Single crewed officers should listen to ‘alarm bells’

SINGLE crewing policies can affect police officers’ safety as well as their productivity, Essex Police Federation has warned.

Steve Taylor, Federation Chairman, said that it was up to police officers to ensure their own safety by speaking up when they believe they shouldn’t be crewed alone.

Mr Taylor said: “As police officers we do have a duty to do, and the duty is often putting ourselves in harm’s way.”

He added: “But we should never do so blindly, and if the alarm bells are ringing in a colleague’s head then that message needs to be passed, it needs to be shared.

“If you think it’s not right, if you think the risk is such that it needs more than one officer, then communicate that over the air, get it recorded.”

He was speaking after a national survey showed that three quarters of police officers were single crewed either often or always in the past 12 months. Essex Police are single crewed under the “safe crewing” policy, in which officers work alone except when responding to more risky jobs.

Mr Taylor added: “This is a clear symptom of there not being enough police officers on the ground. When numbers are as tight as they are, the temptation is that we’ll have everyone single crewed so that we can increase our coverage. But invariably we need two officers to go to the more violent or the more risky jobs.

“Having everyone single crewed affects their productivity, and how proactive they’re going to be, and you put at risk their safety. And that’s without even looking at areas of the force where the numbers are so short that there is only that one person on shift.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales’ welfare survey heard that 73% of respondents were single crewed either often or always in the past 12 months. The PFEW said that officers are frequently ending up in vulnerable situations with little or no back up and from a welfare perspective, which is unacceptable.