Number of Surrey officers with second job doubles
16 July 2025
The number of police officers in Surrey who are working second jobs has more than doubled in five years, new figures show.
A total of 353 officers secured approval for secondary employment in 2024 - the second highest total by force in England and Wales.
That compares to 169 who had a second job in 2019 – an increase of 109%.
Figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request by the Police Federation of England and Wales show that more than 4,000 officers now have second jobs.
The highest individual figure came in Merseyside Police, where 372 officers reported having a second job.
In Dyfed-Powys, approvals rose from nine officers in 2019 to 287 last year, an increase of over 3,000%. There was a 503% increase in South Wales; Essex saw a five-fold rise; Cleveland recorded a 421% increase and Hampshire a 348% jump.
The PFEW has described this trend as a “damning indictment” of how far police pay has fallen.
Brian Booth, PFEW Acting Deputy National Chair, said officers were “overworked, underpaid and under threat” and that that no one should finish a demanding shift protecting the public only to head straight to another job in order to afford basic bills.
He added: “The impact on their family life or rest and recovery time is scary to think about…We need pay restoration now, and we need Chief Constables to get off the fence on pay and support their officers.”
Since 2010, police pay has fallen by 21% in real terms. New recruits start on £29,000 a year, and after six years’ service are earning up to £10,000 less than teachers or nurses with equivalent experience. With inflation and rising interest rates pushing living costs ever higher, many officers feel they have no choice but to seek additional income.
One officer serving in Wales, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the personal impact of the crisis.
He said: “There was a time when, had I not had other employment, my wife and I would have lost our house. If I didn’t have this second income, it would be very tight. I’ve had to increase my work on the side to make up for the degradation of my police pay over the years. Having a second job has affected my sleep, my diet and my fitness levels, but I’ve had to do it.”
The PFEW is calling on the government to outline urgent plans to restore the 21% lost in real-terms pay since 2010. It argues that without meaningful action, officer welfare and public safety will continue to suffer.
Brian expressed frustration that nine forces, including the Metropolitan Police, refused to provide data or claimed it took too long to collect.
Calling on forces to publish this data quarterly, he added: “I’m particularly annoyed that some forces told us it would take more than 18 hours to find this data. This information should be at Chief Constables’ fingertips, because it highlights financial stress directly linked to officer welfare. Don’t make us drag [this information] out of you.”
The Federation’s Copped Enough campaign calls on the public to demonstrate support for police by joining the digital picket line: https://www.polfed.org/campaigns/copped-enough/
