Response Policing Week: officers report being ‘stretched beyond limits’, reveals PFEW survey

24 April 2026

Findings from research by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) show that 9 out of 10 surveyed response officers do not feel safe in their frontline working conditions.

A comprehensive survey of almost 2,000 frontline personnel across all 43 police forces was carried out by the PFEW, with results published during Response Policing Week (20–26 April).

Branch vice-chair Jasmine Chaplain said the findings reflect what officers are experiencing locally in Nottinghamshire and across the wider service.

“These findings, unfortunately, come as no surprise and reflect a response function that is being stretched beyond its limits,” she said.

She said response officers continue to operate in high-risk environments with increasing pressure on staffing and resources.

Response officers

Jasmine added: “Response officers are the first to attend scenes where others naturally move away from danger. That responsibility should never be taken for granted, yet it increasingly is.”

Warning that frontline teams are being left under strain and that officers themselves are raising concerns about safety and capacity, she continued: “For response teams to be described as unsafe and understaffed by the people working in them shows something is deeply wrong. Reform and proper resourcing are urgently needed.”

Only six per cent of respondents said response policing is ‘working well’, while around a third reported that long travel distances and the size of areas covered by understaffed teams are impacting their ability to respond effectively to incidents.

Other recurring themes included officers being ‘constantly pushed onto the next incident’, frequently operating single-crewed, and shifts being ‘wiped out by the first job of the day’.

The survey also highlighted wider operational pressures, including high workloads and limited rest time, contributing to fatigue across response teams.

Alongside the survey, the PFEW has launched a new film, My Last Set, as part of its wider ‘Copped Enough’ campaign. The film uses actors to deliver real testimony from officers describing recent weeks on shift, highlighting repeated exposure to trauma, long working hours, and insufficient recovery time.

Key issues

The combined findings highlight several key issues across response policing:

• Teams operating below safe staffing levels

• Officers regularly work in excess of 60 hours per week

• Frequent exposure to serious incidents, including suicides, stabbings, and mental health crises

• Officers are missing rest days and beginning shifts already fatigued

PFEW deputy national chair Brian Booth said the findings show officers are “immersed in the blood, sweat and tears of emergency incidents every day”, adding that frontline policing is being sustained largely through the commitment and resilience of officers working within a system under severe pressure.

Watch the video online here.