Pay police officers more across the board to stop them being tempted to join The Metropolitan Police

30 June 2022

Police officers need to be paid more across the board to stop them being tempted to join The Metropolitan Police.

The London force has offered Police officers a £5,000 cash incentive to transfer, which Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners in South East worry will denude the force of much-needed bobbies.

Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation, said the scheme posed a “real problem”.

He told Anna Cookson on BBC Radio Kent: “I’m a Kent Police officer. I've always been in Kent and I'm very proud to be in Kent, and I want more people to come to Kent to work with us.

“The problem is even if only a small number decide to take up the Met’s offer that then leaves the team that they've been working on in a difficult position.

“I appreciate we're in a cost of living crisis. But we need to have a really serious look at police pay and some of the renumeration and conditions that we work under. Unfortunately, I suspect we're going to get a very. very small pay rise if at all this year and that’s just not good enough, and the only way we’re going to stop that kind of migration is to pay officers more - especially at the at the entry point.”

More also needs to be done to ensure officers’ morale is taken care of, Neil added.

He said: “We want to get those police officers in the door, we want them to stay for the long term. And it's very important that we look after them. We need to pay them well and then manage their workloads well so that they are happy, and the morale is good and they want to make this a full career.”

He also spoke about police numbers, the pressure officers are under and police assaults.

Neil told BBC Radio Kent: “The more officers we have, the safer it will be for our officers. [With] the assault levels and the risks they take, we know it's a risky job. But the more of us there are, the safer it can be and that may sound like a very simplistic formula for that but it's a fact.”Chief Alan Pughsley, appearing on the same show, said he was “disappointed” in the Met’s move.

He said: “My officers, I'm really proud of them, they’re highly skilled in Kent particularly. They are so much more than a number for me. I know them, I go out with them. I work with them. I see what they do all the time.”

The chief said the recruitment problem comes from officers being underpaid and that he is putting a retention package together because “£5,000 is a lot of money when you’ve not got enough at the end of the month.”

He added: “We are doing everything we can to keep our officers and staff here and that includes working with the Met to try and agree a cap, because I recognise some officers will go. So I’m disappointed with the Met. I understand it, I don't agree with it. And we will do everything we can to retain my brilliant officers in Kent.”