Commissioner’s fear of retaining officers in South Yorkshire force

The South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, who is responsible for holding the force to account, welcomed increased professionalism among officers but said it would make them harder to keep from switching careers.

Writing in his blog, Dr Billings said he was “more convinced than ever that retaining the present and coming generations of police officers in policing will become one of the biggest issues, if not the biggest, facing chief constables in years to come”.

He added: “This is not primarily about pay, though it includes the question of pay, but is about working conditions, well-being and support.

“Unlike police recruits in the past, all police officers now will either have a degree before they start, or they will acquire one in the earliest stages of their training.”

Dr Billings noted that the force was “professionalising fast”, with officers picking up skills which were “prized in many workplaces”, including problem solving and IT abilities.

“In the past, many officers stayed in the force all their working lives not only because they were committed to public service but because it was not easy to find another job that paid as well and was as secure,” he added.

“The skilled officers of today and tomorrow will realise that they can move — there are many other reasonably well-paid if not better paid jobs open to them.

“They have expectations of that job and will not feel trapped if things do not work out as they hoped.”

The commissioner noted other careers offered a better chance for work-life balance, adding: “Retaining these new generations of officers will, therefore, be harder than in the past.  

“Over time, the reality of working over Christmas, or suddenly having leave cancelled, or having to put in long hours and weekends in order to bring a complex investigation to a speedy and successful conclusion, starts to take its toll.  

“Retention is the big issue. It is one thing to recruit an extra 20,000 officers nationwide — it will be quite another to keep them over a working life.”

SYP said it was on track to have more than 3,100 bobbies on its books by the spring, having recruited 600 officers since 2019 as part of a national programme.

Assistant chief officer of resources Jacqueline Bland said: “We are proud of our recruitment efforts over the last three years — we have been in a continually strong position when it’s come to the recruitment of student officers and I know we have managed to attract some real talent to the force.

“We know the public want to see more police officers on the streets, and this is exactly what we are working to do.

“We’ve also been working hard to attract candidates from under-represented groups.”