Page 10 - WMPF Federation Oct-Nov2017 Final_Neat

“I feel broken” has become totally subsumed by the gaping
holes that have appeared in the response
teams. They have inadequate staff numbers,
and demand is ever-increasing.
– officer’s heartbreaking open letter to the Chief “I and my team are now general rubbing
rags, moppers up of overspill demand and at
An officer who says she is “battling with a walk a step in my shoes. times demand which is days old and
mental fatigue that is not healthy and not “The public, however, have remained unresourced. Daily business is P3 logs, not
getting better” has written to the Chief largely true. They have remained supportive of resourced by response. All out days are entire
Constable to let him know how she is feeling. the police, they have stuck with us, they have days devoted essentially to attempting to
The female officer was inspired by an believed, they have trusted. They deserve reduce unresourced demand.
officer from Greater Manchester Police who on better. “I am told by a manager that
resigning had written to the Force’s Chief “During 2015 after successive change ‘neighbourhood policing is suspended, though
Constable outlining his feelings. programmes, which mostly felt like change for no-one will say it is’. But I am still expected to
Although the West Midlands officer is not the sake of change by now, the cracks started remain as a point of NPT contact on the police
leaving the Force, she said she wanted to put in to appear with austerity measures imposed by website. My profile picture demonstrates that I
writing her state of disillusionment and mental a Government that has no understanding of am here to provide the face of NPTs, our
exhaustion. the demands of policing in 2015. website suggests we are all singing, all
In the letter, she says: “I am saying this not “My role became influenced by politics, by dancing, here for the public, dedicated to their
to create ripples, not to cause trouble, but financial restraints, by budgetary decisions. It community issues. But the truth is very
because I need to say it, about me, for me. became less clear, less defined, less valued. different.
“I am a female officer, with a family, a Messages from senior managers became “There is a lack of transparency in this
university education and with 24 years of mixed, what was expected of me became deceit, in this spin. My integrity feels
front-line service, joining in 1993. I am blurred, became conflicting, became difficult to challenged, I feel like I am being asked to
qualified to the rank of sergeant and have manage. I started to feel pulled from pillar to mislead at best, lie at worst. As a police officer, I
been a NPT officer since its inception. post, neither one thing nor the other, mopping rely on transparency and integrity, so I find this
“I have dedicated myself to this role, up demand that spilled over from inadequate deceit exhausting. I start to dislike myself.
getting to know my local communities, staff on response, unable to carry out NPT “Elsewhere, experienced officers have
making friends, forming partnerships, solving duties, but criticised when problems were not retired, officers are transferring in record
problems. I have made a difference to many solved and held responsible when things failed. numbers, sickness levels are shockingly high,
lives - I have been told as much. I have received “The pressure started to build for me, mental health related sickness is
letters of thanks from members of the public, I caused mainly by too much demand, too few disproportionally great. My pay rise is yet again
have felt appreciated, valued, recognised. I resources, too much de-skilling, too little derisory after years of austerity. My pension is
have made lasting friendships with many. I support from senior managers, too little much reduced, its terms and conditions altered
have been the eyes and the ears of the concern for welfare, for employees, for the against my will. There are fewer and fewer of
community. I have gathered intelligence, I have human side of policing. I became jack of all us. Those that remain are expected to do the
fostered relationships and I have been there trades, master of nothing. work of those that have gone. And then their
when it mattered for people who matter. “I became mentally exhausted, I became ill. own.
“During these years I have believed in my My mental health suffered. I was not “Change programmes are unsettling, they
role, I have believed in me, I have believed that supported, I was not listened to (until it was keep changing things, change leads to change,
I make a difference. Others have believed in too late). I was off sick for months. I did not leads to change. Focus is lost, visions are not
me.” believe I could return to it. clear. Rest days are regularly cancelled due to
She continues: “Then it all changes. In the I did return, but as a result of my own insufficient resources, flexible work patterns
past years, I have lost count of how many self-sufficiency, my own strength, my own that are vital for work-life balance are now no
‘change programmes’ we have been subjected character which somehow I re-found. By this longer fit for purpose because goal posts have
to at WMP. I say subjected to because this is time, however, I could return only while taking changed. Extra officers are new recruits, with
how it feels, it feels like these have happened anti-depressant medication, and having all that they entail. No-one has time to listen,
to us, not with us, not for us. Not only that, but reduced my hours at significant personal no-one has time to care. I am on my own. I fend
the changes blur into one, from Paragon, to financial expense, just so I could face it, cope for myself. I look out for myself. I have to.
Continuous Improvement, to TS1 to TS2.....to it with it, self-manage it, limit my exposure to it. “And still, though this organisation feels as
matters not what is next. “Things have worsened and are still though it is broken, I feel broken, management
“Vision statements have come and gone, worsening since my return. I have managed to must recognise that it is broken, there are no
policing pledges have flitted by, now no longer endure a further 18 months since my last voices speaking on my behalf. Senior managers
remembered. Things have become tougher episode of mental illness. Just about. are not speaking for me, the Government is not
but not in a way I anticipated. Governments “In summer 2016, TS1, the next speaking for me, the media is not speaking for
and the media have become mostly programme of change, was upon us. We were me. So I have to speak for myself, to feel alive,
unsupportive towards the police, labels have all being re-vamped, re-packaged, re-labelled, to hear my voice, to know that I am still me
been applied, we have all been lumped re-vitalised again. Senior managers told me, and always will be, despite it all.
together as institutional racists. The CJS is at told us all, that NPTs were going to be an “And so I feel let down, I feel abandoned, I
breaking point, sentences are inadequate, integral part of policing, we would be ‘totally feel alone, I feel unvalued, I feel mentally
offenders are returned to the streets professionalised’ as a role, given the exhausted. I feel anxious, I feel sick, I feel a
undeterred. Prisons are full and understaffed. recognition and resources we deserved. Threats black cloud descend as my last rest day
The social care and mental health services from terrorism heightened the need for NPTs. approaches. I have no capacity to recharge my
increasingly rely on the police to paper over We were important. Significant. Would be batteries anymore. I do not sleep properly.
the cracks in their under resourced, dedicated to our role and our communities, “I am not a number, I am not a bum on a
insufficiently staffed sectors. Our actions and allowed to thrive and realise our potential. seat, I am not a resource to complete a task. I
reactions are constantly questioned, largely by “From November 2016, it became apparent have to keep telling myself that because there
the College of Bystanders who choose to this was not true, would never be true and is no-one else telling me.”
pontificate from the sidelines, but will never could never be true. By summer 2017 my role

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