Worcester officer says wages are not rising quick enough

PC Mike Poultney, based in Worcester, spoke out after a new report revealed record numbers of officers quitting their jobs.

The West Mercia Police Federation member joined the force four years ago, taking a pay cut from his previous job in business management.

PC Poultney swapped the suit and the car dealership for a police station and uniform which meant almost halving his annual salary but made the leap after discussing it with his wife.

He said: “At that point, I joined earning £24,000 and had worked out that in seven years I would be back up to around £40,000 with anti-social hours included, so it was an achievable aim with our outgoings at the time especially.

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“However this year has been the biggest struggle to date when it has come to finances, as, although I have had my incremental pay increases and we have received increases as a workforce from the Government, they have not bridged the gap of ever increasing costs in mortgage repayment, council tax, gas bill, electric bill, car insurance, fuel costs, food bills and every other outgoing we have.

“The seven per cent pay increase announced this summer is welcomed as extra money is always welcomed and appreciated but it does seem lacking in comparison to outgoing increases we are experiencing from all angles at present and as stated by the Police Federation previously we are still going to be 10 per cent behind the calculated 17 per cent comparison that was worked out.”

The city-based response officer said: “With where we sit now in terms of pay scales and money, if was making the same decision I made four years ago to leave a well paid job to come and join as police officer, especially as now the student officers are under so much more pressure with university commitments also, I would not be able to make that leap and join and would not have come across as a I did.”

The officer said policing funding had to be sorted out as an urgent priority because the pay issues were preventing good people from joining the service and seeing many experienced officers resign.

He said: “We have reached a point where all of the new starters and student officers seem to be very young and live at home. Anyone with a family simply cannot afford to come across and do the job on the starting salaries anymore.

“I think policing is missing out on massive amounts of life experience and skill sets from people no longer coming into the service.

“I am now the second longest serving officer on shift in my team and I am four-and-a-half years in. And the longest serving is about to move on.”

He said he still held the job in high regard and was proud of the service delivered to communities and the help and support offered to vulnerable people.

But he added: “It becomes ever more difficult when experience and morale dwindle and the opinion of the Government is so clear: they want it all but don’t want to pay for it. We simply don’t seem worth it.”

Deputy Chief Constable Alex Murray, said: “Policing is a demanding job but it’s also a rewarding one.  Every day is different and officers have the opportunity to make a genuine impact in communities and to people’s lives.   We recognise though that the financial situation can be tough.

“When someone leaves the force we seek to understand why that may be and identify improvements we can make as an organisation. The health and wellbeing of all members of our team is important and we welcome feedback so that if anything is wrong we can take steps to resolve it wherever possible.  

"We work closely with our staff associations, Police Federation and UNISON, who provide regular feedback and act as a critical friend to highlight concerns at both individual and organisational level.

“I would like to thank all our officers and staff,  including Mike and others who have left or retired, for the contribution they have made every day.”