‘Impossible for officers to do everything expected of them’

7 October 2022

A retired senior officer who called for police officers to be given more time and better resources to concentrate on fighting crime has been backed by West Mercia Police Federation.

Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Greater Manchester, is urging the Government to reduce the demands on police forces who are struggling to deliver basic services because of their ever-increasing workloads.

Sir Peter spoke out after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) pledged to send officers to investigate all home burglaries as part of a new set of standards they hope will result in more crimes being solved and more offenders prosecuted.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The Government needs to remove from policing all these additional tasks that have been taken on.

“It is not just about the number of police officers, it’s what they do and whether they are given the freedom and the tools to concentrate on crime.

“At the moment most frontline operational officers are very frustrated that they can’t concentrate on crime and criminals because they are picking up lots of other jobs as well, covering for social services and mental health services.

“These are vital jobs but police officers are not actually trained to do them and they want to concentrate on crime and, while numbers are going up, a lot of those officers are inexperienced and need time to learn the craft and get to know local criminals and local patterns of crime.”

West Mercia Police Federation chair Sarah Cooper said she agreed with Sir Peter’s comments.

“It was incredibly refreshing to hear Sir Peter speaking out in the way he did, and his comments absolutely resonated with the frustrations and pressures that our members express to me.

“Our officers simply want to be able to serve the public and do the job they signed up for. However, failures and under resourcing across the public sector means that our officers are consistently prevented from doing their policing role by filling gaps elsewhere, particularly in mental health and social care sectors.

“We need to be supported in pushing back and ensuring that the correct agencies are dealing with their own areas of expertise, leaving police officers free to police and protect the public.”

The NPCC said police forces will prioritise attendance where people’s homes have been burgled, rather than outbuildings and garden sheds.