Policing ‘on its knees’ as six forces placed in special measures

4 July 2022

Policing is “on its knees” and on course for more forces to follow the Met and be placed in special measures, the Federation is warning.

Last week, the nation’s largest police force was told to improve by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS. Five others are in the same position – Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Tony Wetton said: “Thankfully, Derbyshire is not yet in the same boat as the Met and others, but the challenges they face are the same for all of us: poor pay, low morale and our officers exhausted and at breaking point. I can’t remember a time where six forces have been in special measures and it’s a clear warning to the Government that it needs to start listening.”

Last year, Derbyshire Police Federation’s pay and morale survey found that 67 per cent of our members had low morale and 76 per cent per cent feel underpaid for what they do. 15 per cent were planning to leave the service.

Tony added: “Our officers are overworked and worried about making ends meet during a ‘cost of living’ crisis and police pay has reduced by over 20 percent against inflation since 2010. We cannot provide the service the public needs and deserves unless policing is properly funded – and this means longer term settlements to allow forces to plan ahead.”

The results of the HMICFRS inspection of the Met are still to be formally published, but are understood to identify 14 significant failings, including inadequate responses to emergency calls, failures towards victims of crime, errors in stop and search, and subpar crime recording – with almost 70,000 crimes going unrecorded in London.

Steve Hartshorn, national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, commented: “At the start of the budget cuts, we told the Government that cuts would have consequences. We were told we were crying wolf. With six forces now in special measures, I would say we have been completely vindicated on this point.”