'We’re starting to see officers burned out': Officers leaving South Yorkshire Police due to 'pressure cooker' environment

South Yorkshire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said officers are looking for alternative jobs because of stress and burn out.

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New figures show nearly 2,400 officers left the role in England and Wales last year - the highest number since 2015.

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Increasing demand and a reduction in police officer numbers over the years to cut costs are said to be having an impact.

South Yorkshire Police Federation chairman, Steve Kent, said: “The pressure cooker of policing is having its effect now.

“We’re starting to see officers burned out and reaching the end of their tether and looking for alternative employment when it’s available because they simply can’t cope with the sheer stress and workload that they’re under.

“It was inevitable from the years of cuts and I think we’re seeing the result of it.”

South Yorkshire Police is recruiting 1,400 officers over three years as part of a national drive to boost numbers by 20,000.

Mr Kent said: “We need to see the extra cops in South Yorkshire landing, and we also need continual investment in policing to allow police officers actually to do their job without buckling under the pressure.

“For me, that’s the prime reasons people are upping sticks and leaving.

“People’s expectations when they join the police about being able to help the public, being able to work and have a good work-life balance, to help victims and people who have been assaulted need to be matched in reality.

“Cops at the minute, especially in investigative and response policing are just coming to work and having to scrape by every day. They hit the ground running. They’re literally running around.

“They’re not actually able to give the full service that they’d like to provide, and that’s the problem which comes back to the point about resourcing.

“We need that resourcing to come through, to make sure there’s enough resilience in the force, especially a force like ours in South Yorkshire where we’ve got almost the most incidents per officer, pretty much in the country.”