Pay and Morale Survey: Officers must be fairly compensated for the risks they take

STARTLING new figures show police officers are increasingly worried about money with many saying they simply don’t get paid enough to meet the basic bills every month.

It’s a situation that can’t be allowed to continue, says Essex Police Federation.

The PFEW Pay and Morale Survey 2019 revealed just 36% of respondents said they had enough to cover the monthly essentials. 15% said they never or almost never had enough cash at the end of the month.

Over half of all officers worry about money almost every day.

Essex Federation Chairman Steve Taylor says it’s not unreasonable for society to expect officers to be fairly compensated for facing daily dangers and protecting the communities they serve.

“If you continue to devalue the compensation for officers, when it doesn’t keep up with inflation, when it doesn’t keep up with the cost of living, then every time you roll the dice and you open the door to corruption, you open the door to officers stepping over the line trying to make ends meet,” he said.

“Police officers have a unique role in society, and they face unique dangers daily. You only have to look around the country and see fallen officers to appreciate that’s the case. It’s not unreasonable for society to expect those officers to be fairly compensated for the risks that they take on, the roles that they perform in trying to keep us all safe.”

Steve says police pay in real terms has dropped by 16% in recent years so any pay increases must be consistent and be applied not just as one-off payments but regular, yearly uplifts.

“It’s going to take a consistent effort of regular increases to get us back up to perhaps where we should have been. That’s not increasing, that’s returning levels of compensation to where they previously have been.

“We have to keep making that case through the police Pay and Remuneration Body,” he added.

Regional allowances, which give officers working in more expensive areas of the country extra cash in their wallet to compensate also need a review, Steve said.

“In our region, we get an allowance for being so close to London. That needs to be looked at. They get an allowance in London that’s different to the one that we get just a couple of miles over the border.

“We need to make sure that that’s fit for purpose as well. We need to closely look at the way officers are compensated for the risks that they take on. Taking it all in the round, we need to be looking at the whole piece, and all of it needs to be increased.

“So, we need to bring forward the evidence base to support that increase and hopefully start getting some positive change.”