New Prime Minister must pay police more, says Avon & Somerset Police Fed
Could low pay leave Avon and Somerset Police at risk from bent coppers?
Last updated 25th Oct 2022
Like a scene out of the hit TV show Line of Duty, Avon and Somerset Police officers could be at risk of pressure from criminal gangs because they are so poorly paid.
That's according to the man who represents rank-and-file officers across the region, who says police could be at risk of "corruption and financial control and coercion".
Mark Loker, chairman of the force’s Police Federation, has launched a stinging attack on the Government for showing “contempt” and “loathing” to officers, who he says are “breaking” because of the way they are treated and the fact they are in abject poverty.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Loker said policing was facing more cuts amid plans in Westminster to implement austerity measures across the public sector because of the economic crisis.
He wrote: “We know we are not going to earn lots; we know we are going to be hammered mentally and physically.
“We know this but still do it anyway, it’s a vocation and long may it continue to be.
“But at what stage does this become economically unviable?
“Police salaries should not leave our officers unable to pay the bills, to afford the luxuries in life – like food, or household energy, or petrol you know, the stuff of dreams.
“I jest, but this is the reality, this is the true contempt shown to your police service by this Government.
“They have us over a barrel because we cannot say ‘No’ or ‘Please Sir, may I have some more’ and by God does this Government take full advantage of that.
“And are we feeling the effects of slow starvation under this regime.
“We cannot ask for more, nor should we be silly enough to expect more.
“All this Government demonstrates is that it is hell bent on demanding more from the police.
“Cuts do have consequences and what this Government seems to forget is that our resources are finite.
“We are breaking and when I say we, I mean the humans behind the uniform, not the system.”
Mr Loker said that not only did officers accept the risks to their safety but also “massive restrictions on our private lives”, including expectations of behaviour both on and off duty and not having the right to strike.
“Sadly, we are taken for granted and that is scandalous and abusive,” he wrote.
“Police pay must recognise this and remunerate accordingly, otherwise I fear for what may happen.
“Leaving police officers in relative poverty, 25 per cent below where we should have been in the space of a decade, could lead to officers being susceptible to corruption and financial control and coercion by criminal gangs.
“Not attracting the best candidates to replace, sorry ‘uplift’, 20,000 officers because the pay and conditions are just not worth the risk and restriction on your private life.
“These are real risks and the real reasons there is a crisis in policing.
“Despite rhetoric such as ‘we will get Britain moving and spread the chance of a better life to everyone in this country’, that seems to be as long as you are not a police officer.
“We must recognise that the real reason policing is in crisis is because of a Government that simply seems to loathe the police, that goes back on its words, eases into lying about its value for and gratitude for British policing, and shows nothing but contempt for police officers – the very people wearing uniforms who keep them safe day after day.
“We put our lives on the line for their safety. Our reward and recognition? Abstract poverty.
“So next time someone quotes a crisis in policing, or considers police misconduct, please look no further than the Government as the reason there is a crisis in policing, not police officers.”
Speaking to us during an interview, Mr Loker clarified that he does not believe officers in financial trouble would be tempted by bribes by criminals because their moral compass, in his words, "are very, very high", but they could be tempted to ask loan sharks for help, who are often part of criminal gangs.
"Nine times out of 10 they are fronted by, I would suggest, criminal organisations," he said.
"Loan sharking is something we would not want our police officers going to."
He added that he knows of officers across Avon and Somerset who have resorted to using food banks.
Other new recruits, he ,says, have chosen not to pay into a pension because they cannot afford to.
In response to Mr Loker's comments a Home Office Spokesperson said: “Our police do an incredible job on the frontline, often in the most difficult of circumstances.
"We are ensuring police forces have the resources they need to keep our communities safe.
"This is why we’ve increased the police funding settlement by more than £1 billion this year, providing up to £16.9 billion for the policing system.
"Additionally, every police officer received a £1.9k uplift to their salary this year which equalled up to an 8.8% increase for those on the lower salary bands.
“Avon and Somerset Police will receive up to £362.2 million in funding in 2022/23, an increase of up to £18.6 million as compared to 2022/21 levels, and has already recruited 318 additional uplift officers at 30 June 2022.”