Cumbria Police Federation speaks out on #RecruitmentAndRetention

26 October 2024

Police Federation speaks out on #RecruitmentAndRetention as report reveals Cumbria Police have added 66 police officers so far in 2024… but 62 have left the force.

“These figures cannot be ignored,” said Cumbria Police Federation Chair Ed Russell.  

“You are talking about 93/94% of the officers coming through our doors… are the same amount that are leaving. And that’s not just new officers that’s across the entire workforce with a wide range of experience from front line officers to detectives to managers, the whole lot.”

Ed added: “Why are they leaving? In my view, it’s around changes to officer shifts. Locally, there have been in excess of 10,000 shift changes to officers in Cumbria from January to July this year.

“And that can be as little as two hours here… a few hours there, moving from a day shift to a back shift to cancelling and moving whole shifts, often with little notice. This is affecting officers' lives with things such as picking the kids up, spending time with family and friends, having their weekends cancelled.

“That sort of short notice change to people’s personal lives is simply making it impossible for officers to have a private/personal life and any form of work/life balance.

“You couple that with the expectations put upon officers, the constant abuse in the media, officers are sick to the back teeth of it. And they are choosing to walk away, to other organisations where they are not facing these issues.

“I speak to lots of officers who don’t want to go but feel that they have to. And I speak to officers who are leaving and have no next job lined up.”

Ed concluded: “What can be done to solve this in our force? I have spoken to our senior management and we are collectively looking at the opportunities to see how welfare can be improved. Darren Martland our Deputy Chief Constable has instigated a review of front line resourcing, looking to manage workloads and invest in supervisors and welfare, but – frankly – it’s governmental. It’s about reducing bureaucracy, improving a better working relationship with the CPS and bespoke funding options for forces to use their allocated funds in a manner befitting their community and forces specific needs”.

“But to start with officers need to know when they are working, as their working regulations state they should – that’s all officers want and that’s not a big ask.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales’s 2024 Police Leavers’ Survey – published this week - captured the experiences of 2,654 officers and pinpoints key reasons behind police resignations and retirements.

It found 73% of officers who left between 2017 and 2024 retired after reaching pension age, while the remaining 27% resigned. Although retirement at pension age is expected, the fact more than a quarter of leavers are resigning before reaching this milestone is concerning.

74% of resigners cited low morale as a major reason for leaving. 41% of resigners and 32% of retirees pointed to physical health issues as a reason.

60% said understaffing/the inability to meet team or unit demands drove their decision.

More than half of resigning police officers stated their mental health has been severely affected by the job.