We are disappointed, but not surprised, that the Mail on Sunday's reporting of the issue of secondary employment for police officers.

Media reporting of this issue tends to focus on secondary employment being somehow 'wacky' or moonlighting rather than what it is: a deeply worrying trend driven by a generation of pay settlements for police officers that have seen real terms cuts of more than 20 per cent in the last 15 years.

We are compiling our own data on secondary employment and what it tells us about the health of policing in England and Wales.

Responding to the Mail on Sunday report, PFEW Acting Deputy National Chair Brian Booth said:

“We're extremely concerned that far too many police officers feel they have no choice other than to work second jobs just to make ends meet. In some forces, the number has quadrupled since 2019.

"It's criminal a third of officers say they're struggling to cover basic bills. Officers want and need to rest on their days off, not feel forced to pick up extra work to pay the bills.

"Police pay has fallen by a fifth since 2010 and the job has only got harder and more punishing in that time. This isn't a complaint: it’s a crisis that’s pushing police officers, and public safety, to breaking point.”

Police officers run towards danger — but their pay doesn’t cover running a household….

🔴 Police officers are 21% worse off in real terms than they were in 2010.
🔴 A third of officers struggle to afford food, rent, or heating.

Together, we can show the Government that what the police take home is criminal.