Police resignations double in four years
1 min read
The number of police officers leaving the profession has doubled over the last four years, the Times reveals.
According to figures obtained by the newspaper resignations have soared across England and Wales since 2011 amid concerns over stress and workload.
Resignations at the Metropolitan Police increased from 337 in 2011-12 to 626 in 2015-16.
Over the same period the number of officers leaving Thames Valley increased from 56 to 100, with Kent and Greater Manchester seeing similar rises, from 50 to 94 and 48 to 77 respectively.
Police Federation Chair, Steve White said: “Policing is ever evolving — changing to adapt to demands placed upon it. But the struggle to meet these demands in recent years has changed the outlook for many officers.
“The results of our pay and morale survey last year echo the pressures faced. Respondents outlined morale (81.7 per cent), how police are treated as a whole (77.6 per cent) and the impact of the job on their health and wellbeing (69.4 per cent) as the biggest contributing factors for wanting to leave.
“Pay and conditions are undoubtedly another important factor in an officer’s decision to continue a career in policing. We must be able to retain the highly skilled officers we have to continue delivering the services the public expect.”
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