Police officers are 'already overrun and exhausted' Sussex Police Federation says

Braverman said criminals are "often effectively free to break certain laws,” and urged officers to crackdown on low level crimes by using evidence from smart doorbells and dashcams to track law-breakers down.

Police organisations up and down the country have spoken out against the announcement, however, often explaining that police departments are overworked and understaff as is, while making clear that shifting the focus to low-level crimes might divert valuable resources from investigations into more serious crimes like murder or rape.

Joining the chorus of dissent is the Sussex Police Federation, which was established by the Police Act in 1919, to represent officers in all manners related to their welfare and efficiency. Unable to take political or industrial action, it seeks to improve the pay and working conditions of police officers across Sussex by representing officers, influencing policy and informing the public about police work.

"Of course, our hard-working police officers want to investigate every crime, they are the people who pick up the pieces and actually support victims of crime, that’s why they joined the Police,” said Raffaele Cioffi, Deputy Chair of Sussex Police Federation.

“The uncomfortable truth is sadly they are already overrun and exhausted due to the mountain of paperwork and additional forms to fill in, spending up to four time longer in the police stations rather than out on the street catching criminals.“What we all desperately need to see is a clear plan from the Home Office on how this will be delivered… funnily enough, there’s been no mention of this at all."Yet again we see another promise that - under the current structure - police officers know is unachievable.”

Steve Hartshorn, national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales added: "Undoubtedly each and every police officer in the country wants to provide par excellence service to the members of the communities they diligently serve and protect."But, unfortunately, headline grabbing announcements by the government will not help officers provide that service. It can only be done if the government provides adequate resources to officers and makes sustained investment in the police service."