Cash-strapped rookie police officers are sleeping in their cars as they cannot afford rent in their beat areas.
Others rely on store vouchers and some even get a “foodbank” in their station.
The revelations will spark panic as bobbies will be on the front line to quell any disorder caused by the financial crisis.
The officers’ cash woes come after years of real term pay cuts under the Tories.
The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, was alarmed to receive reports of the desperate measures.
Tonight Andy Standing, secretary of the Sussex branch, said: “We have had officers, even if it is just for a short period of time, sleeping in their cars and vans.
“We do all we can to try and signpost them but it is a really sad situation and not one I thought I would ever see.
“We’ve got stories of officers going to foodbanks to keep going. There are officers who literally have just pounds left at the end of the month to feed themselves.
“And many young cops are living with mum and dad because they can’t afford to live anywhere else. The public would be shocked and ashamed if they know how the Government are treating officers.”
Kevin Moore, a retired chief superintendent and former head of CID, added: “It’s scandalous. No one joins the police to earn lots – but police salaries shouldn’t leave officers unable to pay the bills.”
Mr Moore warned police poverty could lead to officers being susceptible to
financial control by criminal gangs.
A below inflation £1,900 wage hike across all police ranks in England and Wales came into force last month. It followed a decade of real terms pay cuts.
The minimum salary for a PC is £23,556 – more than £7,000 less than the average wage. In Gloucestershire the local force is giving out supermarket vouchers to some staff to help them make ends meet.
The force is also setting up community fridges and food exchanges to feed employees and their families. Local crime commissioner Chris Nelson said he was “concerned” that officers and staff have felt the need to access food vouchers.
He said: “Our hard working heroes deserve our full support.”
A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary added: “It is a shame that anyone has to use food vouchers or foodbanks. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that our staff are supported.”
Merseyside’s crime commissioner Emily Spurrell raised concerns for her
officers. She said: “This government’s shambolic economic policy perpetuates and worsens the cost-of-living crisis.
“It should be a source of shame that after a decade of real term pay cuts, police officers alongside other frontline bluelight workers, struggle to make ends meet.”
Her counterpart in the West Midlands, Tom McNeil, warned that police officers may end up shunning the profession for better-paid jobs.
He said: “Skyrocketing energy bills, higher mortgage rates and spiralling food prices are leading to police officers struggling to get by.
“If the Government isn’t careful we’ll see officers and staff leave the profession they love.”
Police Federation chief Steve Hartshorn told how some officers were struggling to even buy petrol to get to work.
He said the recent 5% wage rise was just a small step after a real terms 25% pay cut since 2012.
One in seven officers are said to be struggling to cover monthly essentials. A Police Federation survey on pay and morale closes on Monday.
A poll in February suggested 92% of officers do not feel fairly paid and nearly three quarters felt worse off than the year before.
Mr Hartshorn said: “It is deeply distressing to hear of officers needing to use foodbanks and resorting to having to sleep in their cars. It is dire and tragic.”
Last week figures emerged showing stress-related absences had rocketed to 13,263 compared with 8,450 the year before.
Tens of thousands of officers have been lost to the profession since 2010.
