‘Officers want to concentrate on crime’

6 October 2022

Calls for police officers to be given more time and better resources to concentrate on fighting crime have been backed by Hertfordshire Police Federation.

Branch chair Luke Mitchell said he was fully behind former chief constable of Greater Manchester Sir Peter Fahy who is urging the Government to reduce the demands on police forces who are struggling to deliver basic services because of workloads.

Sir Peter spoke out after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) pledged to send officers to investigate all home burglaries as part of a new set of standards they hope will result in more crimes being solved and more offenders prosecuted.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The Government needs to remove from policing all these additional tasks that have been taken on.

“It is not just about the number of police officers, it’s what they do and whether they are given the freedom and the tools to concentrate on crime.

“At the moment most frontline operational officers are very frustrated that they can’t concentrate on crime and criminals because they are picking up lots of other jobs as well, covering for social services and mental health services.

“These are vital jobs but police officers are not actually trained to do them and they want to concentrate on crime and, while numbers are going up, a lot of those officers are inexperienced and need time to learn the craft and get to know local criminals and local patterns of crime.”

Luke said he had been warning about an increased workload leading to officer burnout for several years.

He said: “I have said over and over that our members are being pulled from pillar to post as the demands on them become greater and greater and there is now doubt this has had a major effect on their mental and physical wellbeing.

“I think it is extremely important that every house burglary is properly investigated so in that respect the NPCC announcement is very welcome but again our members cannot be in two places at once so something will have to give..

“The vast majority of police officers want to be out on the street investigating crime, catching criminals and helping bring suspects to justice but they are unable to do that if their workload is already too high.

“Our members always do their best and want to provide a top-class service to the people of Hertfordshire.”

The NPCC said police forces will prioritise attendance where people’s homes have been burgled, rather than outbuildings and garden sheds.