Chief constable hears police officers’ concerns at Brighton meeting

Sussex Police officers spoke about their concerns at an open meeting with Chief Constable Martin Richards in Brighton yesterday evening (Tuesday 1 October).

Many of their main worries were set out by Paul Sellings, chairman of the Sussex branch of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers.

Mr Sellings told the meeting at the Hilton Brighton Metropole that budget cuts had affected the service given to the public. Emergency response times were slower.

Workloads had risen, with officers being expected to go to jobs alone rather than in pairs, which is regarded as safer.

Some were being rotated from one department to another against their will, causing upheaval in their private lives and lowering morale.

Mr Richards said that he would ask Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith to look again at the rotation policy but said that officers responding alone was sometimes necessary. He said that a measure of discretion was necessary.

The force has cut about 300 officers over the past few years as part of an attempt to reduce spending by more than £50 million.

But the protests against fracking at Balcombe over the summer had taken officers away from neighbourhood policing duties and added to the pressures on the force’s budget.