The North's Policing Board is to raise with the chief constable George Hamilton a new survey which found that almost every police officer in Northern Ireland feels that morale is low in the PSNI.
The independent workforce study, which was carried out on behalf of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, surveyed 2,527 (37 per cent) of the PSNI's 7,200 officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector.
The detailed on-line questionnaire was carried out by a team of academics doing similar work for the Police Federation of England and Wales, with 96 per cent saying work morale was low. A total of 72.5 per cent said the same held true for their personal morale.
The federation is the representative body for the bulk of PSNI officers. Its chairman Mark Lindsay said the survey provided "robust, cold hard facts which show just how low morale is within the PSNI".
“These independently sourced and verified returns are not something that can be easily dismissed or explained away,” said Mr Lindsay. He indicated that PSNI budgets were a key issue in the officers’ response.
He said the findings represented a “significant challenge to Ministers who control budgets and send a clear message to all concerned that it is impossible to do more with less without having a severe adverse effect on human beings”.
The survey found that 55 per cent of officers felt proud to be in the PSNI. “The fact that 55 per cent of respondents say they feel proud to be in the police, and 53 per cent are willing to go the extra mile for the police, tells us all we need to know about the great commitment there is to the job despite the severe challenges they face,” said Mr Lindsay.
“What’s needed now is an urgent action plan to address the challenges revealed in this survey. There must be a collaborative and realistic approach to adequately deal with the wide range of anxieties and fears that are felt by officers throughout the PSNI,” he added.
The Policing Board, which holds the PSNI to account, said it would seek to discuss the survey with chief constable Mr Hamilton.
“The service has been through a significant programme of policing reform and more recently further organisational changes have been necessary to achieve required reductions to policing budgets,” said a spokeswoman.
The fiscal picture is unlikely to change and as such it is important that all resources are used efficiently by the chief constable,” she added.
