Crime fall reported as 23,000 force staff ‘doing second jobs’

The figures mean more than one in 10 officers in England and Wales earns a second income from non-police work, according to an investigation by the Mail on Sunday.

At the same time, the number of investigations into potential rule breaches has tripled, raising questions over conflicts of interest arising from second jobs.

It comes as the Home Office released provisional figures to The Sunday Times which show crime has fallen by 10 per cent in 19 out of 43 force areas in England and Wales between June 2010 and June 2012 despite budget cuts of just under 10 per cent.

Crime has risen only in Devon and Cornwall; however, the full impact of the cuts will not be seen across forces until April.

Damian Green, the Police Minister, told The Sunday Times that the statistics proved police reform was working, and Police Federation chairman Steve Williams said the figures were testament to the hard work of police officers.

The Mail on Sunday report claims some officers may work in self-defence training, for example, therefore meaning police forces may be commissioning off-duty staff to carry out such work for them.

A Home Office spokesman said: “It is the responsibility of chief constables to ensure that any secondary jobs held by officers do not harm the public’s perception of the police or result in any conflict of interest. The Home Secretary will put new proposals ensuring the highest standards of integrity in the police to Parliament in the new year.”