The Government has been accused of trying to turn the police into a ‘men only’ service following a damning survey of women officers.
Rachel Baines, Lancashire Police Federation chairman, said women were being driven out by ‘sexist’ reforms.
“It is clear there is no room in the police service for women anymore, particularly older women,” she told the federation’s annual conference in Bournemouth.
“It will become just a police service of young, fit men.
“Everyone knows that we women are the main carers and therefore need flexible working. But it appears there is just no room for that anymore.
“You’ve got to say that the future looks grim for women in the police.”
The leader of Lancashire’s 3,100 bobbies was speaking after a survey showed around 40 per cent of female officers had “seriously considered” leaving the police in the wake of the Government’s Winsor Report 2 proposals.
Professor Jennifer Brown, director of the Manheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics, surveyed thousands of women officers across the country.
She said: “That is hugely worrying. Four out of every 10 are seriously thinking about whether the police service is the place where they would like to stay for a career.
“Around 80% of them think the police service is likely to be less flexible on working hours in the future. And, where one in five women officers are primary carers, that loss of flexibility is a major issue.”
She found 80% were “pessimistic” about the future of the service, 70% were worried about the financial implications of the Winsor Report 2 and around half were concerned about privatisation of the police. Only 20% said they were happy with conditions for female officers.
Professor Brown added that after years where numbers of women officers had risen steadily, the trend had reversed.
Ms Baines said Lancashire was losing 550 officers and that those left would have less flexible working hours.
