Desk-bound detectives have slammed new rules which they say leave victims waiting months longer for justice.
The body representing police officers has warned new disclosure rules are "frustrating" and are holding cases back.
The new legislation introduced last year by the director of public prosecutions requires officers to provide the CPS with a ‘trial-ready’ prosecution before it makes a decision whether to charge suspects.
The change followed the collapse of high profile cases which exposed the failure of the CPS and police to hand over crucial details to the defence to ensure that the accused received a fair trial.
Norfolk Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said it meant detectives were having to spend more time sitting at their desks file-building, rather than engaging with victims and investigating crimes.
A recent study found that nine out of 10 detectives in Norfolk said the changes had added to their workload, with more than half that it had made it more likely they’d leave their role as a detective.
Norfolk chairman, Andy Symonds, said: “I’m extremely worried about the impact of these new rules on our members and colleagues.
“It’s been a year since they were introduced, and our survey shows just how much they’re adding to the workload and stress loads of detectives – and affecting their ability to do their jobs.”
Kevin Marshall, a Norfolk detective specialising in child cruelty and abuse cases, said inquiries needed to make cases ‘trial ready' were onerous and took days or months.
He said in child abuse cases it could mean gathering and reviewing many years of children's services, school and medical reports, often thousands of documents, while data protection rules meant details often also needed to be redacted.
He said victims were kept waiting for “months longer than they should” with one case from 2018 now not scheduled for trial in 2023.
“I prepare my victims from day one that this could be a very long process, not only investigating it but from charge to court appearances to trial. It is frustrating,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Symonds said: “We’re calling on the government to work with us and act on officers’ concerns to move back towards the previous system of agreed staged disclosure.”
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