paul Crowley met the MP for Stockton West to discuss the issues facing officers throughout the force.

Paul said: “We discussed the recent disorder and how it has affected the community and morale in policing.

“We also spoke about the funding formula within the northeast and specifically within the Cleveland area, how we can improve officer numbers within the area.

“I explained that improving officer numbers would make significant steps towards improving morale by ensuring that officers have workloads that are manageable and acceptable.”

Having a direct line of communication with the Shadow Police Minister would give Cleveland Police Federation an extremely useful way of highlighting the issues faced by officers across the force, Paul said.

He explained: “The reason why we need a good relationship with all of our MPs is mainly so we have a direct conduit of communication back down to the Government.

“It’s very easy for voices further away from London to be lost somewhat, so we need to make sure that we maintain those relationships so all of our fears and our concerns are being heard by the correct people.

“The Shadow Police Minister pledged to have direct lines of communication with use, and a free and open dialogue to ensure that any issues that we have are being brought up in a timely manner.

“The one thing that I want him to have at the forefront of his mind is the excessive workload that officers within Cleveland are experiencing.

“He needs to be fully aware of the amount of demand that officers face, coupled with the low officer numbers that we have. If we can get a solution to that and increase our officer numbers then we will see morale increase across the board.”