We were originally sent this 5 years ago, and it resonated with many of you. So, today we ask: has ANYTHING improved? And, to the person who wrote this, are you still in the job? 💙 "𝗜'𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 "𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲" 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿... ... 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 "𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲" 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝟵𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀. Sure, there's good days, but they certainly don't outweigh the bad. The bad days are constant and the bad days stick - not the good. The good ones are few and far between and I see many, many officers holding out for just one of those good days. Holding out for the small and fleeting thought of "it's not so bad"... but, it really is. I was asked recently to provide an example of "good policing" that I had done. On reflection, it shocked me to discover that since my time as a Response Officer I struggled to think of even one. When I REALLY thought about it, it made me realise that the actual problems never get looked at. They're always wanting to be masked by "the good stuff". Reality is, I'm working in an environment where the people I am arresting have more rights than I do. Their welfare gets checked every 30 minutes. They have meals and drinks at their beck and call. Who cares if they throw those meals around their cell like an animal? We just keep them coming because what the prisoner wants - the prisoner gets. Heck, they even have their very own butler (Detention Officers) to bring it to them! The welfare of Response Officers is rarely checked. Like robots, we turn up to work, we answer the calls and we fill in ALL of the paperwork (most of which is completely unnecessary and duplicated simply to cover ourselves). Nevermind that you've just been verbally abused. Nevermind that you've just had blood spat at you. Nevermind that you've been kicked or pushed about. Nevermind that you've just been wrestling with someone in their cell after they've urinated everywhere so you're saturated in it. No, nevermind that. Nevermind that you just saw a dead baby being carried away by Paramedics or that you just came from a hanging with someone who had so much to live for. Nevermind that because they're on holiday, you just had to tell some parents over the phone that their eighteen year old son was dead or that you held the hand of their sixteen year old - taking some of his last breaths after being hit by a car. Nevermind that. Don't forget: there are still more calls to be answered, and there are still more people to be interviewed. There are still more people to sit with in hospital to wait for them to shit out drugs that THEY decided to swallow. There are still more people to sit with in hospital because they have a baddy head or a baddy toe... all of whom are an absolute drain on the NHS and their staff. Don't forget that there are more victims of stabbings who "ain't gonna tell the Police shit" - because they choose to live a murky lifestyle where they only care about knives and violence and drugs and money - and the Police are a minor inconvenience every now and then. But those people seem to matter the most. Not us mere Response Officers. Not us mere Response Officers who essentially give our lives to the Job. Not us mere Response Officers who miss family birthdays, Anniversaries, Christmas or trips away because "sorry, there's a rugby match that weekend" or "sorry, we don't have enough staff". It would at least be nice to say that we have four rest days - however they are regularly being taken from us as well - without any real warning. "Oh, you had plans that Rest Day? Tough. You should have booked it off 12 months ago..." is the standard response.

𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 The Government has launched a full, independent review of the police accountability system, examining why misconduct cases take so long and whether the current arrangements are actually fit for purpose. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝘂𝗲. Let's make one thing absolutely clear: police officers must be accountable for their actions. They exercise significant powers and the public is entitled to expect high standards in return. Officers who abuse those powers, commit serious misconduct or break the law should face the consequences. But accountability must also be 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆. Wearing a police uniform should not mean surrendering the basic expectation that allegations against you will be investigated properly and resolved within a reasonable period. The latest Home Office figures demonstrate just how badly that principle has been lost. Of misconduct cases finalised in 2024/25, 𝟯𝟭% 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟵% 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. At 31 March 2025, another 𝟵𝟱𝟬 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. For the more serious recordable conduct matters, the median time to reach a conclusion had risen from 311 days to 𝟰𝟬𝟱 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 in just one year. Then there are the officers removed from frontline or normal duties while these processes continue. At 31 March 2025, 𝟵𝟮𝟯 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱. For suspensions which concluded during that year, the median duration was 𝟮𝟳𝟯 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀. Suspension is not a finding of guilt. An officer can therefore spend months, sometimes years, away from their normal role while their career, reputation and family life remain in limbo. And this is no longer simply serving officers or the Police Federation criticising the system. In January 2026, 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁, wrote on the IOPC's own website: "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰." She also warned that the current system can produce "𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀", and highlighted the problems caused when criminal, coronial and disciplinary processes examine the same incident, sometimes reaching their conclusions years later. When the Director General of the police watchdog itself is saying the system is letting down officers and the public, we really ought to be listening. There is also a human cost which cannot be ignored. Police Federation data covering 2022 to 2025 recorded at least 𝟳𝟬 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟮𝟯𝟲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀. Of those, 47 deaths and 173 attempts involved officers who were subject to criminal or misconduct proceedings. Those figures do not prove that an investigation caused an individual death, and it would be wrong to claim that they do. The Federation itself describes a "𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻", and when investigations can continue for years, that is far too serious to dismiss. None of this means officers should escape consequences. Home Office figures show 𝟲𝟵𝟱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿 "𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱" 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 following misconduct proceedings in 2024/25. Where gross misconduct is proven, those who have no place in policing should be removed. But an allegation is not a finding. 1/2