‘£20m paid to suspended police officers’

The force paid just over £1m to 45 officers over the period, eight of whom received between £30,000 and £49,000 while being suspended for more than 12 months.

West Yorkshire was one of five forces that topped £1m and dwarfed South Yorkshire, who paid £169,000 to 11 officers, and Humberside, who paid £166,000 to 12 officers over the same period. Regionally, North Yorkshire recorded the lowest figures with £77,000 paid to eight officers.

Nationally, the Metropolitan Police had the highest number of suspended officers with 197 receiving £4.4m. Merseyside was second highest with almost £2m paid to 66 officers, including one who had been suspended for nearly four years.

The figures, which were drawn from freedom of information requests to 43 forces across England and Wales, showed Nottinghamshire and West Midlands also each exceeded £1m in salary paid to suspended officers.

In all, 1,013 officers were suspended over the period - a number that rivals the entire number employed by some forces. As well as £20.8m paid to officers, a further £7.3m was paid to 958 civilian staff removed from work over alleged misconduct.

In numerous cases officers received significant sums while absent for a lengthy period before then resigning ahead of the outcome of disciplinary investigations.

Responding to the figures, Alex Duncan, professional standards lead for the Police Federation, said it was right that officers continued to be paid while suspended but added: “However, we have longstanding concerns about the length of time that investigations take – letting cases drag on for years and years does not serve the interests of anyone involved. We would urge the government to make these investigations and the ensuing legal processes far more speedy and effective.”

Merseyside Police reported that it paid 14 suspended officers just over £280,000 - an average of £20,000 each in salary - before they simply resigned from the force.

In January, Home Secretary Theresa May introduced new rules designed to stop officers either resigning or retiring if facing allegations that could lead to dismissal.

Officers were often suspended for well over a year, including a detective sergeant with the Met revealed to have been absent on full pay for 968 days over corruption allegations, with the case still ongoing.

A PC employed by Cumbria Police was suspended for 908 days while in Surrey a detective superintendent was suspended over alleged fraud for 820 days at a cost of in excess of £150,000 in salary. In Cambridgeshire, an officer of unidentified rank received more than £91,000 while being suspended for 833 days.

Although a majority of cases resulted in dismissal or resignation, a significant minority were concluded with officers returning to work – sometimes after a lengthy absence. Three officers in West Yorkshire were reinstated after being suspended for a year or more at a cost of £120,000.

A Home Office spokesman said the police disciplinary system was being overhauled to improve transparency and accountability, including proposals for a 12-month time limit for investigations.

Under the proposals chief officers would be required to write to their police and crime commissioners to explain why any cases had run beyond 12 months.

Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain of West Yorkshire Police, said the decision to suspend “isn’t taken lightly, as people can only be suspended on full pay under current national police regulations.”

He said 45 officers represented a “tiny proportion” of the number working for the force and added: “We understand the concerns about public money, but I would like to reassure the public that we will always look to make the right decision, in the public’s interest and sometimes that means suspension is the best option.”