The chair of Derbyshire’s police federation has said officers are “at breaking point” after a “dire” survey of its members, from constables all the way up to inspectors, revealed the force is gripped by low morale. In a survey covering the past year, 63% of respondents from Derbyshire Constabulary said their own morale is either “low” or “very low”.
The questionnaire also states 92% of the 804 respondents said they feel morale within the force as a whole is currently “low” or “very low”, resulting in 18% claiming they intend to resign from their roles “within the next two years” or “as soon as [they] can”.
In addition, officers also reported being overworked, with 67% claiming their workload has been “too high” or “much too high” – with 5% saying they have “never” or “rarely” been able to take an 11-hour break between shifts. Futher, 37% felt they were “always” or “often” pressured into working long hours.
Employees’ physical and mental health were also prominent issues, as 39% said they have experienced verbal insults, such as swearing, shouting, or abuse, at least once per week. As regards physical altercations, 13% of respondents experienced unarmed physical attacks (e.g. struggling to get free, wrestling, hitting, kicking) at least once per week.
Also negatively affecting their safety was the fact that 11% claimed they had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related accidents.
These factors meant 47% said that they find their job “very” or “extremely” stressful, with 86% indicating they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety and other difficulties with their health and wellbeing.
Tony Wetton, Derbyshire police federation chair, said: “It’s extremely worrying that morale among our members continues to be at this dire level. The response from officers around the country demonstrates just how low they feel, and it’s really important to acknowledge that Derbyshire officers are feeling it keenly.
“Officers are at breaking point as they deal with a lack of regard from the Government and respect from some members of the public, the rising cost of living, high workloads and poor pay, a crisis in their mental and physical health, and the legacy of 12 years of underfunding.
“Over the last decade they’ve had a real-terms cut to their pay amounting to around 25 per cent, seen hugely damaging cuts to police officer and support staff numbers, cuts to training and infrastructure, all while the workload has massively increased, respect has plummeted and physical attacks on our members continue to rise.
Read More: Derbyshire police officers ‘at breaking point’ as morale plummets