Officers are getting younger thanks to “record” retirement numbers and younger recruits says police chief

Dr Alan Billings, PCC for South Yorkshire, said record numbers of officers are retiring, and are being replaced by younger officers through the government’s uplift programme.

He added that he expects just under half of the force in South Yorkshire to be “both relatively young and inexperienced within a couple of years” – and says the idea there are no implications or not thinking about them is “dangerous and delusional”.

“This younger generation of officers view the world of work, including policing, rather differently from some of their predecessors,” added Dr Billings.

“They have grown up hearing about the importance of having a healthy work-life balance and well-being at work.

“Police forces themselves have been saying this for sometime as well; but if new recruits find that what is routinely and regularly demanded of them seems a long way from this, it creates tensions.

“The reality is that the demands of policing often do impact on healthier patterns of working.

“Second, nothing will sap the enthusiasm for the work more quickly than not being able to do it satisfactorily. If, to take one example, officers on response teams start the day with a list of jobs to be done but find they have no vehicle or the body worn cameras are not working or whatever, they will become frustrated.

“I was talking last week to groups of student offers who were in the university as part of their training.

“They were all pleased to be officers. Some spoke about the fulfilment of an ambition long held. They were all very thoughtful. I went to talk about what is in the Police and Crime Plan. They also wanted to talk about issues of welfare and job satisfaction.

“If we are going to retain as well as recruit successfully, we clearly have to do both.”

The recruitment age for officers was lowered to 17 in 2020, in a bid to fulfil the government’s election pledge of 20,000 extra officers.

Seventeen year olds can now apply to become a constable, but cannot take up the appointment until they are 18.