Recruitment of detectives a 'big issue' in South Yorkshire

The recruitment of detectives in South Yorkshire is a ‘big issue,’ according to the Police Federation which represents local cops.
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DC Christian Borum spoke out locally as the Police Federation of England and Wales raised issues affecting detectives nationally, claiming they often deal with high-stress cases while being understaffed.

DC Borum described life as a detective as ‘the most rewarding career’ but said that the lack of recognition and level of pay was ‘demoralising’.

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He said more needs to be done to entice people into detective work.

Crime scenes in SheffieldCrime scenes in Sheffield
Crime scenes in Sheffield

“It’s a national problem, but the recruitment and retention of staff is the big issue. How do we get people into CID?” he asked?

“I sometimes feel that CID gets overlooked. Reactive CID, for example, is picking up all kinds of work that doesn’t qualify to go to the major incident team – murders, firearms incidents, serious assaults, organised crime – and they’re left carrying a lot of risk.

“There’s certainly a feeling that CID feel undervalued.”

He said there must be a national drive to incentivise more officers to train as detectives and he would like to see a trainee detective programme to boost numbers.

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He said: “South Yorkshire Police has incentivised certain areas, certainly with Protecting Vulnerable People, with a cash bonus for officers, which is good and they need to be rewarded, but then that in itself can be slightly divisive because it leaves out a lot of other officers who are carrying the same sort of workloads and risk and should be seen equally.

“I recognise that the cash bonus can be paid out for hard to fill roles with retentions and attraction issues under the regulations rather than it being in recognition of workload and risk but one leads to the other.”

He said more people needed to be convinced of the benefits of being a detective.

“It is the most rewarding career. You are dealing with real victims of crime and the impact it has on them and their families. To get the matter to court and to support them all the way and to get a positive result in court has got to be the most rewarding thing and why we join the police,” he added.