- Conference
- 2022 Police & Justice Service Group Conference
- Date
- 27 June 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Operation Uplift is part of this government’s pledge to recruit 20,000 additional Police Officers by March 2023. As of 31st March 2022 13,576, Officers had been recruited.
This increase in Police Officer numbers is having an adverse effect on Police Staff. Many Police Officers are now taking up roles that have previously been held by Police Staff and the additional burden on training means that any attempt to upskill Police Staff is hindered by this pressure.
The College of Policing is committed to the creation of career pathways for Police Staff particularly around investigative and neighbourhood policing roles. However, the reality is that this commitment is not being put into effect.
At present the only real opportunity for career progression for Police Staff is by applying for new roles, often outside law enforcement, rather than by developing and enhancing current skills and knowledge with the opportunity for advancement. This leads to a real crisis in both recruitment and retention.
Conference calls upon the Police and Justice Service Group Executive to enter into discussion with the College of Policing to introduce, without delay, a career pathway for Police Staff which reflects the experience and value that the work of Police Staff bring to policing. Such work may include but not limited to; creating guidance on why police staff roles should be done by police staff; tackling the ‘blue’ ceiling of manager roles being ‘required’ to be police officers; guidance on the civilianisation of roles; workforce mapping to identify where we have had some success such as PCSO managers.