Police told not to chase criminals at end of a shift 'to cut down on overtime payments'

Published 20th Feb 2010

Police have been told not to chase criminals at the end of their shifts as part of a scheme to cut overtime payments.

Instead officers are being encouraged to hand over cases to colleagues once they have completed their allotted working hours.

Forces are under massive pressure to slash the annual £500million overtime bill, which boosts police salaries by almost £3,500 per officer on average.

But Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the 'don't catch criminals' initiative by West Midlands Police risked jeopardising public safety.

'I appreciate that in tough economic times there is a need for belts to tighten and for careful consideration to be given on how resources and budgets are allocated,' he said.

'But equally important is ensuring that no squeeze on public funds is ever detrimental to the ability of forces to provide a consistent and effective frontline response.

'We don't do overtime out of choice, but out of a duty to uphold the law. We cannot just walk away from criminals or turn our backs on crimes being committed.'

Details of the initiative are contained an overtime rule book published by the Home Office earlier this month.

It revealed that the force had saved money by telling officers to 'finish their work before rest days and not chase detections towards the end of their shift'.

The book also showed that West Midlands Police had managed to reduce overtime spending by putting officers on its 24/7 response team on longer shifts.

Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever questioned the initiative, and drew support from shadow home secretary Chris Grayling, who called it 'crazy'

It concluded: 'The new ten-hour shift pattern meant that there was less need for overtime as there was more time available for hand-overs and improved quality of handover information.

'Across the force, there was also a culture of increased accountability, with supervisors more frequently questioning the use of overtime.

'One example was that within 24/7 Response, sergeants were clear that officers should finish their work before rest days and not chase detections towards the end of
their shift.'

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said yesterday that the practice had been introduced to make best use of economic resources.

'One cost-effective measure involved officers nearing the end of their shifts,' she said.

'Rather than them staying over on overtime to finalise cases and claim a detection, they were encouraged to hand over paperwork/prisoners to colleagues to finalise the process, thereby cutting down on overtime.

'This is not a new practice, we constantly remind officers of the most practical and cost-effective way of dealing with prisoners in order to make the best use of taxpayers' money.'

But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling described the initiative as 'crazy' and that money could be saved by cutting red tape.

'It would be crazy to be cutting detections to save money when so much police time and resource is being spent on unnecessary form filling,' he said. 'We need to cut red tape not crime fighting.'

Earlier this month it emerged that police officers are being paid hundreds of pounds in overtime for answering the telephone once their shift has finished.

Officers are entitled to a minimum four hours' pay, at a rate of time-and-a-third, simply for picking up the phone and making a decision while off duty.

This could earn an officer more than £100 for answering a single call.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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