Detectives say cuts are impacting on the service they give to victims

The National Detectives’ Survey, carried out by the Police Federation of England and Wales, asked detectives across the country about key issues such as the current challenges facing the role and found a disturbing picture of increased workloads, stress and an impact on the service they provide.

Out of 5,557 responses, only around a third of officers , 32 per cent felt able to provide the service  they would like to victims ‘most’ or ‘all of time’, with more than half, 68 per cent, stating they could provide this ‘never ‘or only sometimes’. Just under a third, 27 per cent, felt able to provide this service to witnesses ‘most ‘or ‘all of time’, and 73 per cent stated ‘never’ or ‘sometimes’.  In both areas detectives cited workloads as the main issue.

A similar survey was carried out last year and this year’s results show a 7 per cent increase in those saying they cannot provide the service they would like. Nearly all, 95 per cent, think the service to the public has deteriorated, with a substantial increase in those saying it had deteriorated ‘a lot’. The top reasons given for this were reduced officer numbers, nearly a third of officers cited this, 28 per cent, 17 per cent said technology,  16 per cent said an increase in non-crime related incidents, and 14 per cent said increased cyber-crime.

Martin Plummer, chair of the Police Federation’s National Detectives Forum (PFNDF), who commissioned the work, said: “Detectives do an amazing job, often working long hours on lengthy investigations that can be incredibly complex. They have a key role in liaising with both victims and witnesses and it is disturbing that they feel they cannot give the service they would like, stating cuts in the service as a factor. This is also having an impact on their stress levels, health and personal life.

“Officers are being pushed to the limit and this survey shows that the increased pressure is taking its toll on them and potentially on the successful outcome of investigations. We feel this is a completely unacceptable state of affairs.”

An overwhelming majority of officers, 83 per cent, felt that service cuts had also impacted on their well-being. Examples given included increased stress levels, tiredness to managing increased demands, increases in travel and lower pay for more hours.

In one example, a detective with between ten to 15 years’ service, said: “The increase in workload and subsequent demand and home contact have taken my mental health to a limit where I have seriously considered taking time off due to ill health…I find myself completely distracted whilst at home with thoughts of work, resulting in not engaging in family life and taking any true ‘down time’.”

More than a third of those surveyed, 33 per cent, are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their job, up from 28 per cent in 2014. Around a third of officers, as in previous years, found their job to be very stressful. 

Another summed up how they felt: “I get anxious about coming to work sometimes and get constant migraines due to stress. Most times I come to work and suffer through fear of falling further behind with work or spend my rest days feeling ill and drained due to work.”

The results of the survey also showed:

• Officers’ workloads still present difficulties. As in 2013 and 2014 officers were asked whether they felt their workload has increased, decreased or remained the same over the past three years. Although there has been only a slight rise in the percentage saying their workload had increased either a lot or a little (from 85 per cent in 2013 to 89 per cent  now), there has been a more noticeable rise in the percentage feeling it had increased a lot, from 56 per cent in 2013 to 65 per cent in 2014 and 69 per cent now.

• The majority of officers felt that their work keeps them away from family / social activities more than they would like (75 per cent).

• Just over a third of officers also say they feel emotionally drained from work most or all of the time (38 per cent compared to 32 per cent in 2014).

• In this year’s survey we followed up on officer wellbeing with some more specific questions on how the job had impacted on officers’ health. About 6 per cent of officers have had days off with sickness absence in the last 12 months due to stress.  This seems close to the figure reported by mental health charity MIND of one in 20 police officers taking time off sick in the last financial year.

Notes:

The National Detectives’ Survey was conducted by the Police Federation of England and Wales and was open from  September 10  to October 2, 2015

There were 5,557 responses to this year’s survey covering all federated ranks from DC to DCI.

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