Student police officers at 'breaking point' as Portsmouth lecturer reports spike in officers leaving force

Officers discussed the Uplift programme and whether it was a false economy, given that some officers are leaving the role soon after signing up.

Sarah Charman, professor of criminology at the University of Portsmouth, told the conference that the number of people resigning from the police has risen by 104 per cent between the end of 2012 and end of 2020.

She called for exit interviews and ‘difficult conversations’ so senior leaders can understand why people are leaving the service.

It comes as the government is in the process of recruiting 20,000 new officers, to make up for years of under-resourcing. But the Federation estimated that the service needs up to 50,000 new recruits to make up for retirement, resignations and years of poor staffing, the conference heard.

And many student officers are struggling with the rigours of the new role.

Mark Jones, secretary of North Wales Police Federation, told the conference that officers are ‘demoralised’.

He said: ‘Isn’t it a sad state of affairs that they are making a decision that policing isn’t for them, solely as a result of academic work. I went to visit some of our cohorts, and I am used to dealing with some very cynical, grumpy police officers, but these were new recruits in their second year, and I had never met a more demoralised group of people ever before. It was soul-destroying.’