Police concerns over ‘inexperienced’ staff facing ‘high workloads’
Gloucestershire Constabulary has “really inexperienced” young officers facing increasingly high workloads, according to police bosses.
The force gave an update on its progress after recovering from being placed into special measures in December 2021.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, found the Constabulary has made improvements in crime recording, call handling, and victim services.
Whilst the force was taken out of special measures in September this year, police chiefs believe inexperienced staff could be a barrier to an effective recovery.
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone said: “We’ve got a really inexperienced workforce.
"We’ve got a high workload demand on those young offices because they are required to do a degree.”
He also spoke of the financial pressures the force is facing and the impact of the cost of living crisis on employees.
He said: “We’ve got some economic and financial pressures ongoing in the system. I don’t just mean the organisation I mean the people that work for us as well.
“Obviously, we’ve got some impacts nationally that impact on morale within the organisation.”
However, Assistant Chief Constable Ocone also spoke of how the force needs to focus on reducing the number of calls to 101 which are abandoned.
He said: “With 101 we’ve still got too high a rate of abandonment.
“The 999 answer times are effectively dealt with. They are now consistently under ten seconds.”