Law enforcement officers assigned to some of the most serious cases are being allowed to conduct their investigations from the comfort of their own homes, rather than having to go into their police stations, according to a new audit.
Figures showing that almost half (42%) of advertisements for taxpayer-funded police staff jobs allow home working have prompted fears of reduced productivity, despite soaring crime rates.
The investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed that jobs handling “high harm” victims—including those in child abuse and sex offence cases—are being advertised, among others, by England’s 39 forces with the option to work from home. Many of the jobs are also being offered either full or part-time.
Critics say this is further evidence of the Labour government breaking pledges made in its manifesto, which promised to “stop the Conservative chaos and return law and order to our streets.”
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice agreed that police should indeed be on the streets, “not stuck in the bedroom at home.” He added:
Working from home in the police is absurd and has led to a collapse in productivity.
There is also a potential security risk with officers handling sensitive cases at their private addresses, according to former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith. He argued that “they should be doing those [tasks] from the office, to protect the data and witnesses.”
It appears likely that, despite serious public concerns, police forces allow staff to work from home out of fear that employees will leave their jobs altogether if made to show up at the office every working day. Previously, this trend might have been hidden by the way that figures on police home working are not routinely published.
Labour government officials did not respond to the Telegraph’s request for comment, possibly because on their watch, there has been an uptick in the number of civil servants working from home. Police forces can, at least, claim to be following Whitehall’s example.
