Mr. Drew Harris:

Police officers the world over have certain character traits, although it is hard to explain. Some of them are content in their discontent or happy in their ability to raise issues, so there is a little of that. The vast majority I meet when I go out and about seem to be in a good place. Pretty quickly any frost there might be falls away and I have good conversations with them. When talking to people, not just the probationers but those with ten, 20 and 30 years’ service, after five minutes they will tell me the way it is. We all have an innate understanding of each other. I would not be pessimistic about where we are in terms of morale.

In terms of how we build that morale, the cultural audit showed there was a real, strong public service ethos in the organisation. It is for me to motivate people additionally so they know they are supported and that I am trying to make life a little simpler for them through the equipment they are given, through digitisation and even through the uniform they wear, by making sure they are supported through training so they see this is a place of career opportunity in terms of promotion or specialisation. It is very important for us that we are placed as an employer of choice in the employment market because we are competing in a busy market for the talent that is out there, and we want to be one of people's first options when they are thinking of what their employment is going to be.