Star comment: Take action on police sickness
The boys and girls in blue put their lives on the line every day to keep the public safe.
But the thin blue line has never been thinner, with diminishing frontline staffing levels putting serving officers and PCSOs under increasing pressure.
However, the rate of sickness absence for West Midlands Police is sure to raise a few eyebrows.
Incredibly, more than 77,000 days were lost last year due to officers calling in sick. That’s the equivalent of 213 years.
And more than 1,000 officers and PCSOs went on long-term sick, meaning they were off work for at least 28 days during the year.
You have to ask how many shifts have been left understaffed as a result of the high absence levels.
The region’s assistant police and crime commissioner says the absence rate can be partly explained by that fact that the force has ‘fewer people doing more work’.
There is undoubtedly some truth in the argument that cuts to officer numbers and police budgets have increased stress levels among staff.
But the situation for those police officers that do turn up to work is not helped when so many of their colleagues are off sick.
In recent months senior officers have described how the pressure on police staff is now so acute that the force cannot cope with the work it is being asked to do. This comes at a time when crime is very much on the rise.
Serious questions must be asked over how police sickness absences are being managed and supervised.
What are the top brass doing to assist and encourage officers and PCSOs to return to work?
At a time when resources are being stretched to their limits, the very last thing West Midlands Police needs is to develop a culture of absenteeism.
The force needs to take immediate steps to prevent this situation from becoming a reality.
We understand that the threats that West Midlands Police now deal with are more complex and dangerous than ever.
And incidents of officers being subjected to assaults and aggressive behaviour are becoming more common.
But in order to deal with such incidents the force simply must have a frontline staff that is fit and ready for duty.
