Almost 60% of police officers have considered hanging up their handcuffs over the past year, with insufficient pay and staffing issues emerging as the strongest drivers. 

The findings come from the Police Association’s Constabulary Pay Round 2026 Survey, which drew 5861 responses and will inform this year’s bargaining and campaign priorities ahead of the Constabulary Collective Employment Agreement expiring on June 30.

Police Association president Steve Watt says the results of the survey paint a stark picture that Police leadership cannot afford to ignore heading into pay round negotiations.

“When more than five out of 10 officers are thinking about leaving, something is fundamentally wrong,” Steve says. “This isn’t about expectations getting ahead of reality, it’s about officers feeling undervalued, underpaid and under pressure, year after year.

“The survey exposes a potentially mammoth retention issue if something doesn’t change.”

He says the message ahead of the 2026 pay round is clear: “Police officers want to do the job and they want to stay. But fair pay and sustainable staffing are not optional. If those issues aren’t addressed, this problem will only get worse – and the public will feel the consequences.”

Officers are over it

Asked whether they had considered leaving Police in the past 12 months, 56.7% of respondents said yes. Extrapolated across all constabulary staff, that’s 5810 officers who thought about walking out the door.

This is a clear signal that morale, retention and frontline resilience should play a part when bargaining for the 2026 pay round kicks off, Police Association national secretary Erin Polaczuk says.

“Compensation dissatisfaction” was by far the dominant reason, cited by 18% of respondents.

This was backed up by hundreds of comments making reference to feeling underpaid, underappreciated and unsupported while overstressed, overworked and overscrutinised and/or penalised. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it [when I look at] the effort I put in versus the reward I gain,” one said.

Of those who answered whether they had considered leaving, 48% were feeling negative. Only 11% were feeling positive.

These results speak loudly about the state of police officers’ spirits, Erin says.

“Pay is the main reason people are thinking about walking away. When more than half of respondents have considered leaving in just one year, that tells us morale is fragile and under real strain.”

She says this issue is not simply about people resigning or retiring, it’s the effects of large numbers of officers remaining in the job while actively questioning their policing future.

“If people are turning up to work with the thought of leaving sitting in the back of their minds, they’re not able to bring their full energy, enthusiasm or focus to the role,” she says.

The survey also revealed a disconnect between what policing should offer and what officers are currently experiencing.

When asked what they most enjoyed about the job, “colleague and workplace relationships” ranked highest at 23%. Only 7% cited “professional and personal fulfilment” and even less (4%) said “role purpose and meaning” keeps them in the job.

“Members know what policing is meant to be about,” Erin says. “They care deeply about the work and about each other. But policing with low numbers and sustained pressure takes its toll. Over time, the satisfaction people hoped they would get from the job plummets.”

Burnt out and anxious

Staffing pressures also featured strongly throughout the survey. Just over 57% of respondents said understaffing had affected them over the past year, with impacts including operational capacity strain, continued staffing gaps, stressful workloads and diminished quality of service.

Of those who answered whether understaffing had affected them, 81% were feeling negative with another 16% neutral. Only 2% were feeling positive.

One respondent spoke of feeling burnt out month after month to the point they are anxious heading into work each day.

Another said they worked alone for days on end, were “stressed beyond belief” and racked up hours and hours of overtime only for it to be refused as it was deemed “unnecessary”. “I worked it anyway. Otherwise my team would have had to pick it up later.”

Others talked of constantly feeling unsafe, never being able to take leave and many said they had become mentally unwell.

“That’s the reality of intensified work,” Erin says. “People are carrying more responsibility, for longer, with fewer breaks and less recovery time. That pressure doesn’t disappear, it compounds – and that inevitably affects wellbeing and performance.”

Those findings closely mirror the 2025 NZ Police Association, Te Aka Hāpai Member Survey, which showed 56% of all Police Association members worked while mentally stressed or traumatised, 85% while overtired and 78% while sick. Mental health was rated a serious problem in Police culture by 54% of members.

“That survey reinforces what members are telling us now,” Erin says. “Understaffing and difficulty paying bills are driving people to keep turning up when they’re exhausted, unwell or struggling – often because they don’t want to let their team down.”

That behaviour, while understandable, carries real risk, she says.

“Having officers working when they’re sick, overtired or traumatised is not sustainable and it’s not safe. Fatigue and stress affect judgment, reaction times and resilience. That has consequences – for colleagues, for decision-making and for the public. These are not abstract wellbeing issues, they go directly to operational effectiveness.”

'Make us proud again'

The pay round survey results land amid The Post revealing increased spending by Police on recruitment marketing.

More than $2.76 million was spent in the 12 months after the appointment of Police Commissioner Richard Chambers – more than double the previous year’s just over $1 million.

However, Steve says no amount of recruitment advertising will fix the issues for members already in the job. “You don’t solve this by spending millions trying to attract new people while the ones you already have are burning out and questioning whether they can stay.”

While overall constabulary strength has lifted – 216 officers as of January 2026 of the promised 500 by November 2025, or 2.1% instead of 4.9% – Erin agrees that marketing alone cannot address many of the underlying problems.

“Recruitment doesn’t just happen through advertising,” she says. “It happens through word of mouth, through officers encouraging others to join, and through everyday interactions with the public.

“If more than half of officers are thinking about leaving, they are far less likely to be positive advocates for the job. That undermines any recruitment efforts before you even get to how much is spent on advertising.”

Erin says pay is critical to breaking what could become a downward spiral.

“Improving compensation is one of the most direct ways Police can rebuild morale, strengthen retention and support recruitment. If you make policing a genuinely attractive career again, you relieve pressure on the people who stay, reduce burnout, stabilise the workforce and gain trust – inside and outside the organisation.” 

She knows members want to do the job well – and to stay – but they need to see meaningful action.

“They would love to come to work feeling energised and proud of being in Police. But many have been working under intense pressure for too long, without seeing significant change or the job becoming more attractive.”

As bargaining for the 2026 pay round approaches, Erin says the message from members is unmistakable: “This survey is ringing loudly in our ears. Before morale declines further and retention problems deepen, Police needs to acknowledge the core issue members are raising – fair compensation for the work they do, and staffing levels that make the job sustainable.

“For members, it’s not about perks, it’s simply about being able to do the job safely, professionally, with their heart still in it and with their families looked after.”