Cops are too busy for a Pc
No time for toilet breaks
POLICE officers are so snowed under with work they don‘t have time for toilet breaks during shifts, a union boss claimed yesterday.
Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, told MSPs that officers also often have to work more than their contracted hours.
He said: “Large numbers of the police service don’t get a break during the course of their working day and also don’t get a break during the course of their working week.
“From the moment they come in to the moment they leave, they are run ragged and can’t catch a breath. They can’t even go for a toilet break, never mind have a sandwich or a quick tea or coffee.”
Steele raised concerns that the shift of focus for some officers to complex, specialist work such as historic child abuse cases and anti-terrorism has led to other parts of the force becoming stretched. He said: “The police service at this point in time does not have the budget to pay for the officers it’s got.
“We have officers in all areas working ridiculously long hours. We have stripped out ranks in supervision which introduces its own risks.
“Undoubtedly these will turn out to be realised in years to come when problems with a lack of supervision will show what a lack of supervision has always shown – that eventually you get to a point of critical mass and end up being criticised for it. There needs to be a return to first principles.”