Nearly 2,000 police officers voluntarily quit the service over the past 12 months – an increase of 31% over the past four years*.

Numbers leaving each year are rising and now a new leavers’ survey by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) provides greater insight into the reasons why. It showed:

• More than half (52.5%) cited morale as their reason for leaving
• 43.8% said it was the impact of the job on their family/ personal life and 43.3% on their psychological health
• And a staggering 69.4% felt the police service had failed in its obligation to provide pay increases to maintain their standard of living

In addition, 64.5% said they would never consider re-joining the police service after they had left.