I am one of more than 60 frontline police officers in the capital who have been taken off the streets and reassigned for half the year to handle the flood of 999 and 101 calls that police call centres can no longer deal with.
Long shifts, inadequate pay and poor treatment from supervisors means the police call centres find it difficult to retain staff, and there have been complaints about delays in answering calls. So the gaps are being plugged with police officers. We are not given a choice; we are just told to get on with it.
When you dial 999 I want to be out on the streets to deal with whatever is happening. But instead, I am fielding our your emergencies to a diminishing number of police officers on the ground. The desperate staff shortages on the ground are mirrored in the call centres; sometimes staff are on the phones for three hours non-stop, answering call after call, trying to type as fast as they can. Everybody is under pressure.
At the weekend, I took a call about 20 people fighting in the street. The caller said they had seen someone run past with a gun. It’s the sort of thing my team responds to. It could well have been them who went to the scene – an officer down without me. Sat in a call centre, I wonder how the young police officers who have only recently joined the force are doing without the extra support.
I know the police officers on the receiving end of those calls are under greater stress than ever. There will be urgent calls over the radio, they will be hassled for their whereabouts and asked why they aren’t already there. They will forfeit any breaks to be there as soon as they can: they are doing their best.
I still feel proud to be a police officer and serve London’s diverse community, but I am exhausted, stressed and totally disillusioned with the way this organisation has been treated. Morale has plummeted over the years. I think our own welfare and concerns are often overlooked. I rely on public transport to get home from the call centre, but when my shifts finish at 3am I am told to work overtime until the trains are running again in the morning.
About a year ago I was referred for counselling but it took three months for someone to get in touch, and all the while I continued to do the job. I was told by one old-school inspector that it was tough luck and just part of the job; it is what you signed up for, just get on with it.
We may get things wrong at times, but the vast majority of officers work exceptionally hard and it can feel like there is just no time for compassion. We are overworked and I worry that things get missed and accidents will happen. I used to think of policing as a job for life. I joined to make a difference. But I am sorry to say I am looking for a new job, and so are many of my colleagues.
This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com
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