Sussex Police Federation speaks out on #RecruitmentAndRetention

22 October 2024

“We are not suitably funded to provide the amount of officers that is required to meet the basic needs of Sussex”

Sussex Police Federation speaks out on #RecruitmentAndRetention as report reveals Sussex Police added 273 police officers in the last financial year… but 143 left the force

“It’s a vicious cycle of demand vs capacity,” said Sussex Police Federation Chair Raffaele Cioffi. “Constables aren’t robots, they are humans. The amount of work that is expected of our members is now significantly more than in the past.

“There is only so much trauma and strain that any individual can handle.”

The report also reveals that Sussex Police has 10 Bobbies on the beat per 100,000 residents. 185 officers per 100,000 people.

Raffaele continued: “Society has changed and we are required to record more and expect higher standards from our police forces and in turn that creates a huge amount of demand for our member through bureaucracy in the office and the mental and physical demand on the street.

“On the backdrop of a salary that isn’t – frankly - at the very beginning that attractive to individuals to be able to sustain your basic needs such as food, shelter and a decent living standard for the member and their families. Especially here in the southeast.

“And again with high demand and not enough officers, you have an organisation pushing you and driving you to do more and more, due to external strains. It’s creating an impossible standard to achieve with the number of resources that we have. And therefore your left to think why am I doing this?

“The main message is that the funding formula is not working. We are not suitably funded to provide the amount of officers that is required to meet the basic needs of Sussex. Those MPs that are new to their role really have to start looking at the funding formula because Sussex is a huge county and we need more resources in order to deliver an outstanding police service as they expect. Otherwise they need to accept that we are going to tailor our policing to the resources we have.”


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13894079/Death-England-Wales-police-officer-area-map.html