Officers’ pay must reflect pressure of the job

POLICE officers’ pay must be increased to reflect the pressure they are facing from all sides, Northumbria Police Federation has said.

Officers at the force are under pressure from falling numbers, increased demand and changes to working practices among other issues – and their pay has not kept up, according to Federation Chairman Jim Gray.

Opposition MPs have been campaigning for an end to the public sector pay cap this month, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leading the call. But the Government is yet to announce the news officers are waiting for.

Mr Gray said: “Our members are facing a continual increase in expectations of what they will do. Be that in amount of work or type.

“They have a really important, high demand role in things like safeguarding and vulnerability – among other things – and they keep on doing this difficult job against a pay cut in real terms.

“Their wages have reduced massively, which is obviously knocking morale. But they keep on coming, they keep doing their job and keep putting themselves in harm’s way. Which is a real testament to their commitment and tenacity.

“But we cannot ask them to keep on doing that. Their pay must reflect the challenging nature of the work they do.”

This month’s National Bravery Awards highlighted the very dangerous and challenging job officers do, Mr Gray added.

He said: “There are heroes out there receiving awards. But there are also heroes out there every day on the streets, saving lives, finding missing people, chasing burglars and attending road traffic accidents.

“And they are doing that with less back-up, less support and more stress and strain than ever. A lot of them are working alone.

“They are experiencing a great deal of stress as a result of the job they do protecting us, and the very least the Government can do is pay them a fair wage so that when they go home from a difficult job, they are not worrying about basic things like paying bills.”