Role of detective is undervalued and underfunded

THE role of detective has been left undervalued and underfunded, Northumbria Police Federation has warned.

Federation Chairman, Jim Gray was speaking after HMIC declared a “national crisis” in investigation with a detective shortage blighting all forces.

Jim (pictured) said: “My view is that there are now too few officers in all roles. The detective role seems to have been left behind in terms of the value given to it and the investment in terms of numbers within investigatory departments.

“Officers within some of those departments are really stretched, and again linking to that issue of stress, some of those really feel that due to workload levels. I think the reality is we have far fewer detectives than we need and the sense of worth that we used to give to the role of detective seems to have diminished”

With falling police numbers and growing demand, detectives are also experiencing growing caseloads and increasing stress levels.

Jim added: “When there were hard decisions to be made in terms of officer numbers and budget cuts, there was a focus on the uniformed front line to try and maintain those numbers for as long as possible.

“Those investigatory departments filled with detectives, were one of the areas which seemed to pay a price to maintain that uniformed frontline.”

Jim called upon the Government to recognise the challenge and provide more money to Forces, in order allow Chief Constables the ability to address the issue.

He added: “I know that is more easily said than done, but ultimately this is about Government funding to allow Chief Constables to appropriately invest in detectives and investigatory departments.”