‘Officers are leaving, but the demand is increasing’: chair reacts to HMICFRS report

16 April 2025

A damning new report has highlighted the heartbreaking impact a decade of cuts has had on policing. 

An inspection into how effectively the police investigate crime - a report released by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) has found that demand on the police has increased by 32 per cent over the past decade while officer numbers have not kept pace.

It found that workloads were too high, the complexity of crime was increasing, as was the time it took forces to investigate them.

And it found that many supervisors and investigators were inexperienced and lacked the necessary training.

Concerns

“Sadly, these results echo the concerns I’ve been highlighting. Demand is high, and pressure on officers is increasingly mounting, faster than we’ve ever experienced. The system is at breaking point,” said Northamptonshire Police Federation chair, Sam Dobbs.

He added: “Only recently, I highlighted my concerns around the challenges being faced by court backlogs and overcrowded prisons.

“And what we’re finding is that once again our police officers are being leant on. There is this safe assumption that police officers will step up to support other services, like custody. But these police officers already have a busy day job, and they are then sacrificing their personal time with family.

 

 

“It’s no wonder we’re struggling to retain officers and it’s hardly surprising to hear that officers who are staying, admit that they are struggling to do their job efficiently.”

In a recent speech to the National Council Sam highlighted that since the beginning of the year, 47 officers have left Northamptonshire Force (as of March 2025), five had been dismissed, 16 resigned, 20 retired and six transferred.

“All of us involved in leadership in policing in the county and across the country acknowledge the difficulties in recruiting fast enough and replacing the experience of officers that we are losing,” Sam said.

Crime

The HMICFRS report said: “Interviewees told us that officers and staff often couldn’t investigate crime as well as they wanted to because their workloads were too high, they were under pressure and they didn’t have enough time.”

The report states that while recorded crime rates have increased over the past decade, there has been an increase in the population;  a reduction in the total number of police officers and police staff; an increase in the proportion of officers who have fewer than five years’ service; and an increase in the complexity of crime investigations.

“As a result of all these factors, we believe that forces need more officers and staff in order to investigate volume crime more effectively,” the report said.

HMICFRS added: “Interviewees said that on some days, they don’t get any opportunity to progress ongoing cases as they are dealing with new cases.

“Some investigators only have two days in every ten when they can progress existing cases and investigations.

“One investigator told us: ‘Victims call for updates, and we can’t tell them anything. It’s embarrassing really.’"

Second job

The new report follows recent research by Metfriendly, which found 24 per cent of officers with one to five years of service are contemplating leaving policing and 18 per cent of officers in this group are considering taking on a second job.

The Metfriendly survey also found that 64 per cent of officers reported financial concerns; 17 per cent of officers are missing meals due to a lack of money; and 55 per cent of officers say financial stress is severely impacting their wellbeing.

In Northamptonshire, 95 per cent of officers who responded to the latest Pay and Morale Survey felt they are not respected by the Government, while the most cited reasons for officers intending to leave the Force was the way they were treated by the Government.

Tiff Lynch, acting chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “If government have been honest about describing the NHS as a broken system full of heroes, they must do the same for policing.

“This report shows a service and a workforce stretched beyond its limits.

“The government cannot expect high-quality policing and safer streets when it refuses to fairly pay those whose blood, sweat and tears delivers it day in and day out.”

Read the HMICFRS report.

READ MORE: 'When judging us, remember police officers are the ones stepping up'