Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation, was speaking after a report in the Mail on Sunday found that one in seven police officers and staff (33,000 people) have a second job outside policing.

 

In some forces, the number of officers and staff members with a second job has quadrupled since 2019.

 

The national Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) called it a “deeply worrying trend”, pointing out that police pay has fallen by a fifth since 2010 and that officers were struggling to make ends meet.

 

As part of PFEW’s ‘Copped Enough’ campaign, an Early Day Motion, https://www.polfed.org/news/latest-news/2025/fixing-a-broken-system-support-the-edm-for-police-pay-reform// has been tabled in Parliament calling for a full review of the police pay review process and the introduction of a system of collective bargaining and binding arbitration.

 

Neil agreed that second-job statistics should be taken seriously, saying: “It used to be the case that having a second job in policing was something of a rarity, so this increase is concerning.”

 

He continued: “Sometimes people are doing something they enjoy to earn a few extra quid, in which case I’d say, why not? However it's entirely different if it’s borne out of necessity and is done to try to make ends meet. Worryingly, these jobs could also be a precursor to leaving policing: a kind of ‘try before you buy’.

 

“Policing is a high-pressure and high-demand job, and it's troubling that people may not be taking the rest they need. Wanting to get some extra income for your family is understandable, but it shouldn’t be essential.”