The IPSG have been supporting several police officers in Humberside Police, this is one of several smaller police forces where we have experienced similar difficulties.
Unusually, the majority of cases concerned bullying towards Inspectors which appears to be linked to a culture of performance where officers are working excessive hours often breaching the working time regulations.
We are aware of at least 5 Inspectors having similar difficulties and being made ill resulting in sickness absence. We make no apologies for raising such matters as one of our aims is to prevent the number of police suicides.
We have also raised concerns regarding officers being forced back to work early ignoring the medical advice of officer's own GPs.
The IPSG has been involved in supporting officers in three employment tribunal cases and raising concerns with the new Chief Constable with regards to the extent of the bullying and associated criminal and conduct matters which appear to have been designed to cover up the conduct of senior officers.
What was apparent from interviewing several officers was that there is a culture of fear and bul;lying in the force.
The new Chief Constable has failed so far to acknowledge our communication and we will monitor the situation closely.
We have sent a Freedom of Information request to ACPO to chase up previous concerns which have been raised by the police federation and superintendents association regarding the hours being worked by inspecting ranks.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/working_time_regulations_and_ins#incoming-384199
We will post any updates from ACPO.
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