Police 'doubling wages in overtime'

12 April 2012

Rank and file police officers in the UK's biggest force are raking in up to £52,000 a year in overtime pay alone, it was revealed.

Figures from the Metropolitan Police show its highest earning sergeant claimed £51,942 in overtime during the past financial year - more than doubling their maximum basic pay of around £42,000.

And the top-earning constable added £42,506 to their annual take home pay - well in excess of their basic salaries of up to £26,100.

The overtime sums - for the year 2008/09 - were revealed in The Sun after a Freedom of Information request.

Police leaders said some officers were working 100-hour weeks, with targets and red tape being blamed for the workloads. Policing large operations like the G20 protests and other large demonstrations also require extra manpower.

The highest-paid detective sergeant was paid £49,524 in overtime, with the best-paid Detective Constable netting an extra £40,385. According to the figures, the average overtime claim in the Met was £4,240. The force currently employs around 31,000 policemen and women.

Only sergeants and constables are paid overtime and officers in the Royal and Diplomatic Protection units have traditionally been those who earn the most.

Peter Smyth, of the Police Federation's London branch, told The Sun: "These figures are very surprising. Officers are under increasing pressure to meet targets and fill in forms. But I have to ask what kind of organisation is happy for some of its officers to be working 100-hour weeks every month of the year. These officers may have a lot of money in the bank, but they can't have much of a home life."

The Met Police said: "Overtime is only called upon when it is essential to maintain operational effectiveness. Policing is a dynamic 24/7 service, we have capital city and national responsibilities and there are times when we genuinely need to call on officers to work beyond their scheduled hours.

"We keep careful tab on levels of overtime and report on this regularly to individual business groups and the Metropolitan Police Authority."

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