Hampshire's police officers feeling pressure of Covid-19

The organisation for rank and file officers thinks the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on Hampshire's frontline team.

Almost half of officers that responded to a survey said they're becoming fatigued by the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, along with other pressures.

They've cited things like anti-lockdown demonstrations, BLM protests, Extinction Rebellion marches and illicit street parties for adding to their workload.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield is worried:

"We're back to normal demand now - all our high risk missing people, we're going to lots of domestics, crimes in progress - we're having to deal with all of that on top of the additional calls related to people not wearing masks or breaching the rule of six."

The survey also found many officers are surviving on less than six hours sleep a night as they try to keep up with the demands placed on them.

Zoë Wakefield believes the Government should be providing more support:

"These Covid marshals that were mentioned, we haven't such much of those locally. That appears to be a reasonable idea that might work to help educate the public because it's confusing for everybody when the guidance is changing so frequently.

"(Police officers) have got the same pressures at home that everybody also has got. The rule of six applies to police officers as well as everybody else, people are worried about their children away at university, vulnerable people in their families, elderly relatives, so it is a difficult time."