Chief constable pushes for pay rise for officers to halt ‘erosion of talent’

Essex Police chief Ben-Julian Harrington said a number of people had left the force citing financial reasons.

Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Archive)

A chief constable is pushing for a pay rise for officers to halt the “silent erosion of talent” in his force, as he described how some had already left for better paid work as scaffolders or to sell double glazing.

Essex Police chief Ben-Julian Harrington said a number of people had left the force citing financial reasons.

Among them were an officer who realised he could not afford to pay his bills after his wife fell pregnant, so he resigned to earn £250 a day as a scaffolder.