Nearly a quarter of officers plan to leave Hertfordshire Constabulary within two years

Nearly a quarter of officers plan to leave Hertfordshire Constabulary within two years, or are actively looking for jobs elsewhere, new figures reveal.

The Police Federation of England and Wales said police officers are reaching "breaking point" and leaving the service due to pay and work conditions.

The PFEW's pay and morale survey, carried out in September and October last year, shows 23 per cent of the 824 officers in Hertfordshire Constabulary who responded, said they were planning to leave the service. About eight per cent said they intended to resign from the force within the next two years and 15 per cent stated they are already looking for other employment.

Altogether, the rate is up from the previous survey in 2021, when 14 per cent of officers said they were planning to resign.

Steve Hartshorn, PFEW national chair, said: “Police officers are reaching breaking point and are leaving the service in their droves as every element of their pay and conditions has been gradually eroded in the space of a decade."

Of Hertfordshire Constabulary officers who said they were planning to leave the job, the main reasons cited for leaving the force were their morale (86 per cent), their pay (79 per cent) and how police are treated by the government (75%).

The survey also showed 58 per cent of the area's officers said they had a low or very low level of morale - down from 64% in 2021. Additionally, 95 per cent said they do not feel the government respects them and 80% said they do not feel respected by the public.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Policing is a career like no other and we need officers to keep communities safe and cut crime. We are injecting record funds into policing and giving officers the support, training and powers they need to crack down on crime.

“The government remains on track to deliver its pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers by March 2023. The overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed report positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives.”