In February 2016 approximately 17,000 police officers of federated ranks in England and Wales completed an online survey concerning job demands, capacity to meet demand and welfare.

The survey, in conjunction with the University of Nottingham, found that stress and poor psychological wellbeing is widespread in the police service. 66% of officers indicated that their workload was too high and 58% felt they did not have enough time to do their job to a standard of which they could be proud.

Capacity to meet demand was generally viewed as insufficient. Four out of five officers indicated that officer numbers in their team/unit were insufficient to manage demand and do the job properly. 71% felt that the way officer staffing levels are determined seemed to be ineffective, while 70% felt they did not have time to engage in proactive policing.

A full descriptive report and inferential results report are available and individual force reports can be found on our Survey hub. However, please note there is not a separate report for the following areas due to insufficient data being captured to make a meaningful analysis: City of London, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, South Wales and Warwickshire.

This is what we do with the survey results that officers take the time out to fill in, the results raised a real issue within the service and this is how we are tackling the problems at a national level with our key stakeholders.

Demand, Capacity and Welfare report with recommendations

Demand, Capacity and Welfare annexes

National reports

Officer absence behaviours
Accidents, injuries and violence against officers
Attitudes and evaluation
Capacity
Demand
Mental health
Organisational support
Physical wellbeing
Work patterns