Patel called out by officer who ‘cannot live’ on her salary
A POLICE officer has confronted the Home Secretary about pay and conditions in the service telling her she can no longer afford to live on her salary.
Det Con Vicky Knight, who has 23 years service with North Wales Police, said she had resorted to visiting a food bank and borrowing money from her parents to help feed her son.
After Ms Patel’s keynote speech at the Police Federation conference in Manchester, Det Con Knight asked her: “Could you afford to live on £1,200 a month?”
The Government has imposed a pay freeze on officers for the last two years.
The Police Federation claims its members have seen a 20 per cent real terms cut in their salaries since the Tories came to power in 2010.
Steve Hartshorn, the Federation’s newly elected chairman, said it angered him that officers consider leaving the force, “not because they want to, but because they can’t afford not to”.
Det Con Knight also warned officers who were struggling may become vulnerable to corruption from organised crime groups. She said: “It’s going to be too easy for people to take backhanders when they are desperate.”