‘The system is setting officers up to fail’ says frustrated Fed char

17 January 2024

‘As police officers, we are in an impossible situation. For things to positively change, two things must happen, policing needs to be better funded and cops need to be paid a better salary’.

The chair of Hertfordshire Police Federation Luke Mitchell has responded to BBC’s Panorama, Will My Crime Be Solved, which aired earlier this month.

The programme highlighted several criminal cases in which the subsequent police investigation appeared inadequate, leading to victims feeling let down by the police response.

“Unfortunately, the programme demonstrates exactly where policing is at the moment,” said Luke.

Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell.

“The world of policing is changing. About two-thirds of our frontline officers are now new recruits, while experienced, highly-skilled officers are leaving their roles - whether that be due to retirement or because of current working conditions and financial pressures. But what that does mean is there is less experience on the frontline to deal with these increasingly complex crime cases.

“Surely we can’t be surprised that victims are feeling let down by the current system?

“To see change, I feel that two things need to happen: the system needs proper funding and our officers need to be paid a salary that actually reflects the job they are doing.”

Luke argued that although police officers ‘generally join the force to help and protect members of the public’, and doing their job is ‘becoming increasingly difficult’.

“Nobody joins the police wanting to do a bad job,” he added.

“And at the moment, no one is more frustrated than our police officer serving on the frontline.

“But there simply isn’t the resource there or the hours in the day at the moment, which is hugely demoralising for our members. We need to start being honest, open and transparent about the challenges police officers are facing.

“Yes, we’ve recruited 20,000 new officers nationally but they’re replacing 20,000 others. The information we’re releasing is so misleading. The powers above are painting a narrative they want the world to see, not one that’s honest and real.”

Retaining officers is a challenge and one that needs to be addressed Luke continued to explain.

“We invest money training these officers and then they leave the service after a few years because of the increasing pressures they’re facing  - and that’s becoming acceptable,” said Luke.

“My heart goes out to officers who are currently working on the frontline. It doesn’t take long for them to be both physically and mentally burnt out. Within 18 to 24 months they’re working non-stop and risking their lives for the public. It’s not right.

“Our senior leaders, MPs and the Government need to start looking at better ways to retain officers. At the moment, we’re setting officers up to fail.”

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