Sussex police suffer low morale issue

The Police Federation of England & Wales [PFEW] has reported that police officers are reaching "breaking point" and leaving the service due to pay and work conditions.

The PFEW's carried out a ‘pay and morale’ survey in September and October of 2022 which showed 21% of the officers in Sussex Police who responded [1,735], said they were planning to leave the service.

About 6% said they intended to resign from the force within the next two years and 15% stated they are already looking for other employment.

The rate is up from the previous survey, when 13% of officers said they were planning to resign.

Nationally, 18% of respondents said they intended to resign within two years or as soon as they could.

Among those officers who were planning to quit, morale, the impact of the job on their mental health and wellbeing, and how police are treated by the government were the main reasons cited for leaving.

The survey also revealed that 58% of officers in Sussex said they had a low or very low morale.