On an unknown corner of Reddit, rank-and-file police officers have been lifting the lid on life behind the thin blue line.
A picture of fatigue, anxiety, and declining morale emerges from post after post on the Police UK forum.
Contributors express lurking doubts about the fate of policing, with some conceding they are actively plotting their escape routes.
One officer announced they had already quit, while another confessed that, for the first time, they had seriously considered handing in their warrant card after a bruising shift.
Others piled in to agree: staffing shortages, relentless workloads and what they see as a lack of backing from the top are driving many to breaking point.
The frustration voiced online comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announces plans to “significantly” cut the number of forces across England and Wales.
Ms Mahmood intends to reduce the current 43 constabularies to 12 ‘mega forces’, which will be more focused on serious and organised crime.
In one post, titled ‘Officially just left the job’, one fed-up police officer states: ‘After several years in policing, I have decided to step away.’
He tells of his ‘complete admiration’ for colleagues ‘resilient and agile enough to carry on in the current climate’ but concedes: ‘I could reel off many reasons as to why I am leaving, but morale is already low enough.’
‘You have done the right thing,’ comes a reply. ‘I hope you now get to enjoy not working night shifts!’
Another writes: ‘It’s a shame, but sadly it’s the only way forward until people can do the job with adequate resources and conditions.’
‘Best decision you’ll ever make. Becoming a police officer puts you in a prison in every aspect of your life. You are literally beneath the public,’ adds a third. ‘Never put yourself in that position.’
In another insightful thread, another unnamed police officer tells how he is thinking of leaving his job – despite being ‘very proud’ of his three-year career on response duties.
‘I’m finding myself changing in recent months. I no longer get that sense of excitement to come into work; the times where I actually feel like I’m making a difference are few and far between.
‘I’m getting snappier with people, getting into petty arguments with suspects where I usually pride myself on being the calm cop who can talk someone down quite well, but the biggest thing affecting me is I’m losing sleep.’
He candidly goes to reveal his worries ‘that I’m worried that the suicidal person I went to will do it or that the domestic abuser ‘is going to end up doing real damage’.
‘I worry about the people I can’t help and whether I’ve done enough for the people that I can. I worry about the scrutiny that is literally everywhere in this job’.
There are also honest discussions about the use of force in custody, with officers debating what is – and isn’t – acceptable, amid concerns that even split-second decisions could subsequently be judged harshly.
What is evident here is that our police force is nothing like it used to be. Law and order is a joke, and there is no vocation to protect people. Our police destroyed that misconception with the rise in thefts, arresting people for their own thoughts and two-tier protest management and diversity pushing, and all respect for our police force has been lost, but it’s not their fault; our government is to blame.
What we need is a no-nonsense police force like in the old days – they would never have put up with all his rubbish. If kids are running about with knives and God forbid guns, they need to be locked up, and not a slap on the wrist and told they are extremely naughty and don’t do it again. If you do the crime, you do the time!
The trouble is, the British public are being treated as the antagonist, but anybody who shouldn’t be in our country and commits a crime, our government and police force turn a blind eye to. Somebody needs to dust off the British Policing manuals from the time before the woke brigade was employed.
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