Debt advice for Police Officers

When is an officer in financial difficulty?

The circumstances surrounding every officer are clearly different, how well they may be bale to manage debt, the level of earning of any partner, any children in the relationship etc. In view of the above, financial difficulty should be defined as:-

‘When an officer has little or no prospect in the foreseeable future that they will be able to meet their current debt.’

Forces should be aware that officers who have fallen into financial difficulty tend to fall into three main categories:-

1. Officers experiencing marital difficulties.
2. Officers who have had a change in their, or their families financial circumstances.
3. Recruits who have unmanageable debts in their new employment.

Listed below are suggested guidelines to assist Forces in managing officers in financial difficulty:-

1. Officers who are in financial difficulty should be dealt with on a welfare basis unless the debt is linked to criminality or willful neglect that may require a formal discipline process.
2. Bankruptcy will not in itself be seen as a discipline issue unless linked to criminality or willful neglect. A bankruptcy order is a lawful process to discharge debt.
3. The above position should be communicated to officers within Forces. This communication should encourage officers to disclose at the EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY if their debt is likely to become unmanageable. Officers should be aware that Force Welfare Departments are best placed to provide financial advice. Contact with Welfare may be made directly or via staff associations, ‘first contact’ officers or any other person(s) within the organisation with whom the officer feels comfortable. Officers should be made aware that disclosure at the earliest opportunity would provide them a level of protection against their increasing vulnerability and also the best opportunity to manage their debts successfully.
4. Officers in financial difficulty who have sought assistance through Force Welfare Departments may, after consultation, be encouraged to disclose their circumstances to limit their vulnerability. This disclosure may, for example, be made to Force Processional Standards/Complaints and Discipline Departments to protect the integrity of the officer and the organisation.
5. The financial position of applicants who wish to join the organisation should always be checked with regard to any debt areas or court orders. This information should be compared against the financial declarations being made by new officers on their application forms.
6. Applicants should also be made aware of the ‘real’ levels of net pay (e.g. after Superannuation deductions) which may be of considerable variance to net pay in previous employment and not meet current out-goings. The majority of officers currently seeking financial guidance and assistance from Force Welfare Departments and the North West police Benevolent fund are officers in the probationary period of their service.
7. The guidelines documented in this paper and their impact upon Forces within the region should be subject of regional annual review

This paper has been prepared by a Regional ACPO Discipline and Complaints Working Group which was established to consider the issues of officers in financial difficulty.

The group consists of representatives of Discipline and Complaints/Professional Standards Departments, together with representations from Welfare and staff Associations across the North West Region.