Officers struggling to cope as demand grows

1 September 2022

The deputy chair of the Police Federation says that more is being asked of officers than ever before and they’re struggling to cope.

Speaking on national radio, Tiff Lynch rejected claims officers were “more interested in being woke than solving crimes”.

She said that policing was seeing the consequences of austerity, cuts and underinvestment, and that they were short of experienced officers, despite the ongoing Uplift Programme.

Speaking to Ian Collins on TalkRadio, Tiff said: “We’re seeing the consequences of the actions of 2011. We were depleted in our numbers, and that’s not just frontline, that’s office staff as well.

“We told the Government of the day what would happen, that the cuts would have consequences. We’re not increasing our frontline. We’re making up the numbers that we lost in 2011.

“Times have changed. The population has increased drastically, and more is being asked of us, and our officers can’t cope.”

Tiff was taking part in a discussion on policing following a report by the Policy Exchange think tank that said the public fears the service had lost its way and was seen as “woke” 

The report, written by former Metropolitan Police officer David Spencer, said police must “get the basics right” on crime and review training.

On the accusation that officers were “woke” she said it was a personal choice for officers to take the knee or wear badges.

“What we say is that officers should not be directed or lawfully ordered to do one or the other, to take the knee or not to take the knee,” she said. “It’s a personal choice.

“But going to badges, for example, on social media I recall only recently that officers were criticised for wearing a badge which is the Union Jack with a thin blue line.

“That Union Jack represents British police officers. The thin blue line is to demonstrate the officers we’ve lost, that have been killed in the line of duty, and it’s to remember our fallen colleagues.

“So what we’re saying is that police officers shouldn’t actually be allowed to wear that badge because it has the Union Jack on it?”

Tiff highlighted the impact that the loss of experienced officers has had on policing and said those being recruited in the ongoing Uplift Programme would take years “to learn their trade”.

She said: “To be a police officer is a fantastic occupation – I will still say that now – but we’re struggling to recruit, and once you’re into the police service you’ve got two years of probation.

“You’re learning your trade up until at least five years. And 75 per cent of workforce at the moment are five years and below.

“We’re losing experience hand over fist – and it’s very concerning.”

Tiff was asked by host Ian Collins if a separate police service should be set up to tackle cyber-crime and online crimes.

She said that the existing service with its specialist and skilled officers needed properly funding to be able to do the job effectively.

“We definitely need those specialisms because at the root of cyber-crime we’ve got people trafficking, we’ve got money laundering and other criminality,” she said. “It’s one big cycle that moulds into each other.

“Do we need a separate police force? No.

“What we actually need are the numbers in the police forces that we’ve already got to bolster it up so we can get the intelligence and actually go out there and get these people put behind bars.”

Listen to Tiff’s interview on TalkRadio.